Jerry Reinsdorf Needs To Take His Request For ONE BILLION DOLLARS From The Broke State Of Illinois And Shove It Up His Ass

Yahoo Sports - White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf has made his pitch to the state of Illinois for a new stadium.

Reinsdorf met with lawmakers on Tuesday in an attempt to secure public funding for a new stadium in Chicago's South Loop, FOX 32 has confirmed.

This comes after a report from Crain's Business Chicago last week that said Reinsdorf is preparing to ask lawmakers for $1 billion in public funding.

"We recognize discussions about The 78 serving as the future home of the Chicago White Sox have generated a lot of excitement over the potential of the larger project’s positive economic impact," The Chicago White Sox said in a written statement. "We are mindful and respectful of the legislative process and wanted to travel to Springfield to meet personally with legislative leaders. We’re excited to share our vision, and we appreciate their time and hospitality."

Crain's reported that Reinsdorf was preparing to ask Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and other state leaders for about $1 billion in public money to build the new White Sox stadium in the South Loop.

Pritzker originally voiced his concerns regarding the new stadium on Feb. 9.

"It looks beautiful and obviously we all want our professional teams to succeed in Illinois," Pritzker said earlier this month. "We need to be careful about how we use public dollars and a private business like a pro team, even if they are beloved by so many people, are nevertheless similar to lots of businesses in the state."

Sometimes you see a headline that leaves you in such awe and disbelief you have to check and make sure you're not in The Twilight Zone. This headline fits the bill.

I can't believe I'm invoking this dweeb, but Bill Simmons had it right. "Billionaires should pay for their own fucking stadiums."

This is honestly bonkers. You almost have to respect it.

In an era where billionaires routinely flex their financial muscles, Jerry Reinsdorf, Chairman of the dumpster fire Chicago White Sox, just attempted a powerlift that has the entire city of Chicago—and frankly, anyone with a sense of fiscal responsibility—raising their eyebrows. The pitch? A cool $1 BILLION from the state of Illinois, (a state that is more than $65 BILLION in debt), for a new stadium, because apparently, when you're a billionaire, you ask for the moon and hope to land in the South Loop.

White Sox Dave was all over the renderings release a couple weeks ago-

and to be perfectly honest, they freaking crushed them. The new project looks beautiful. It will be a huge win for an area that's been in limbo for way too long, the South Loop, invigorating acres and acres of land that has sat there barren forever, right along the river and major arteries. Just going to waste. It will create jobs, businesses, and tax revenue. It will incredible property taxes and allow the city to find and invent new ways to reach in our pockets and fuck us. 

But no so fast my friend.

Reinsdorf's move isn't just bold; it's Olympic-level gymnastics of logic. He met with lawmakers in Springfield yesterday, not with plans to invest his own riches, but with a proposal that essentially asks a financially struggling state to foot the bill for his new sports castle. And not just any castle, but a billion-dollar monument to the White Sox in Chicago's South Loop, complete with all the modern trimmings.

Reinsdorf isn't reinventing the wheel here; he's rolling out the same old stadium funding playbook, but with a twist that only a billionaire could muster. 

The claim that a new stadium will be the economic savior of the area is a tale as old as time, or at least as old as taxpayer-funded stadiums. Reinsdorf's pitch includes dazzling numbers like a $4 billion economic impact and $200 million in tax revenue. But as any skeptic worth their salt will tell you, these figures often have the substance of a Chicago hot dog without the toppings—mostly fluff.

The best part of the whole thing? 

The White Sox still haven't paid the state and the city back for the dump they play in now! 

And this isn't the first time Reinsdorf has pulled this stunt by threatening to move the team if he doesn't get what he wants.

Illinois Policy.org - The sports facilities authority still owes $50 million on the current Sox stadium, which opened in 1991, and $589 million on the 2002 renovation of Soldier Field.

Those bonds are supposed to be repaid with a 2% city hotel tax, plus $5 million annually each from the city and state. But those funds weren’t enough to cover the debt in the past two years, forcing the city to pay $36 million extra to cover the difference.

Efforts to publicly finance the stadium were the product of threats by White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf to move the team to Florida. Prompted by Reinsdorf’s threats, then-Gov. Jim Thompson and then-Chicago Mayor Harold Washington collaborated in drafting a measure to create a special-purpose government authority for the construction of a new baseball stadium. The bill failed to make it out of the General Assembly at first. But lawmakers passed a similar bill months later, creating the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, or ISFA, through which officials issued $120 million in revenue bonds to fund the construction of a 45,000-seat baseball stadium.

Reinsdorf, however, was unsatisfied with the $120 million package and continued to weigh a Florida relocation. And by 1988, Florida lawmakers had already approved a deal to accommodate the team – “Florida White Sox” merchandise even started to appear on the market. But in June 1988, Thompson made an 11th-hour push to keep the White Sox in Chicago. Under pressure from the governor, state lawmakers approved a $150 million subsidy for the new stadium in the final hour of spring session – purportedly unplugging the clock on the House floor to cheat the midnight deadline.

The White Sox remained in Chicago, and the new Comiskey Park opened in 1991. The stadium was renamed U.S. Cellular Field in 2003, and Guaranteed Rate Field in 2016.

According to a 2017 financial report, ISFA’s combined fund deficits stand at $207.5 million. And taxpayers are still on the hook for debt repayments following a series of renovations at Guaranteed Rate Field and an overhaul of Soldier Field completed in 2003.

Through Chicago hotel tax revenue and a combined $10 million in annual state and local subsidies, taxpayers can expect to continue shouldering these costs for decades. More recently, a cancelled concert at Guaranteed Rate Field cost taxpayers more than $1 million in 2017, when ISFA failed to obtain a full refund for the $1.6 million spent on the event.

No stadium pitch would be complete without the not-so-subtle hint that the team could pack up and leave if the demands aren't met. This time, Reinsdorf added a personal touch, hinting at his own mortality as a reason to secure the deal now, lest the White Sox become the next big export from Chicago, possibly to a city like Nashville. Because the most important thing to White Sox fans is getting this deal done and park built while Jerry is still alive right? 

In the end, Reinsdorf's billion-dollar ask feels not just like a swing and a miss in a city that loves its sports but is growing weary of the financial games behind the scenes. It feels like the most tone-deaf slap in the face to people who are already overtaxed and looking for reasons to justify still living here. In an age where public funds are stretched thin, the idea of diverting a BILLION dollars to a new baseball stadium when the old one is still standing, and the state has more pressing needs, is fucking lunacy. Which means in this state, it will probably get done while we the plebs get stuck holding the bag.