Omaha’s legislators still oppose any sort of state involvement in a proposed Sarpy County ballpark for the Omaha Royals, but reps from other cities now say funding plans can also be applied to their communities.
Omaha’s legislators still oppose any sort of state involvement in a proposed Sarpy County ballpark for the Omaha Royals, but reps from other cities now say funding plans can also be applied to their communities.
This story outlines the opposition from Omaha-area legislators. True, some bother to put a fig leaf over their opposition as a general concern about the economy, but let’s all be clear about the politics at play: a new Sarpy County ballpark could siphon sponsorship money away from a $121-million downtown Omaha College World Series and most likely cause the independent American Association to withdraw plans for a team there. (Indeed, we continue to hear the American Association’s interest in Omaha is totally predicated on the Royals leaving the market.) So there’s some pretty strong incentive for the Omaha legislators to oppose any sort of state financing for a Sarpy County ballpark.
Thing is, Sarpy County officials — led by Kermit Brashear, someone well known in Nebraska political circles — aren’t exactly asking for any direct state assistance. Of the three propopals, two call for tax-increment financing to build the ballpark and a neighboring arena, and that takes no money out of the state’s pockets. (A third, which lets Sarpy County access cigarette taxes in the same exact manner Omaha and Lincoln do, would in fact result in a loss of revenue for the state.)
And it’s not just Sarpy County eying the establishment of entertainment districts as a way to improve facilities. The University of Nebraska says it could use such a tool as a way to fund arena improvements if private financing for a new arena falls through. If Big Red comes out strongly in favor of entertainment districts, Omaha officials may need to tone down their opposition — it’s politically a stupid move to argue against Big Red.
RELATED STORIES: Omaha CWS plans released; Sarpy County officially requests state money for new ballpark; The latest from Omaha: Stein to rethink Sarpy move; Wolff loves a 24,000-seat ballpark