A rendering provided by the Portland Diamond Project shows what a proposed baseball stadium would look like if Major League Baseball agrees to bring a new team to the city. Supporters want the Oregon Legislature to pass a bill providing $800 million in bonds to build the new stadium along the city's south waterfront.
Courtesy of Portland Diamond Project
Oregon state senators on Monday heard from critics and supporters of a bill that would provide public money to help build a major league baseball stadium in Portland.
Senate Bill 110, which is sponsored by Sen. Mark Meek, D-Gladstone, asks the Oregon Legislature for $800 million from bonds to help with construction of the Portland Diamond Project. The bill would not involve a new tax for Oregonians and would not pull public funds from current state revenue.
Instead, the bill proposes an income tax on players and employees for home and visiting baseball teams that would pay for the bonds within 30 years. After that time, the tax revenue would go into the state’s general fund.
Backers of the project — which aims to build the stadium at a 33-acre site on Portland’s south waterfront called Zidell Yards — told lawmakers that it could boost the city’s economy, attract fans, create jobs and rake in cash from television rights and advertising. They noted that the baseball stadium could be used as a year-round venue for other events, too.
“We need a project like this to help further invigorate our recovery, change the narrative and energize the community and state,” said Portland Mayor Keith Wilson, who was among the supporters testifying before the Senate Committee on Finance and Revenue. “MLB will be a part of the renaissance that we’re now charting in Portland.”
Zidell Yards, on Portland’s South Waterfront, as seen in this satellite image from May, 2024. The Portland Diamond Project announced Tuesday it signed a letter of intent to purchase the area, aiming to transform the former shipyard into a ballpark that would meet Major League Baseball requirements.
Map data: ©2024 Google
Asked about the project in a press conference Monday, Gov. Tina Kotek said she had spoken with Wilson and Portland City Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney.
“I am fully supportive of what the city is trying to do, and I think we have a very unique financing tool that I can support,” Kotek said, joining Oregon State Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner in support. “And I think it is a strong way to finance a stadium so we can have MLB come to Portland.”
Skeptics of the project questioned whether the costs would outweigh the potential benefits and cautioned lawmakers to carefully review the legislation before moving forward.
“We urge you to take your time,” said John Calhoun, a spokesperson for Tax Fairness Oregon, which advocates for equitable taxes. “This is the biggest ask for state funds for a single private business in the history of this state. It deserves careful study.”
Portland is competing with other cities seeking to be home to an MLB expansion team, such as Salt Lake City. Supporters said the approval of public funds would give Portland an edge.
“In my estimation, this is it,” said Andrew Hoan, the CEO of the Portland Business Alliance and the Portland Metro Chamber. “This is our home run swing that we can take.”
Other supporters include Graham Trainor, the president of Oregon AFL-CIO, which represents more 300,000 Oregonians in the influential union. He said such a project would increase construction jobs at a time when the workforce is dwindling, and create new jobs within the stadium. Workers could unionize if they chose, he said.
“Over time, if you can’t tell, the labor movement has gotten more and more excited about these prospects, like so many Oregon baseball fans,” Trainor said.
Others had a less rosy take. Jody Wiser, of Tax Fairness Oregon, pointed out that a potential Portland team hasn’t identified an owner yet.
“Of course it’s the advocates’ job to ask you for money,” Wiser said. “If they spend $150,000 lobbying you and they get $1 million, they will have won.”
Wiser added that interest rates could affect the ability to quickly pay off the bonds for the project and questioned whether funds could be better spent elsewhere.
“Classrooms and mental health services will be suffering because of it, because if I spend $150 going to a game, I’m not spending it someplace else,” Wiser said. “And wherever else I would have spent it, taxes would have been paid. This is not money dropping out of the sky that pays those people’s salaries. It’s ticket buyers.”
Senate Bill 110 would increase the bond limit set by Senate Bill 5, which the legislature passed in 2003. The original bill provided $150 million in bonds if Portland ever managed to get a team.
Major League Baseball has not yet announced any plans to add new teams, but the league’s commissioner, Rob Manfred, has voiced interest in doing so by 2029, as reported by The Oregonian/OregonLive.
