Sprint Center financing explained …

A couple of days ago I praised AEG president Tim Leiweke’s balls (I feel dirty).

Leiweke, as nicely as possible, had told David Cordish of the influential Power & Light District to mind his damn business. Leiweke’s comments were in response to Cordish’s criticism of the arena for not landing an NBA or NHL team. I’ve criticized Leiweke for promising a team and not delivering … but not for the success of the arena itself (check the Best Of Kansas City 2008).

I also mentioned a blog post by Field of Schemes author Neil deMause, who tracks public money being spent for professional sports franchises. In clarifying the $1.8 million in profits that AEG was kicking back to the city, deMause wrote that the money was “operational profit — in other

words, it doesn’t count the cost of paying for the building it in the

first place.”

Understanding the funding for the Sprint Center can be confusing.