I'm not sured "screwed" is the appropriate word but without a doubt they are willing to put a lot more money on the table for the Red Sox than they were for the Reds.
Yep.... and the Reds in their rush to judgment, screwed their fans.... just think if THIS was a shared facility.
Bud Selig: "I'm the worst commissioner ever"
Rob Manfred: "Hold my beer"
https://redsintelligence.com/smforum/index.php
The extra money is being paid for by a "hotel bed tax."
Everybody knows that Bostonians sleep a lot more than Cincinnatians do.
I think the belief is that they will sell out each and every game that Boston plays in a 12,000 seat stadium.
Maybe the Reds thought they were the ones doing the jilting, while Sarasota was secretly letting the relationship die of neglect with an eye toward someone better coming along?
Visitor taxes are the new "cool" way to pay for sports facilities without angering voters. Pretty soon, no one will be able to afford to rent hotel rooms and vehicles when they travel, thanks to all of the stadiums and arenas those purchases are subsidizing. If anyone got the shaft in this deal it's the people who'll no longer be able to afford to visit Sarasota.
/r/reds
Nothing surprising here. This is politics as usual. Typically after a team "calls a city's bluff" and actually leaves, the city offers much more money to lure a new team there. In the NFL we saw it over and over with Cleveland, Houston and St Louis. Add to that the fact that the Red Sox sell out most if not all their games in City of Palms Park and it all makes sense. If this goes through expect City of Palms and Collier County to offer more to lure another team than they did to keep the Red Sox.
I'll also add that I don't think John Allen was a good negotiator representing the Reds either. I think he could have handled Sarasota better and it should also be noted that the Bengals got a much better deal from Hamilton County than the Reds did.
It's hard to argue that the Red Sox wouldn't attract more fans than the Reds."The initial response is that the Red Sox would bring more of an impact," said Virginia Haley, president of the Sarasota Convention & Visitors Bureau. "So it seems like there would be more consideration for the Red Sox than other baseball teams or a different entertainment venue."
Also, my feeling is that the Reds' hardball, demanding approach probably rubbed the local politicians the wrong way. John Allen was never known for his negotiation ability or diplomacy.. I guess the town figured that if they had to build a new park, might as well get a marque name. Can't say that I blame them for telling the Reds to kiss off after the Reds hardballed them.
[Phil ] Castellini celebrated the team's farm system and noted the team had promising prospects who would one day be great Reds -- and then joke then they'd be ex-Reds, saying "of course we're going to lose them". #SellTheTeamBob
Nov. 13, 2007: One of the greatest days in Reds history: John Allen gets the boot!
It would seem that way. The Red Sox sell out ST games. I know people who buy scalped tickets just to get into those games. So I can see where Sarasota's coming from. If you pay big money for the Red Sox, you're going to get a fairly massive influx of attendees. Also, you've got to figure that a Red Sox affiliate will draw well at a top facility in Florida (which would leave the Cali League Lancaster JetHawks without an affiliation).
The sub-lesson is never put John Allen in charge of anything, not even a trip to the bathroom. He clearly took the easiest option and never put much effort into possible better options.
I'm not a system player. I am a system.
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