Was the mission to bring the Shuckers to Biloxi a quest for fool's gold or will it bring golden times? Steve Wilson likes the project to a Field of Dreams gone bad over at Watchdog.org. He reports:
In the Kevin Costner baseball movie “Field of Dreams,” a mysterious voice from the cornfield told Costner’s character Ray Kinsella if you build it, he will come.
But in Biloxi they didn’t come.
The city’s hopes that fans would line up — like at the end of the movie — for its taxpayer-funded minor league baseball stadium didn’t materialize. MGM Park averaged 3,459 fans in 46 home games, 541 fans per game short of the 4,000 average envisaged by a study commissioned by the city.
 |
| Source: Al.com |
The Biloxi Shuckers, the Double-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers, were forced to spend the first two months of the season playing on the road as the contractor scrambled to finish the $36 million MGM Park, which didn’t open until June 6, two months behind schedule. The city, under its deal with the team, was forced to pay the Southern League $240,000 in fines for missed home games as the stadium’s completion date continued to slip.
The Shuckers even had the indignity of having to play some of their “home” games at the city they left, Huntsville, Alabama. As a result, the team’s average attendance was near the bottom of the Southern League at 2,604 fans. That’s still an improvement over the 1,460 fans per game the team drew in Huntsville in 2014.
The team didn’t return calls for comment.
The numbers pale in comparison with the opening of other new ballparks in the Double-A Southern League. In 2004, Montgomery, Alabama, opened Riverwalk Stadium and the Biscuits averaged 4,820 fans per contest. Trustmark Park opened in Pearl, Mississippi, the next year and the Mississippi Braves averaged 3,848 fans per game. Pensacola opened Bayfront Park in 2012 and 4,826 fans per game turned out to watch the Blue Wahoos. Birmingham’s team, the Barons, moved from suburban Hoover to Regions Park in downtown and 5,669 fans on average went through the turnstiles.
Both Mississippi baseball teams were lured from other cities — Greenville, S.C. (Braves) and Huntsville — with new stadium deals, financed with taxpayer dollars.
In 2013, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant announced plans to award $15 million in oil spill funds to the stadium, projected to cost $36 million. Biloxi voted to borrow $21 million in bonds to pick up the rest of the tab for the park.
Trustmark Park and the $100 million retail development surrounding the ballpark in Pearl opened in 2005 near the junction of Interstates 20 and 55. The city and Rankin County financed it with $78 million in bonds. Financing was also provided by a $7.5 million loan to Pearl for the $28 million ballpark’s construction.
Site developer Bloomfield Equities, owned by Spectrum Capital, got $8.1 million in state tax subsidies for the Bass Pro Shops across from the ballpark. Spectrum received $24 million in state tax subsidies to build its $80 million Outlets of Pearl adjacent to the ballpark.
The M-Braves drew 3,192 fans per game this year, up slightly from 3,150 in 2014. Both years, the M-Braves have been seventh in average attendance in the 12-team league. Article
Kingfish note: The city sold $21 million in bonds to build the stadium. The professional service fees for the bond transaction are:
$21,000: Mississippi Development Bank (Issuer)
$12,000: Balch & Bingham (Issuer's counsel)
$60,000: Government Consultants, Inc. (Financial advisor)
$4,000: Hancock Bank (Trustee)
$74,500: Page Mannino, Peresich, & McDermott (bond counsel)
$52,500: Butler Snow (Disclosure counsel)
$5,000: Michael Collins (City Counsel)
$16,000: S&P Rating Serrvice
$500: Spence Flatguard (State bond attorney)
The story does not state it but Shuckers' attendance would have ranked fifth in the league.
24 comments:
Pales, PALES, in comparison to the hoodwinking of Jacktroit voters over the Convention Center where the million$ in operating losses have exceeded even the worst case pro forma used for the pre-election duping.
And...Jason Goree wants us to have a ball team up in her'!! Talk about another disaster for the city that used to be...
