The Cost of the Colts - by Cathy Burton

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The Cost of the Colts
by Cathy Burton

I have never been to an Indianapolis Colts game. To some, that probably means that I am not qualified to say what I am about to say. But I grow increasingly disenchanted with professional sports each time I pick up a newspaper these days and read all the hype and speculation about whether the Colts will pack their bags and move on to another city if Indianapolis doesn’t pony up more money to boost their profits. I’ve seen a lot of figures about what the Colts have cost the City of Indianapolis, from paying for mascots to massages on game day. And there are some big numbers that I have a lot of questions about.

In an informal summary of financial data compiled provided by the Indiana Alliance for Democracy, these are some of the numbers I have seen. Since 1984, the City has paid out more than $138 million toward the costs of keeping the Colts here in town, including $5.75 million in game day expenses, $20 million to “upgrade” the RCA Dome, and annual incentives (wonder what that is?) of $12.5 million. Based on the population of Marion County, the City has spent about $20 per capita per year on the Colts since 1998. This to maintain a series of professional sporting events with finite time frames that many people in this County cannot even afford to attend.

On the other hand, since 1999, the City has spent an average of 12 cents per capita on acquiring new park ground – which is free for everyone’s enjoyment seven days a week. The City balked at the idea of adding an average of 12 to 20 dollars a year to homeowner’s property taxes to renovate and expand our public library system (oh yeah, there’s that free entry thing again.) Recently, when approving the City’s budget for 2003, the Mayor and the City County Council struck a deal to take millions of dollars out of the City’s sewer funds in order to meet the City’s obligations to provide other government services. And apparently, the City, in more than five years, has been unable to come up with the funds to build an IPD Horse barn, despite the fact the old Horse Barn exists with conditions that would not be tolerated in the private sector. Does this sound like a City that should be throwing even more money at the heads of a for profit business?

I have yet to see quantifiable evidence that shows whether the City is getting a justifiable return on it money. I hear about how the Colts bring jobs to the City. Other than the players and Colts staff, how many of those jobs are full-time? What kind of wages and benefits do they bring to the table. (Would these jobs meet the standard for the “living wage” that was much discussed by the Council this year?) Businesses who apply for tax abatements in Marion County have to live up to promises of new jobs and capital investments, and they have to provide specific, measurable proof that they are meeting those obligations or they lose their abatements and they have to pay back monies to the City. Is anyone asking the same thing of the Colts?

We built a football dome, then only fourteen years later, we had to “upgrade”

that same facility because it wasn’t posh enough. Now, after just four years, we’re being told again that the Dome still isn’t good enough. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all afford to renovate our own homes this often?

Don’t get me wrong. Of course, I fell a sense of pride when our “hometown” team is doing well. And it is hard to put a price tag on pride in your city. And I know that football is a time honored American tradition. But I would certainly be even prouder if our City was recognized for a first class park or library system, or could find a way to keep from putting people out of their homes in the process of bringing sewers to their neighborhoods. I would feel even prouder to have well funded fire and police services, or schools that were ranked top in the nation.

I wish the Colts well (whether they are winning or losing) and I hope they stay in Indianapolis. But I truly struggle with the idea that we can’t afford to put together a decent public transit system, but we can afford to make sure that the guys who make more money in a year than most of us will see in twenty years or a lifetime continue to get their meals catered in the locker room.

Cathy Burton