Still, we have enough information to make some--ahem--ballpark estimates: D.C.'s share Private share MD/VA share Rent payments $2.5m $3m $0 In-stadium taxes $4-5m $3-4m $4-5m Business tax $21-24m $0m $0 Total annual cost $27.5-31.5m $6-7m $4-5 Ignoring the poor bean-counters in Annapolis and Richmond for the moment, that's more than 80% public, less than 20% team--or roughly $320 million from D.C., and about $70 million from MLB's other 29 teams. That's not exactly a great deal for D.C. taxpayers, especially when you consider that the most recent team to cut a stadium deal, the St. Louis Cardinals, privately funded two-thirds of the total. (Press reports will tell you the Cards are paying three-quarters, but we've seen how far you can trust press reports--I've discussed the Cards' finance plan in greater detail elsewhere.) Still, it's also not the 100% publicly financed stadium that Bud hoped for when he set the Expos roulette wheel spinning; that MLB is apparently set to accept close to a fifth of the costs is a sign of how few other viable options they have. And if the D.C. council realizes this, then things could start to get interest- ing, because there's nothing stopping council members from whittling away at the public's cost between now and November. Once the MLB cabal sends up the white smoke, after all, it's not like they have many options: It's either accept what's offered by D.C., or take the Expos and retreat to the other 51st state to wallow in another year of red ink. How this all plays out will set an important precedent. For instance, when the A's sit down to negotiate a stadium deal, whether it's with Oakland, San Jose, or Portland, you know they're going to point to the D.C. deal in setting the "industry standard"--baseball franchise speak for "everybody else got away with it, so we should too." As the political machinations in D.C. unfold over the next three months, watch closely, for the wallet being tapped could some day be your own. 文章太長懶的翻~~ --

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