I have bad news for Indiana Pacers, Indianapolis Colts and Indianapolis Indians ticket buyers. By the time
you buy tickets for next season’s games, you’ll likely be hit with a higher ticket tax. For Indianapolis Indians’ fans, that
could come as soon as April. This is coming despite a loud protest
by Indians officials that the tax isn’t fair. The Colts too have decried the ticket tax.
As you probably know, the city’s Capital Improvement Board is facing a $37 million deficit. It was $43 million until last week when the CIB hatcheted $6 million out of its own budget. That deficit is mostly due to operational expenses at the homes of the Colts and Pacers.
After talking to state legislators and City-County Council members this week, I’m convinced one of the mechanisms to raise revenue for this shortfall is going to be a ticket tax hike. People buying tickets to sports and entertainment events at Conseco Fieldhouse, Lucas Oil Stadium and Victory Field are already getting dinged with a 6 percent tax. It soon could be 7 percent or 8 percent, maybe even 9 percent. For every 1 percent the ticket tax is raised, that would bring in between $600,000 and $800,000 annually from Pacers, Colts and Indians games. Other ticketed events in those venues would add to the till. Still, a ticket tax is only part of the answer to making up the shortfall, but as far as I can tell, it’s the most popular part. So, despite all the teams’ efforts not to raise ticket prices, those prices will be increasing.
“Of all the potential funding sources, the ticket tax makes the most sense to me,” said City-County Councilwoman Joanne Sanders, Democrat minority leader. “I think true users of the facility should have to pay. The direct use is an important thing to look at.”
City-County Council President Bob Cockrum, a Republican, also thinks an increased ticket tax is a logical option. But he also thinks the teams should pitch in. Good luck with that. And he has another interesting idea. Cockrum said one potential source is a one-quarter of 1 percent income tax on people who work in Marion County, but live in other counties. As a resident of Marion County, that sounds good to me. But I wonder how my co-workers from Johnson and Hamilton counties will feel about that.
Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, a key fiscal leader in the state legislature, might have the best take. Or at least the most realistic. When asked about possible funding sources for the CIB’s budgetary shortfall, Kenley responded, “Anything is possible.”
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Think that tax on Indians games is a load of bunk!
And the Colts portion (reported $50 mil) came straight from the City for breaking the Dome lease....of which they had to break since we were building a new home for the Colts.
I have been through this a dozen times, but once more won't hurt. Colts total contrib is $100 million. $49 million or so up front and the other $51 or so was their payment for the City breaking the lease. The City needed to break a lease that was very favorable to the Colts. The City was to pay the Colts something like $15 to $20 million a year for 6 years to keep them middle of the pack. So the City worked a deal with the Colts to break that lease and create a new one that gave the Colts no guaranteed money. The Colts could have taken that $51 million or so and put it in the bank, spent it on helicopters or whatever. But Irsay agreed to reinvest it into the stadium, something he did not have to do.
Thanks Anthony for the numbers. So the City paid for half of a single use stadium, private donations (Lilly, etc...) paid for about 1/4th and the Indians through rent picked up the other 1/4th. Of course I assume the City had to put out the Indians 1/4th and pay the interest costs on it. Again, I am fine with the Indians deal, but everyone has to remember, that the stadium is only a single use facility that does not have a major financial impact on Indy, certainly not 1/10th of what Lucas Oil does.
The Pacers have taken to the airwaves to promote their community contributions ahead of the renegotiation. They boast about the money they have contributed to charities in, among other things, tickets. Wow! They gave away tickets that they could not sell and include them in the gift to the city?
The Colts refuse to renegotiate (why would they, they already have everything they want) while at the same time continuing a cycle of overpaying players and raising ticket prices!
Meanwhile, we have the Indians. They pay the lease according to its terms, they pay for the operations of their own stadium, they pay a ticket tax that is already too high as a result of the Colts and Pacers, they make a profit... despite keeping ticket costs flat the last three seasons.
It's time for the citizens of Indianapolis to stand up for the Indians. Tell the CIB enough is enough!
How stupid do you think people are? The Colts demanded a new stadium or they would move. We did just that. Then the Colts demanded $50 million for breaing the lease on the old place. Then they waive that so they can count that as their contributon to the new stadium. Are you serious? How stupid do you think people are?
So the City had to break the RCA Dome lease because it was too favorable to the Colts? You're kidding right? The Lucas Oil Stadium lease is a 1000 times wore.
My point is look at the economic impact the Colts and LoS has compared to the Indians. When was the last time the Indians were a national news story? Or for that matter, even a local one? I love the indians, but they and the single use stadium have a far smaller impact on Indy than the LoS, or Colts.
Last I read, both the Colts and Pacers are willing to work with the City. Bart made a bad deal when it came to running LoS. He assumed he could push through the casino deal and be rolling in dough. When that failed, he had no plan B to pay for its maintenance. It is not the Colts fault Bart screwed up. How would you like it if you rented an office at a really good deal just to have the landlord come back a year later and want to renegotiate because he screwed up? While it is not the Colts or Pacers fault, I do hope they step up to make up the difference. It will give them both good will in the city.
Colts pay $250k in rent. Indians pay $500k. PLUS the Colts receive revenue from all other events held at LOS.
Indians should be exempt from a tax.
CIB portion of Victory was paid by selling the naming rights to the Dome to RCA. I wonder who profits from naming LOS? Colts.
First question. Show me where Irsay, or anyone associated with the Colts demanded a new stadium or they would leave. I remember quite the opposite. Irsay said several times that he was not looking elsewhere and wanted to stay here.
Second, show me where the Colts demanded to break their contract? They were guaranteed between $90 million and $120 million with the old contract to be paid by the City. If the city renegged, then the Colts could bolt and still sue the City for breach which could cost much more than the above costs. Instead, they accepted the Cities request to renegotiate it with no guarantees.
They then give that $51 million back to the LoS on top of the $49 million Irsay also gave. Something they did not have to do.
I do not agree that the new contract is 1,000 times worse for the city. The number one thing it did was to free the city from making guaranteed contract payments out of the city coffers. You think there are issues now, imagine what they would be if we were forking over $15 million plus in cash from taxpayer funds to the Colts in this economy. And with all that said, we would still be dealing with a too small, out of date stadium that was in the path of the CC expansion. I think the new contract is much better than the old one. As I have stated before, much of the LoS shortfall is short term. With the CC under expansion, the convention business is light. Even less than with the RCA Dome. When it is complete in 2010 and even more so when the JW is done in 2011, the income will increase greatly which will lower the deficit.
I do not think people are stupid, just uninformed. Many form their opinions from other peoples opinions and not facts. Once the facts are known, their arguments usually go away as do they.
With the Colts you are looking at $4 for a $100 ticket. These dollars will not break anyone bank. Couple that with increased revenue in the future from a fully functioning CC/LoS complex and the cost savings the CIB is enacting, and much of that deficit is going away.