Your dogged pursuit of the Florida Marlins demonstrates determination if nothing else and your plan to raise $400 to $600 million in private equity capital to make your Brooklyn Renaissance plan a reality the very definition of a big idea. However, questions linger. Big questions.
How much money would the Marlins have to contribute to a new Charlotte home? Solid numbers have been hard to come by in their dispute with Miami-Dade County with government officials there claiming they have been misled by the team.
How far along are you in raising that capital you need? That, of course, is the linchpin of the plan. A half-billion dollars can make a lot of things happen; plans for a half-billion, not so much.
What makes you think baseball fans in Chester will drive at least an hour each way on a Wednesday evening to see the Milwaukee Brewers? That, essentionally, is what you are saying major league baseball needs to be successful in the greater Charlotte market.
Have you had any discussions with officials at the Atlantic Coast Conference about possibly bringing the ACC men’s basketball tourney back to Charlotte? This possibility is clearly implied with your plan for a 40,000-seat facility for basketball. This is an interesting idea and would fill a hole in Charlotte’s collection of arenas and stadiums. But the ACC seems to be on the cusp of making Greensboro and Atlanta the home of the tourney for the forseeable future.
How much public financing would you need? You have said you only need tax increment financing for the public infrastructure of the project. Could you put a number on that — $5 million, $10 million? Do you plan to pay local property taxes on the stadium? Bank of America stadium, for example, pays about $2 million a year.
Finally, what would you re-name the team?
