Baltimore Sun on John Angelos being transparent

[Going Underground]

10 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

With them no longer getting the big advertising above the scoreboard, I'm guess the gloves are allowed to come off when it comes to criticism. Face it, anyone who ever went after the organization in any way, including me, eventually gets black balled. 

The other thing to remember is with MASN, the Orioles can control the narrative. They can't elsewhere any longer.

When Ken Rosenthal wrote for the Sun and wrote an article critical of the Orioles, Peter Angelis used to call the sports editor and threaten to stop advertising in the paper. That is when the Orioles would advertise in the paper before the internet exploded and now do it online mostly.

Edited March 29, 2023 by Going Underground

[sevastras]

1 hour ago, Can_of_corn said:

Anyone think Nashville is going to spend a billion or so on a new stadium in this economy?

The state of the economy doesn’t effect everyone or everything, certainly doesn’t effect a city. 

[Aristotelian]

Please sell the team to a competent owner. This has gone on long enough. 

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, sevastras said:

The state of the economy doesn’t effect everyone or everything, certainly doesn’t effect a city. 

You are saying the increase in the prime interest rate doesn't effect cities?

[sevastras]

Just now, Can_of_corn said:

You are saying the increase in the prime interest rate doesn't effect cities?

Not to the extent that it effects others. The stadium would likely go through a bond anyways. The cost is passed on to the tax base and isn’t really a budget measure. 

[Can_of_corn]

3 minutes ago, sevastras said:

Not to the extent that it effects others. The stadium would likely go through a bond anyways. The cost is passed on to the tax base and isn’t really a budget measure. 

Oh, so not as much. 

They do have to make the bond attractive to investors right?

The cost of borrowing has gone up.

[sevastras]

2 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Oh, so not as much. 

They do have to make the bond attractive to investors right?

The cost of borrowing has gone up.

My point is that they aren’t paying for it anyways, the tax payer is paying it therefore they don’t care if the interest rate is 3% or 8%, they are building it either way. That said, I don’t see the Os being allowed to move to Nashville. More likely they get a team through expansion along with Vegas. 

[Going Underground]

11 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Oh, so not as much. 

They do have to make the bond attractive to investors right?

The cost of borrowing has gone up.

You want the bonds to be rated highly when they go on the market. You don't want them to be unattractive to investors or if the Maryland economy turns south. Maryland is already talking about a budget deficit in the near term. Also the bonds could get called in a certain market or possibly but not likely default. 

Also this is slightly different this time around:

Under the new approach, approved last spring by the General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Larry Hogan, the stadium authority can borrow up to $1.2 billion to pay for stadium improvements — $600 million each for the Orioles and Ravens. But no bonds can be issued without a lease, and the lease must be long enough to pay off the longest-term bonds.

Edited March 29, 2023 by Going Underground

[Frobby]

50 minutes ago, sevastras said:

The state of the economy doesn’t effect everyone or everything, certainly doesn’t effect a city. 

Sure it does.   Cities run on taxes. Worse economy = less taxes collected.  

[Going Underground]

Economy did effect the Raven bond sale.

As of March 13, 2023, project is cancelled. Project will rebid but no definite date yet.** https://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/news/2023/03/07/baltimore-ravens-stadium-upgrades-financing.html After promising the Baltimore Ravens up to $600 million worth of upgrades to their stadium if the team resigned its lease, the Maryland Stadium Authority is now exploring how to finance those renovations amid a difficult economic environment. Chief Financial Officer David Raith told the Stadium Authority’s board on Tuesday that the agency won’t be able to finance $435 million in planned improvements to M&T Bank Stadium with only tax-exempt bonds and is seeking the OK to find a bank loan or other financing to pay for up to $200 million of the project costs. Financing updates to the Baltimore Ravens stadium primarily using tax-exempt bonds, a cheaper option, won’t work because those types of bonds have to be spent in a three-year period. If the money is not spent in three years, Raith said the authority would be at risk of being penalized by the Internal Revenue Service. “I knew there was no way we could spend $600 million in three years,” Raith told the Baltimore Business Journal after the meeting. Raith wants to split the $435 million cost into two methods of financing — $235 million in tax-exempt revenue bonds and $200 million in taxable financing. That money could be raised through a letter of credit, a taxable bond deal or a bank loan. Acquiring taxable debt will be costly as Raith predicted the $200 million in taxable financing would have an interest rate of 5.6%, compared to 3.6% for the tax-exempt bonds. He said the agency would prefer a bank loan for the $200 million because the agency would not have to pay interest until it starts using the loan funds, which could save millions of dollars a year. But Raith said he first needs to see if there are any lenders interested in ponying up the money. “I just don’t know whether there is enough commitment from the banking community for something like that,” he said. The renovations are part of a plan by the state to incentivize both the Ravens and Orioles to stay put in Baltimore. The Maryland General Assembly last year passed House Bill 896, which allowed the stadium authority to borrow $1.2 billion in bonds to pay for improvements to both stadiums. The stadium improvement funds were used as a carrot to get the teams to sign long-term leases. Once the team signed a lease, it would then get access to $600 million. The Ravens in January signed a 15-year lease extension that keeps the team at M&T Bank Stadium until 2037. The signing of the lease started a one-year period for the stadium authority to get financing in place for planned upgrades to M&T Bank Stadium. The Ravens could not be reached for comment. To get all $435 million for renovations financed as quickly as possible, the stadium authority approved a measure on Tuesday allowing Raith to start exploring how he wants to secure the $200 million in taxable borrowing. But the authority also needs the Maryland General Assembly to pass legislation that would allow dual financing for the project. House Bill 524 introduced in Annapolis would create separate financing funds for both the Ravens and Orioles project costs. The clock is ticking for Raith to secure this funding. He said a potential increase by the Federal Reserve of the federal interest rate could cost the authority and taxpayers millions more. “With rising interest rates, the [Maryland Stadium Authority] is trying to get to market as soon as possible to get the best interest rates and generate as much money as possible to ensure we can complete the projects,” Raith said. Unlike the Ravens, the Orioles have yet to sign a lease. The Orioles' lease is up at the end of 2023 and Raith said if the Orioles sign a long-term lease the stadium authority would have to repeat this process again. Raith said he was surprised that the Ravens lease agreement happened first because the team's deal still had five years left on it. “I don’t think anyone expected that the Ravens would be the first ones to the plate because the Orioles' lease was the one that really was a top priority,” Raith said.

