Indiana

Payback Is a You-Know-What

By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz

Indiana lawmakers are scrambling behind the scenes this morning looking for a way to deal with the news that the Colts have no desire to contribute to the Capital Improvement Board shortfall.  As one lawmaker put it, the Colts are dealing with us like they do players; driving a hard bargain.   While they look for a solution, I have a suggestion they may want to look at.

As hard as may sound to believe, I think the city of Indianapolis and State of Indiana should pay the Indianapolis Colts $100 million.  That’s right.  Write the Colts a check for a cool $100 million.  They should pool their resources, float bonds, do whatever is necessary and give the Colts $100 million.  Why?  Because by giving the Colts $100 million, they will have back their initial “investment” on Lucas Oil Stadium and the city and state can collect all the proceeds.  CIB funding shortfall solved.

I thought about this from Jim Irsay’s quote in Sunday’s Indianapolis Star.

?People don?t want to look at the facts,? Irsay said. ?Look, (former Mayor) Bart Peterson and (former CIB head) Fred Glass came to me and said we need a new stadium to go with the convention center. Will you guys take this risk? We did. It was all on our risk. If someone can show me someone else who put a hundred million into a building and doesn?t own it ? that?s what I don?t understand.?

If the Colts never asked for a new stadium and since they keep harping on their $100 million “investment” and the $250,000 in annual expenses they pay (which is offset by game day revenue which they get to keep and the $3.6 million in non-Colts events they get to pocket as well) then giving them their money back should solve everything.

Of course by giving them “back” their $100 million, the city and state get to keep all the cash from Lucas Oil, naming rights, game day revenue, non-Colts events, parking, concessions, the whole nine yards.  They don’t get a refund on the $250,000 in annual payments they’ve already made.

If the Colts never wanted a new stadium, then a simple $100 million “refund” should be enough to settle this matter, right?  And please don’t give me that, “a deal is a deal” from my studying of the Colts history that line only works when the deal is working in their favor.

Full post as published by Indiana Barrister on April 27, 2009 (boomark / email).