Oregon’s recent law taxing professional baseball players to finance a massive stadium project reeks of overambition masquerading as economic development. Governor Tina Kotek’s decision to approve a bill that imposes income taxes on athletes and team employees in both home and visiting teams shows a desperate gamble on attracting a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise that might not even materialize. The idea to back $800 million in bonds through these taxes to subsidize an astronomical $1.8 billion stadium in Portland’s Zidell Yards sounds less like fiscal prudence and more like political grandstanding cloaked in civic enthusiasm.
The premise is fundamentally flawed: using athletes’ incomes as collateral for a stadium that would benefit team owners and local officials more than the taxpayers footing the bill. Professional athletes already pay substantial taxes, and adding a targeted levy deepens the question of fairness in a state economy still recovering from multiple pandemic shocks. Instead of a visionary investment, this feels like a regressive tax scheme wrapped in the excitement of finally “getting” a major league team—at what cost, communities and honest taxpayers must wonder.
Overhyping the MLB Expansion Narrative
Senator Mark Meek’s assertion that this bill might be Oregon’s “last opportunity in decades” is more hyperbolic than helpful. MLB has 30 established teams, and while Commissioner Rob Manfred has floated expanding to 32 teams by 2029, this is far from guaranteed. The history of sports franchises relocating or expanding is littered with empty promises and financial pitfalls. This law assumes MLB will pick Portland over other contenders like Salt Lake City, Charlotte, or Nashville, cities with more established sports infrastructure and broader regional appeal.
Moreover, the increased bonds—from an originally proposed $150 million in 2003 to $800 million now—reflect a skyrocketing cost that few taxpayers seem ready to accept. The Portland Diamond Project’s cheerleading cannot mask the fact that this stadium project is a speculative venture on a highly saturated professional sports market with entrenched economic realities.
Revenue Sharing’s False Promise
The law mandates a revenue-sharing agreement requiring the franchise to pay the state 1% of gross baseball-related revenues annually. At first glance, this seems like a reasonable safeguard. But this 1% threshold is negligible in the context of a multi-billion-dollar public investment. The requirement for audits and revenue sharing after potential team relocations also sounds good on paper—until you realize the franchise could game these figures or relocate after benefiting from state subsidies, leaving Oregon holding the bag.
Furthermore, this revenue goes into the state’s general fund, a pot of money swallowed by endless competing budget priorities. It’s naive to expect that the influx will directly improve infrastructure, local communities, or address inequality. Instead, it feeds a political narrative of progress while masking the economic risks should the team fail or leave.
A Risky Political Showpiece with Dubious Economic Benefits
From a center-right, economically liberal perspective, this legislation represents a worrying overreach of government into the realms better served by private investment and market dynamics. Sporting venues funded primarily by public bonds tend to underdeliver on promised job creation and economic stimulus while saddling taxpayers with enormous debt. Governments should focus more on infrastructure, education, or healthcare—not subsidizing billionaire team owners and the sports establishment.
The underlying assumption that a major league team will bring “excitement” and prosperity to Portland is at best optimistic and at worst dangerously speculative. While civic pride is important, it shouldn’t come at the expense of fiscal responsibility or sound governance. Kotek’s stamp of approval may please sports fans, but history teaches that public finances rarely benefit when politics and sports collide in costly stadium schemes like this one.
Portland’s Future is Not in Sports Subsidies
Portlanders deserve a government that prioritizes sustainable growth and prudent spending over big-ticket vanity projects. This MLB stadium plan, pushed with overt political excitement and questionable public support, risks plunging state coffers further into debt for an uncertain payoff. The glaring disconnect between the financial mechanism—taxing athletes to pay off bonds—and potential benefits to every day residents is a cautionary tale. Governments must resist the temptation to chase flashy, costly sports projects in favor of policies grounded in economic realism and accountability.