Blue Jackets' Arena Sale Plan All But Dead; Lawmakers Seek Plan B

Blue Jackets Officials Want County Or Convention Facilities Authority To Buy Arena

Franklin County (OH) lawmakers today are expected to meet with Blue Jackets Majority Owner John McConnell to "discuss the team's situation," after "local opposition and a less-than-stellar lobbying effort helped doom a plan to aid the Blue Jackets through increased sin taxes," according to Siegel & Caruso of the COLUMBUS DISPATCH. After losing a reported $80M over the last seven years, Blue Jackets officials "want the county or the Convention Facilities Authority to buy Nationwide Arena," and bonds would be "funded with $13[M] a year from new taxes on alcohol and cigarettes." Nationwide would "use the profits to become a minority owner in the team, and the team would try to generate more revenue out of the arena." But the Blue Jackets and lawmakers "likely will be searching for plan B, as the team's tax proposal appears all but dead." Siegel & Caruso note some "question whether Blue Jackets officials went about it the right way," as Ohio State Rep. Tracy Heard said that she was "surprised she did not learn about the arena plan from team representatives." Heard: "That would have been the appropriate protocol. I didn't realize they were in trouble or that there were any problems." Instead, Heard "read about it in media reports late last week." State Sen. Dave Goodman: "I think they had a game plan of how they wanted to approach this, but some things got out before they intended." State Sen. Ray Miller: "Everybody seems to have been caught off guard." Siegel & Caruso note state lawmakers are "unlikely to move forward with a tax plan unless they see firm support from local officials" (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 6/2).