[sevastras]

6 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Sure it does.   Cities run on taxes. Worse economy = less taxes collected.  

That is assuming everything is static. Do you think they have lowered the property tax assessment from 4 years ago or raised it?  I don’t live in Nashville, but I do know real estate and my taxes have increased over 30% on most of my properties and the economy was better 4 years ago than it is now.  Yes there are things like hotel taxes and I believe they also have their own city sales tax but like I said, a stadium would be a bond measure and that money would be reflected in an increase on property tax so no the economy doesn’t effect if they build a stadium or not. I could see a scenario where the bond doesn’t get passed, but I am sure there will be a pretty picture painted about the economic impact of a stadium. 

[tntoriole]

1 hour ago, Going Underground said:

When Ken Rosenthal wrote for the Sun and wrote an article critical of the Orioles, Peter Angelis used to call the sports editor and threaten to stop advertising in the paper. That is when the Orioles would advertise in the paper before the internet exploded and now do it online mostly.

I always liked the News-American myself 

[Going Underground]

6 minutes ago, Going Underground said:

Economy did effect the Raven bond sale.

As of March 13, 2023, project is cancelled. Project will rebid but no definite date yet.** https://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/news/2023/03/07/baltimore-ravens-stadium-upgrades-financing.html After promising the Baltimore Ravens up to $600 million worth of upgrades to their stadium if the team resigned its lease, the Maryland Stadium Authority is now exploring how to finance those renovations amid a difficult economic environment. Chief Financial Officer David Raith told the Stadium Authority’s board on Tuesday that the agency won’t be able to finance $435 million in planned improvements to M&T Bank Stadium with only tax-exempt bonds and is seeking the OK to find a bank loan or other financing to pay for up to $200 million of the project costs. Financing updates to the Baltimore Ravens stadium primarily using tax-exempt bonds, a cheaper option, won’t work because those types of bonds have to be spent in a three-year period. If the money is not spent in three years, Raith said the authority would be at risk of being penalized by the Internal Revenue Service. “I knew there was no way we could spend $600 million in three years,” Raith told the Baltimore Business Journal after the meeting. Raith wants to split the $435 million cost into two methods of financing — $235 million in tax-exempt revenue bonds and $200 million in taxable financing. That money could be raised through a letter of credit, a taxable bond deal or a bank loan. Acquiring taxable debt will be costly as Raith predicted the $200 million in taxable financing would have an interest rate of 5.6%, compared to 3.6% for the tax-exempt bonds. He said the agency would prefer a bank loan for the $200 million because the agency would not have to pay interest until it starts using the loan funds, which could save millions of dollars a year. But Raith said he first needs to see if there are any lenders interested in ponying up the money. “I just don’t know whether there is enough commitment from the banking community for something like that,” he said. The renovations are part of a plan by the state to incentivize both the Ravens and Orioles to stay put in Baltimore. The Maryland General Assembly last year passed House Bill 896, which allowed the stadium authority to borrow $1.2 billion in bonds to pay for improvements to both stadiums. The stadium improvement funds were used as a carrot to get the teams to sign long-term leases. Once the team signed a lease, it would then get access to $600 million. The Ravens in January signed a 15-year lease extension that keeps the team at M&T Bank Stadium until 2037. The signing of the lease started a one-year period for the stadium authority to get financing in place for planned upgrades to M&T Bank Stadium. The Ravens could not be reached for comment. To get all $435 million for renovations financed as quickly as possible, the stadium authority approved a measure on Tuesday allowing Raith to start exploring how he wants to secure the $200 million in taxable borrowing. But the authority also needs the Maryland General Assembly to pass legislation that would allow dual financing for the project. House Bill 524 introduced in Annapolis would create separate financing funds for both the Ravens and Orioles project costs. The clock is ticking for Raith to secure this funding. He said a potential increase by the Federal Reserve of the federal interest rate could cost the authority and taxpayers millions more. “With rising interest rates, the [Maryland Stadium Authority] is trying to get to market as soon as possible to get the best interest rates and generate as much money as possible to ensure we can complete the projects,” Raith said. Unlike the Ravens, the Orioles have yet to sign a lease. The Orioles' lease is up at the end of 2023 and Raith said if the Orioles sign a long-term lease the stadium authority would have to repeat this process again. Raith said he was surprised that the Ravens lease agreement happened first because the team's deal still had five years left on it. “I don’t think anyone expected that the Ravens would be the first ones to the plate because the Orioles' lease was the one that really was a top priority,” Raith said.

Also by the Orioles  not signing the lease earlier and if interest rates continue to raise the taxpayers will be on the hook for more of the cost. Plus if they have to get a bank loan for some of the financing that would also cost more. But John cares about the city and state bu making the citizens pay more. Thank you John ,us citizens appreciate all you do for us.We need more press releases with the Governor