The Cubs are trying to get the State of Illinois to issue $300 million of bonds to help renovate Wrigley Field. The Cubs claim that no new taxes would be needed to pay off the bonds and that no current tax monies would be diverted to pay off the bonds. Instead of the bonds would be paid from the additional tax revenue that will come in the future, from the 12% entertainment tax on Cubs tickets, when the Cubs sell more tickets or raise ticket prices. In other words, the government will still get the same amount of taxes it is getting now from the tax on Cubs tickets, but it won’t get any mores. Any additional amount would go to pay off the bonds.
Obviously, this is silly, just like the bonds for Soldier Field or Comiskey Park (n/k/a U.S. Cellular Field, a/k/a Cominskey [sic] Park) were silly. It shouldn’t be done.
But that is not what I wanted to talk about. In the e-mail Tom Ricketts sent to Cubs season ticket holders and people in the Wrigleyville neighborhood about the idea, he said, inter alia:
“The Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field account for more than $600 million annually in impact to the local economy …. This spending supports more than 7,000 jobs and generates more than $230 million in annual personal earnings.”
Mr. Ricketts doesn’t say whether the salaries of the Cubs’ players are included in the $230 million. They probably aren’t, but in any case, consider that just five Chicago Cubs players (Soriano, Zambrano, Ramirez, Fukudome and Dempster) will, by themselves, earn $81,475,000 in 2011, an amount which is over 35% of that $230 million. (Here.)
7,000 jobs earning $230,000,000. 5 jobs earning $81,475,000. Amazing.
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