How about the woke MLB bailout their own minor league teams.
Connecticut Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal is spearheading efforts to have taxpayers bailout minor league baseball.
According to the Hartford Courant, Blumenthal spoke at the home field of the Hartford Yard Goats, saying:
“minor league baseball is in peril. These teams have not played since September, 2019. ... The teams have struggled. Many of them are on the verge of bankruptcy. We need to come to their aide. That’s why I am leading a congressional effort. We did it for restaurants, theater, live music. Baseball deserves it as much.”
In addition, he says he wants to handouts, “to be flexible to the max, provide discretion on the part of the teams as to how this money is used, and it ought to take account of the revenue lost. ... It ought to be targeted to the teams that need it the most and have the kind of following and loyalty that [the Yard Goats do].”
He adds that the $500 million “is a fraction of what we spent on other, less-vital factors of our economy. I’ve talked to colleagues on both sides of the aisle, and there’s nothing that divides us about minor league baseball. We’ve got to come together and make a special effort to sustain these fields of dreams because they not only unite us across party lines, but they unite us as a country.”
He’s wrong, Major League Baseball has made it very clear that they don’t want to unify. They’ve opted to go the woke route with their decision to move the All-Star game out of Atlanta, so their farms system can die off.
As Reason.com’s Eric Boehm writes,
“maybe members of Congress should mind their own business and let baseball teams and leagues sort out their own finances.
Minor league baseball serves an important function to MLB as a way to evaluate young players and develop talent, so it's unlikely that the parent organizations would simply let their minor league teams go bankrupt. There is no need for the government to get involved—beyond allowing as many fans as possible to attend the games. That's the best lifeline for financially struggling teams.
It's bad enough that taxpayers are routinely and continuously put on the hook for the construction costs of privately owned baseball stadiums at every level. Study after study after study has debunked the idea that publicly funded stadiums are financially beneficial to anyone other than the team owners, who get free infrastructure for their business.
Blumenthal's plan would double down on that waste by asking taxpayers—many of whom would likely never choose to spend their money on tickets to minor league baseball games—to pay even more.”
Amen.