As a result, the team couldn t compete with other big-city teams for good players. But the new owners weren t willing to finance the construction of a new ballpark. They decided to hit up taxpayers for the money. First, the new owners threatened to move the team out of Arlington, Texas, sending local officials scurrying to put together a deal they couldn t refuse. Opponents of the deal couldn t compete with glossy brochures, telemarketing calls, and a Hands Around Arlington Day.
Taxpayers didn t get a return from the stadium s surging new revenues, either.
The profits went almost exclusively to the team s already wealthy owners. The stadium s lease is a case in point. Unlike an apartment tenant, the rent that the team s owners pay is applied toward purchasing the stadium. Thus, after 12 years the owners will have bought the stadium for less than half of what taxpayers spent on it. But Bush and his partners weren t satisfied lining their pockets with average Texans hard-earned cash.