3 Pro Sports Venues Cost $1.9 Billion

American Family Field. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Wisconsin taxpayers, local governments, sports teams, fans and visitors will pay $1.9 billion over several decades to build and remodel venues for three professional sports franchises, if the package to remodel American Family Field for the Brewers becomes law.

The American Family Field upgrade will cost a total of $697.9 million, including $546 million from state and local governments and $100 million from the Brewers.

According to a Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) summary, add that to the $524.1 million that Milwaukee’s Deer District, anchored by Fiserv Forum, for the Bucks cost, the $295.2 million remodeling of Lambeau Field for the Packers and the $395.2 million that the new Brewers stadium, Miller Park, cost before its 2001 opening.

The State Assembly passed, 69-27, the Brewers stadium remodeling package, sending it to the Senate. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers supports it.

Assembly members debated using $546 million in public funds for the Brewers, who would promise not to leave before 2050.

“We can’t help the average person in the state of Wisconsin, whether it be health care … housing… a plethora of issues, but we will move heaven and earth to make sure billionaires get what they want,” said Rep. Supreme Moore Omokunde, one of five Milwaukee Democrats who voted against the package.

“It’s irresponsible to give $546 million in taxpayer funds to a team that has increased more than $1 billion in value since the last time we used taxpayer funds to build them a stadium,” added Republican Rep. Adam Neylon.

But, said Republican Rep. Jessie Rodriguez, “This proposal will provide Milwaukee County with a net increase in revenues. [It] has buy-in from the locals, the state, and the Milwaukee Brewers themselves, which is a real home run.”

Financing for the project: $411 million in state funds, $67.5 million from Milwaukee County and $67.5 million from the City of Milwaukee ($2.5 million annual installments for each partially offset by lower state charge to collect local sales taxes); $100 million from the Brewers (higher annual rent and $50 million for capital projects) and $35 million in assets of the Baseball District.

A summary from LFB analyst Ryan Horton details how the other three major sports venues were financed.

–Milwaukee Bucks‘ “Deer District”: $524.1 million.

An April 2016 contract between the Wisconsin Center District (WCD) and the Milwaukee Bucks included the 30-year lease of a new sports and entertainment arena and a promise that the team would not relocate. The WCD gets revenue from a 7% City of Milwaukee room tax, a 0.5% food and beverage tax and 3% car rental tax.

Fiserv Forum opened on Sept. 4, 2018. An adjoining plaza and a parking structure were financed with $203 million in bonds, $47 million from the City of Milwaukee, a $100 million donation from former Bucks owner and retired U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl and $124 million from the team’s owners.

The contract requires a $2 per ticket surcharge, which raised $6.4 million between 2018 and 2022.

-Lambeau Field Remodel: $295.2 million.

In 1999, the Legislature and Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson created a Green Bay-Brown County Professional Football Stadium District to upgrade Lambeau Field, home of the Packers since 1957. That legislation authorized a 0.5% sales tax in Brown County to help pay for stadium improvements and maintenance, subject to passage of a referendum authorizing the surtax. On Sept. 12, 2000, Brown County voters approved it in a close vote, by 53% to 47%.

Lambeau Field’s upgrade was financed by $160 million in bond borrowing, $92.5 million in user fees (including a one-time $2,000 fee paid by season ticket holders), $9 million in state transportation funds, $20.6 million in stock sales and a $13 million loan from the National Football League.

The 0.5% sales tax was collected from Nov. 1, 2000, until Oct. 1, 2015. It raised a total of $310.9 million.

-Miller Park: $392.5 million construction cost.

In 1995, the Legislature and Thompson created a Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball District to build a new stadium for the Milwaukee Brewers to keep the team in Wisconsin. That legislation authorized a 0.1% sales tax in five counties — Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, Washington and Ozaukee — to help pay for the stadium and its maintenance. The deal required the Brewers to pay $1.2 million a year in rent through 2030.

Miller Park was financed by $255.9 million in borrowing by the District, $38.5 million in state transportation funds, $20.9 million from the City of Milwaukee, $40 million from the Brewers, $21 million in foundation loans, $16 million from Milwaukee County, a $14 million loan from Milwaukee Metropolitan Area Chamber of Commerce and $2 million from the Helfaer Foundation.

The Baseball District netted $609 million from the local sales tax between January 1996 and March 2020.

Is a $1.9 billion investment in the Bucks, Brewers and Packers worth it? That’s your call.

Steven Walters started covering the Capitol in 1988. Contact him at stevenscotwalters@gmail.com