EDITORIAL: Reject soccer stadium

How appropriate that today’s soccer stadium pep rally at City Hall will feature a fresh blanket of astroturf.

The City Council will vote on a plan for a $200 million, 24,000-seat downtown stadium, contingent upon an ownership group obtaining a Major League Soccer franchise, that would require taxpayers to back more than 75 percent of the venue’s costs through bonds, a sales tax and hotel room taxes. It’s a horrible deal for a city that already can’t afford its existing obligations.

The plan was announced a week before today’s meeting, after two public meetings on the plan were canceled. The lack of time before today’s vote, which conveniently follows a holiday weekend, could limit organized opposition to the plan. Meanwhile, soccer fans (many of whom do not fully understand the financing) are sharing their enthusiasm through social media and a CrowdHall online forum promoted via the city’s Twitter account. And the city’s private partners, The Cordish Cos. and Findlay Sports and Entertainment, want to pack City Hall with kids in soccer jerseys. No grass roots here.

There will be a lot of pressure on City Council members to vote yes today — from a loud audience and Mayor Carolyn Goodman, the driving force behind this deal. But they need only look at MLS stadium boondoggles in Chicago and New York for reasons to vote no. Taxpayers in those communities are being kicked in the groin — and the city of Las Vegas actually cited Chicago’s stadium, 100 percent publicly financed, as a “comparable deal” in a fact sheet released last week!

This is a huge gamble with lousy odds. Yes, a vote in favor of the stadium would require final council approval in December. But soccer fans cheering the plan won’t be so happy if the city one day has to cut services to repay construction debt. The council must vote no on this misguided pitch.