If only those who continue to beat the drum of Farish Street and the Entertainment District would look here. These are the kinds of missed attendance numbers we will see if they ever get that boondoggle of a street into a state where storekeepers can set up.
BB King's, which has to be a long lost deal by now, will require a high volume of visitors to stay in business. The city of Jackson does not have the tourist population to support such an establishment and the locals will flood it at first, then stop visiting. It seems there are far too many people who can't see past the grand opening festivities to anticipate the grand closing a few months later.
What ARE the numbers for the convention center. I remember Wyatt Emmerich being adamantly against this dog and receiving a lot of criticism. How right was he?
I've been trying for years to get an idea if the convention center was worth it. Annual reports on the city's website really don't tell too much.
So Ron Perisich "brought" the team to Biloxi, and his firm acted as bond Counsel? That is interesting.
How right was he?
Prescient. Dead Solid Prescient.
Jackson Convention Center
FY2011 LOSS: ($1,393,515)
FY2012 LOSS: ($1,150,649)
FY2013 LOSS: ($1,266,772)
FY2014 LOSS: ($1,215,579)
What is source for convention center numbers? Id like to see all of it. Thanks!
Convention Center. Online. Go find it.
These projects never make financial sense. They are a quality of life project.
August 31, 2015: The Convention Center That Ate Dallas
Late last year, after Philip Jones, the DCVB’s president, tossed out a plan to have taxpayers pay for a $300 million addition to the convention center, I took a look into the finances and found that it lost $37 million per year before debt service and $54 million after interest expense — amounts that were virtually identical to its losses prior to the opening of the half-billion-dollar city-owned Omni Convention Center Hotel in 2010 (one of the primary justifications for building the hotel was that it would drive more business to the convention center and stop its losses).
That's not all. When projects fail and debt service mounts, consultants routinely conclude that the center needs a "headquarters hotel," which at the very least requires a large public subsidy. Sometimes the lack of developer interest results in the hotel being publicly owned. It's a classic example of finding yourself in a hole and continuing to dig.
Hey 12:19, if I knew how to look it up, I would not have asked.
2:24 - Learn how. Empower yourself. It's much better than helplessly whining and having to depend on others.
The Coast Coliseum and Convention Center in Biloxi was one of the few facilities in the nation that turned a profit. Bill Holmes did an excellent job managing that building. I am not sure how it fared after Katrina and with the addition of more modern competition in Pensacola and New Orleans.
Unfortunately, the spaceship-shaped building in Downtown Jackson has suffered from poor leadership and the inability to pulling anything larger than a comedy show or roller derby.
Then again, WHO would want to go to Jackson for a convention? Even Philadelphia and Natchez are better options.
Is there a fleecing of taxpayer money that Butler Snow is not involved in?
http://jacksonconventioncomplex.com/manage/media/2013/04/2013-Annual-Report.pdf
Figures 2011 - 2013.
The stadium and the team have generated a lot of excitement on the Coast. The games are well attended, and new businesses are opening in the surrounding area.
I remember when they named it the Telcom Center. It was going to leverage all of the telecommunications assets the area had and be a training and convention center. They couldn't even spell telecom right.
Right. There is just so little to do on the Mississippi coast. You find yourself there, wondering how you got there and what you'll do and flip a coin over the mall of the baseball game. Right.
Maybe if Con Maloney would go down and straighten out this mess.
Does Con Maloney still own the Jackson Mets?
Jackson Convention Center Board:
Fred Banks, Chairman
Leroy Walker, Vice-Chairman
Members:
John Hardy
Larry Hollingsworth
Mavis James
Duane O'Neill
Alan Walters
hm. Maybe Fred and the gang can explain those pesky $1 million per year losses?
My guess is that the number of tickets sold, as stated in the article, don't tell the whole story. I doubt all these people actually attended which means someone is buying up tickets they are not using. I predict next year will be worse. Bryant, Peresich, Palazzo and gang have made the tax payers investors in this deal. Too bad there is no upside to being an involuntary partner in a ball park.
Post a Comment