[Mpls] Carl Pohlad's "Contribution"

[Jim McGuire]

I'm somewhat of an agnostic on the stadium deal, but the more I read about 
it the more I'm annoyed with how it's being spun in the media.  My biggest 
annoyance?  Carl Pohlad's "contribution" of $125m.  If Pohlad was truly 
contributing that money out of his pocket, I'd be more inclined to support 
the concept.  I love baseball, and it is a really small tax.  (Don't get me 
wrong, I still struggle with this because I think there are other prioriies 
- such as proposals for a metro-wide .25 pct tax for transit).

What bugs me the most is reading that Pohlad owns the naming rights.  I 
just read that the average received by pro teams for naming rights is 
$54.6m (the Wild are getting considerably more for the Xcel Center so I'd 
consider the $54.6 to be a low estimate as to what Pohlad gets).  I'd say, 
roughly, half of his "contribution" is coming from naming rights.

If the media would tell us that clearly that'd be one thing.  Maybe that's 
been covered well in more in-depth stories and I've missed it, but I 
consider the repeated statement of Pohlad's "contribution" to be a snow-job.

Jim McGuire
Como

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