After 22 seasons playing in the current ball park in Arlington, Texas, the Rangers are now looking at building another place to call home in Arlington, the city between the majors, Fort Worth and Dallas. Under the current name of Globe Life Park, formerly called The Ballpark in Arlington, Ameriquest Field, and Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, this modern structure build by a half cent sales tax from the citizens that spend their dollars in said city of Arlington, is now not good enough for the owners of the Texas Rangers, and they will demand a new structure that will limit the extreme heat of the summer for the players and fans alike. Another example of professional ownership putting the screws to the citizens of a city to fund a private corporation for profit with a sly taste of extortion in the mix. You build it or we move our team elsewhere, say to Dallas, Irving, or somewhere on I-20 in the Metroplex.
Lets get down to the dirt. The Texas Rangers built the current ballpark knowing that the summers in North Texas were always going to be brutal. Foresight is not something that is practiced in Texas, yes? They were building a hell on earth in 1993 and anyone with a lick of sense could understand why the Houston Astros had build their Astrodome in the seventies; because of the heat and humidity of the south Texas coast. A brick oven where the air does not move because there are no doors in this ballpark. Smoke’em (the fans) if you have’em. The Rangers and the City of Arlington were as dumb as shit when the ballpark went up without a roof and air conditioning. Now some twenty years plus later they want to bulldoze the magnificent structure to build again, another tax payer monstrosity so they can keep major league baseball in the city of Arlington that now would have a roof with air cooled amenities. A quote by Paul Kurilecz sums it up:
Neither the Rangers or the Cowboys will ever move to Dallas. Quite simply, Arlington has a 1/2 cent sales tax available that will pay for stadiums. Dallas does not have even close to the same tax revenue stream.
Please also be truthful, this isn’t the City of Arlington making the funds available, it is the citizens of Arlington that allow themselves and others to be taxed. The City of Arlington has been using this 1/2 cent sales tax for so long for these kind of ventures that the citizens of Arlington no longer seem to notice it.
Basically, the City of Arlington is giving a 1/2 billion dollar or more subsidy to a private enterprise for dubious reasons.
The continual fleecing of the tax payers in the country to build sports complex’s for the rich and powerful sports owners continues to take the day. Reports say that the city of Arlington would propose another sales tax to the voters and the cost of the new stadium, currently at 900 million dollars would be evenly split by the city of Arlington and the Rangers themselves.
Yes, again it is hot in Texas for baseball in the summer. But that is not all that is pushing the cart. Development around the current stadium is basically parking lots. The city of Arlington and the businessmen that want this to happen, including the Texas Rangers, see big dollars in using the citizens sales tax to bring a wide and diverse entertainment and shopping district to this part of the city. Yes, lets not make the men with the money pay for “their” development. Put it squarely on the shoulders of the tax payers.
This winter, the Rangers and the city of Arlington announced a $200 million public-private development adjacent to Globe Life Park. Than just a week or so ago. it was revealed that the city plans to pay off its debt on AT&T Stadium (Jerry’s World and home of the Dallas Cowboys) nearly seven years early, in 2021. That news was expected to improve the city’s credit rating, making it easier to borrow for other long-term projects.
The Rangers have also purchased the adjoining parking lots from former team owner Tom Hicks. Thus, the Rangers now have control of the surrounding property for additional development or just the revenue generated by the parking lots. The rich get richer and the tax payers foot the bill. Good luck with that. By the way, expect the new facility to be ready for the 2022 season and ticket prices will be through the (new) roof.
