Bailout recipient Citibank purchased the naming rights to the Mets’ new yard for something along the lines of $400 milion, which I presume is the standard price for such a thing these days.
Then again, considering the citizens of New York are already putting in $260 million of their own money into the construction of this park, on top of bailing out Citibank to the tune of $25 billion or so, Field of Schemes suggests a more appropriate name would be CITY Field.
Considering Citibank is now getting that much more of my money — first the taxpayer-funded bailout, and now they’re doubling my credit card interest rates as part of an overall rate increase — perhaps I can stake my claim to the new park. While my contribution to keep Citibank afloat may not be enough to slap my name on a sign in front of the stadium, there has to be something I can claim! I’ll make my case for free Dodgers/Mets tickets next time I’m on the phone with a Citibank CSR.
Thank goodness Seattle’s taxpayers had the sense to send the Sonics packing when they came begging for public money. I only hope Portland will do the same, now that Merritt Paulson — yes, son of Hank Paulson — is begging its taxpayers to hand over $40 million to replace perfectly functional PGE Park.
November 29, 2008 at 7:02 pm |
I love baseball as much as the next guy, but stadiums should NOT be publicly funded. I was hoping people were starting to see the light on this, but maybe not.
November 30, 2008 at 11:33 am |
Some cities for sure have long track records of saying no to rich billionaires asking for handouts. That’s precisely the reason LA still doesn’t have a football team. If you can afford the NFL’s $600 million franchise fee, you can afford another $300 million for a stadium.
January 5, 2009 at 7:18 am |
[...] guess if you’re indirectly receiving $400 million in federal bailout money, you’d be doing just fine [...]