ARLINGTON (WBAP/KLIF News) – Opponents of a new ballpark in Arlington said a poll by the Fort Worth Star Telegram and WFAA-TV shows that people are questioning whether the city should be offering the Texas Rangers so much money.
“In the dog and pony show that happened a couple of weeks ago, [the city] made these talks about billions of dollars in development. We have good attorneys that work for the Rangers. They could put in a contract that they will do X,Y and Z, but they haven’t done that,” said Warren Norred, who represents the group, “Save Our Stadium.”
Norred said development has not followed the Rangers or the Cowboys to the Entertainment District.
“No other city has come forward with a plan to lure the Rangers away from Arlington. It’s just a race. It’s a race between a campaign that’s dedicated to emotionalism versus a campaign that wants to deal with mundane facts. Mundane usually gets beat by emotionalism,” said Norred.
The poll released Monday showed both sides tied with 16% of voters undecided.
An investigation by WFAA-TV into the proposed deal between the city and Texas Rangers to build a retractable-roof stadium shows it may not be a 50/50 split afterall.
Arlington Attorney Jim Runzheimer said the city raising $500 million for their part in building the stadium doesn’t paint the full picture. “That leaves out the hundreds of millions of additional dollars that have to be paid for interest over the life of the retirement of the bond,” Runzheimer told WFAA-TV.
He said interest, depending on rates, could be an extra $500 million.
WFAA-TV reported that the actual cost and lost revenues to the city could be closer to $1.675 billion over 30 years. It factored in additional elements like stadium naming rights and seat licenses.
“This is totally one-sided,” said Runzheimer. “This has to be close the best deal ever cut in favor of a professional sports franchise and a government entity. It’s incomprehensible.”
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