The following was pretty much what I sent to one of the individuals who tried to obtain an NFL expansion team for Baltimore years ago. Though some of the logistics are more difficult now because the football stadium has already been built I think there is still a lot of merit in this idea. Super Bowls, ACC Basketball tournaments, NCAA Final Four, Mega conventions. What do all these events have in common? They each bring in 10’s of thousands of people to the host city. Each of these events probably brings in at least 100 million dollars to the local economy. Fresh money from tourists dressed as sports fans or drunken conventioneers. And the advertising and exposure these events bring to host cities is invaluable and doesn’t cost anything because of the mass media attention. Would Baltimore like to host a Super Bowl once every 6 or 7 years? Would Baltimore like to host an ACC Basketball tournament once every 4 years? Would Baltimore like to host an NCAA Final Four once every 6-7 years? Would Baltimore like to the site of a convention that brings in 20,000-30,000-40,000 people even once a year? Baltimore built a football stadium for $200,000 million dollars. This 70,000 seat facility is used somewhat in the winter but never utilized to its fullest potential because of the weather. How much could it cost to build a retractable roof on the stadium? Maybe 250 million. Seems like a lot of money, but look what that investment would mean. To start with-construction jobs. There has never been a Super Bowl in the Northeast because there are no dome stadiums there. The NFL would love to have a facility to showcase their number one game. If Detroit can get a Super Bowl because they have a dome don’t you think Baltimore can get a Super Bowl if they had a dome? Final Fours are only played in domes. The ACC loves to play in Atlanta every couple of years because of the increased number of available tickets. Mega conventions need dome stadiums to accommodate their large numbers. And because conventions are booked years in advance and the sites of sporting events are announced years in advance the city would have time to build additional hotels because rooms are needed. More constructions and more full-time jobs when the hotels are built. The economy stinks..time to be aggressive and make things happen. Construction costs would probably be less now than they may have been several years ago because companies need the work. The city could host mega-concerts, monster truck shows and many more big time events. I say build a retractable dome on the football stadium and start getting the big time events that bring in bring time money. Be pro-active!!
Blog from Freddy in Boca
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