Hmmm. If I were operating a local franchise... say, McDonalds... and Kroc Corporate told me I needed to spend $9 million in upgrades or they'd pull the franchise, what would I do?
I could go to my bank for a business loan. $9 million, at 5%, for 30 years...about $48k/month in payments.
I could sell out.
Or...ooh, ooh, ooh... I could go hat in hand to the Bucks County Commissioners, asking them to divert federal COVID recovery monies to my store! I could go to the township supervisors, asking them to pony up $1 million or more, so they could avoid possibly losing the ratable.
The truth is, I wouldn't have a snowball's chance of getting money from the county or the township. I have a private business.
But MLB has its hooks in Lehigh County, and in Allentown. They spent a lot of money ($50 million, partially from the Commonwealth) on a stadium, and they'll look bad (politically) if it doesn't have a tenant. So they get squeezed.
The prior investment in the stadium is a sunk cost. The local politicians really should ignore it, and decline to be blackmailed. If a stadium can't get a tenant, sell it to developers and put the land to better use. But they're politicians, and appearances matter more than facts or analysis.
If I were a county or city politician, I would be having an animated discussion with my US Representative and my US Senators about pushing a bill in Congress to strip MLB's anti-trust exemption. They want to play hardball with minor league cities... hardball is played with two teams, eh/?
