This is absolutely ridiculous and a total bastardization of not only what I have said previously, but also of the reasons behind bringing a team here.
In previous threads and posts I have mentioned that sales taxes from games would indeed add to the tax base of the city and the state, and yes, that people would be employed, adding their income taxes to the mix. I also said, yes, that players and team staff would also spend money in the market, providing work for service people and other businesses.
But that is hardly what this is about. Those things are quite incremental, and the fact that you think this is what the team relocation thrust is about demonstrates an inability to grasp the big-picture aspects of this move. Don't worry; you're not alone. A number of people have a hard time seeing the big picture.
But the big picture is this: one of the highest priorities companies have when looking to expand or relocate into a market is what type of quality of life their employees will be able to enjoy. A good quality of life allows them to attract and retain quality people with less effort. "Quality of life" ranges from cost of living (we have one of the lowest in the country) to parks and greenspaces (we have spent tens of millions in the past few years and have big plans for the future), trails (our trails system is going nuts), plus arts and entertainment opportunities.
"Entertainment opportunities," as defined by site relocation specialists, is often
HEAVILY influenced by major league sports options. Additionally, corporations like to have major league sports options as a way to entertain clients. Therefore, getting a major league franchise is just another arrow in the quiver, and ostensibly will help us better compete for job expansion and retention.
If you don't believe that quality of life affects corporate relocation and expansion decisions, you obviously don't know the story of what sparked MAPS in the first place. Back in the early 90s, Oklahoma City and County passed a penny sales tax, contingent upon United Airlines locating a maintenance facility here. Talk about corporate welfare; it was basically a $100+ million bribe to the airline to convince them to bring the facility here, during the depths of the oil bust. Ultimately, it was down to Oklahoma City and Indianapolis. Airline officials throughout the process told OKC that their incentive package was by far the best, yet when the announcement was made they picked Indy.
Ron Norick, then OKC mayor, was crushed. He called United to find out why, when OKC had been willing to pay far more for the jobs. He was told, in a nutshell, that United simply didn't want its employees to have to live in Oklahoma City. Understandably ****ed, he got on a plane and went unannounced to Indy to see with his own eyes what he expected; Indy surely wasn't that much nicer than OKC.
Much to his surprise, he was wrong and United was right. Indy, who had recently spent a crapload of money and effort on its downtown, was indeed a nicer place. Incidentally, Indy had also built the Hoosier Dome (now known as the RCA Dome, and recently closed). The Hoosier Dome was built to barbones NFL standards with no tenant, much as the Ford Center was build. Very soon, the Colts relocated there.
But I digress. Norick was so blown away that he came back with an entirely new idea; that we needed to invest in ourselves, our downtown, our city and our quality of life and jobs would follow. Part of that original vision was to bring major league sports to Oklahoma City. So far, the plan has exceeded all expectations. So I'll give Norick and successive mayors, plus the chamber, other cities' chambers and professional relocation experts when they suggest that the big picture plan we are following is the correct one.
BTW, in 2000 I had the pleasure of having a conversation with
Bill Hudnut, the visionary mayor of Indy during their renaissance period, while we were both attending the International Downtown Association convention in Los Angeles, where he was keynote speaker. I had recently finished a book that he had written, and after discussing it for a few minutes, asked if he knew about what was going on in OKC, and how Indy had played a role. He had no idea, but was fascinated. He took a lot of pleasure in hearing how much of an influence Indy's experience had on OKC's.