Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and the city of Columbus yesterday filed a lawsuit against the owner of the Crew and MLS in an "attempt to keep them from ditching Columbus in favor of Austin," according to a front-page piece by Marty Schladen of the COLUMBUS DISPATCH. The suit invokes a state law that "says no professional team that gets public assistance or uses public facilities can leave town without giving six months’ notice and providing locals an opportunity to buy the team." The '96 law was enacted after Art Modell moved the Browns to Baltimore. The suit says that the Crew have "received millions in taxpayer benefits" and have "given no such notice." It "asks the court to enjoin the team from leaving." MLS and Crew owner Precourt Sports Ventures last night released a joint statement "indicating that both 'will make an additional statement'" today (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 3/6). In Columbus, Emily Bench reports the suit alleges that the Crew and their affiliates have accepted the benefits of approximately $5M in "state taxpayer-funded improvements to their parking facilities" in addition to a "state property tax exemption for the land on which" Mapfre Stadium sits. The team then "leased that land from the state at a below-market rate" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 3/6). The Ohio law also is in place to "allow cities or residents near sports facilities to have a chance to buy the team" (AP, 3/5). But in Austin, Chris Bils notes the law has "never been tested in court" (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 3/6).
CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS: In Austin, Daniel Salazar noted after Crew Chair Anthony Precourt speculated that a privately financed MLS stadium on public parkland could bring in around $400M in community benefits, some experts are now questioning how PSV "reached those estimates." More information "needs to be known about a stadium's site, lease and financing before broader economic and community benefits are projected." Sports economist Andrew Zimbalist: "There's not nearly enough detail ... to discern anything about economic value or economic impact from the proposal." A PSV spokesperson said that the $200M wage estimate from stadium benefits was "based on the stadium employing more than 100 full-time employees and more than 750 part-time employees" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 3/5).
