Bloomberg: "Taxpayers Are Paying Dearly" for Pawtucket Soccer Stadium

Bloomberg: "Taxpayers Are Paying Dearly" for Pawtucket Soccer Stadium

A feature published in Bloomberg — the global business publication — writes, “Taxpayers are paying dearly to bring a pro-sports team back to the faded industrial city of Pawtucket, Rhode Island.”

The article focuses on the tremendous financial exposure taxpayers are taking on for the minor league stadium. The stadium will be owned 100% by private developers despite the significant state and local investment.

Bloomberg writes, “A few short years after losing the PawSox — the minor league affiliate of the Boston Red Sox — to Massachusetts, Pawtucket is betting it will be able to draw fans to a more than 10,000-seat stadium to see an untested, US pro soccer team playing in the sports’ second tier.”

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"The debt is backed by annual appropriations from Rhode Island state taxes — including sales and personal income levies — collected within a downtown Pawtucket redevelopment district. Appropriations are conditioned on the stadium opening, currently projected for March 2025. Over the next 29 years, the state is scheduled to appropriate $143 million in principal and interest payments," adds Bloomberg.

Pawtucket has also poured in $10 million in ARPA monies.

 

“There will be little benefit for the surrounding community"

The Bloomberg report picked up a number of the stories GoLocal had previously first reported, such as the Hilltop letter raising concerns about the financing scheme and cost of the bonds, but did add some additional critical news and perspective.

“There will be little benefit for the surrounding community, according to J.C. Bradbury, an economics professor at Kennesaw State University. ‘These are people who are already spending their money in the community, and when they’re going to a minor league soccer match, they’re not going to local restaurants, going to movies and engaging in other types of local purchases,’ he said,” reports Bloomberg.

Further, Bloomberg writes, “Unusual financing structures and the near unanimity of research among economists that stadiums don’t generate big economic benefits has drawn criticism, but not derailed the mixed-use project which kicked off construction in 2021.”

The big news Bloomberg unveiled is who purchased the bonds — “Rosemawr Management, an investment firm that focuses on riskier US state and local government debt, bought the bonds to help finance the future home of Rhode Island FC.”