MSA sweat to keep Orioles-Ravens at Baltimore

Article posted by Coliseum, February 8^th, 2022

Image: MSA

The Maryland Stadium Authority (US) is seeking State legislative approval to borrow up to $1.2 billion to pay for upgrades at the stadium homes of the National Football League (NFL) team Baltimore Ravens and the Major League Baseball (MLB) team Baltimore Orioles so the clubs won’t need new pricey new venues in the foreseeable future.

The ‘Baltimore Sun’ stated that as lease talks continue with both clubs, the authority said its request is designed to demonstrate the State’s commitment to keeping the NFL’s Ravens and MLB’s Orioles in Baltimore.

The Maryland Stadium Authority (MSA) was established by the General Assembly in 1986. The original mission was to build, manage and maintain quality facilities to retain Major League Baseball, and return NFL football to Maryland. MSA is committed to enhancing the Maryland experience for those who live, work and visit here.

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Jeffrey Provenzano, Vice-President, Facilities, Maryland Stadium Authority, US, is a Member of Coliseum Strategic Committee.

The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore (Maryland, US). The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference North division. The team plays its home games at the M&T Bank Stadium and is headquartered in Owings Mills, Maryland.

The 71,008-capacity M&T Bank Stadium is a multipurpose football stadium located in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the home of the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League. The stadium is immediately adjacent to Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the home of the Baltimore Orioles.

The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball as a member club of the American League East division.

The 45,971-capacity Oriole Park at Camden Yards, often referred to as just Oriole Park or Camden Yards, is a Major League Baseball ballpark located in Baltimore, Maryland. Home to the Baltimore Orioles, it is the first of the “retro” major league ballparks constructed during the 1990s and early 2000s.

Averred Thomas Kelso, the Authority’s Chairman, “The longer we can extend the life of these stadiums, the better it is for Baltimore City, Maryland and the teams, and that’s part of the goal here.”

As sleek stadiums costing well over $1 billion are built in other Cities, the authority said it needs to ensure that the teams can keep Oriole Park at Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium in step with stadium trends and a generation of fans accustomed to mingling and activity rather than just sitting and watching the game.

Added Kelso, “The way people watch sports continues to morph from more traditional ‘buy a ticket and sit in a seat’ to something that’s completely different. And our teams need to have that flexibility.”

Oriole Park is 30 years old and the M&T Bank Stadium is 24 years old. Some stadiums, such as the 49,586-capacity Turner Field in Atlanta and the former 48,114-capacity Globe Life Park in Texas, were abandoned by their baseball teams before turning 30.

A Bill drafted by the stadium authority and expected to be introduced soon in the Maryland House of Delegates would increase the allowable bond debt for stadium projects from $235 million to $1.2 billion. Up to $600 million in outstanding debt would be allowed for projects at each club’s stadium at any given time.

The legislation would gradually increase the amount of State lottery proceeds that can be used to pay debt service on the bonds – from $20 million to up to $90 million per year. The legislation would require the teams to sign a lease long enough to pay off the bonds.

‘The Baltimore Sun’ further stated that if the General Assembly approves, the measure would create, in effect, an expanded and flexible pool of funding. Debt could be issued for either team as long as room remained under the $1.2 billion and $90 million caps and the financing was approved by the Stadium Authority Board and the State’s Board of Public Works.

While it varies from place to place, there seems to be “a little more skepticism” about public financing of stadiums than when the Maryland venues were built, said Dennis Coates, a Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

But opposition in Baltimore, he said, is tempered by its sports history.

Some fans and elected leaders remember the National Football League (NFL) team Indianapolis Colts’ middle-of-the-night departure from Baltimore. After decades as Baltimore’s team, the NFL club – in a dispute with the City over improvements to the 53,000-capacity Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland (US) – left town for Indianapolis on a March night in 1984.

Lamented Coates, “This is a City that experienced a team leaving. That trauma, I think, sticks with a lot of people.”

Coates said it’s important not to minimize a public expenditure as large as $600 million per stadium.

He added, “On the other hand, $600 million is a drop in the bucket compared to that thing in Dallas referring to the more than $1 billion cost of the stadium for the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.”

The Los Angeles stadium shared by the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers (read the 70,240-capacity SoFi Stadium), and the Las Vegas home of the NFL team Las Vegas Raiders (the 65,000-capacity Allegiant Stadium) also cost substantially more.

Leaders of the Democratic-led State House and Senate had no immediate comment as they weighed the proposal.

Senate Minority Leader Bryan Simonaire, an Anne Arundel County Republican, said the topic of stadium funding “is an important discussion that needs to take place. I have not seen the details of the proposed legislation yet, but I am very supportive of keeping the Ravens and Orioles in Maryland.”

The Orioles and Ravens are both in lease talks with the stadium authority, and each says they are contemplating stadium upgrades. The authority is not planning to borrow a specific amount of money now while it continues negotiations with the Orioles and Ravens.

At Camden Yards, those changes could include more social spaces, fewer seats and a sports betting area. Ravens officials have expressed interest in additional lower-bowl premium seating.

Both clubs said it would be premature to discuss specific projects.

Major League Baseball (MLB) owners locked out players last month as they negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement. It’s the league’s first work stoppage since the mid-1990s and threatens to delay the start of Spring training.

Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers’ compensation and rights for workers.

The Orioles’ original lease with the State began on April 1^st, 1992, and was to expire at the end of 2021. The parties agreed in February 2021 to extend the agreement for two years through December 31^st, 2023 with the club retaining the right to exercise a one-time, five-year extension by February 1^st, 2023.

The lease talks come during a period of uncertainty over the club’s future ownership.

Baltimore Attorney and business owner Peter Angelos, 92, continues to hold a majority of the limited partnership that owns the Orioles, but he has been in ill health for years.

His son, John, who succeeded his father in overseeing the club, has said his family is devoted to Baltimore, and he and others have sought to assure fans that the franchise intends to stay put.

The Orioles and the stadium authority say they are confident of reaching a new lease deal.

The authority said in a written statement before the legislation was filed, “We believe strongly that the best way to keep teams playing at the Camden Yards sports complex is to foster a partnership arrangement that makes the teams want to stay.”

The Ravens’ lease isn’t up until after the 2027 season, but the team and the authority say they have begun preliminary talks about an extension.

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