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 Taxpayers are on the hook for more
than $1 million for a September concert in Chicago that never happened.
The Chicago Sun-Times first reported the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority,
or ISFA, spent about $1.6 million “toward retaining talent” for a concert
expected to draw 30,000 people at Chicago’s Guaranteed Rate Field – which the
ISFA owns and operates – Sept. 16. The concert was canceled after the ISFA could
only get back $350,000 on what it spent to put on the show.
The Sun-Times reported expenses included contracting Mike Daddy Unlimited “to
act as its exclusive consultant with respect to the procurement and booking of
all talent and live entertainment.” Mike Daddy Unlimited was contractually
obligated to book artists Diddy and Fat Joe and failed to follow through on
meeting its obligations, according to an IFSA lawyer.
 The situation is a raw deal for taxpayers, who have to foot the bill for an
event that never took place. But it is also a predictable outcome of a misguided
state priority: getting involved in the construction and maintenance of stadiums
and entertainment.
Taxpayers have been paying for Guaranteed Rate Field, formerly U.S. Cellular
Field and Comiskey Park, since its opening and still are to this day. The
General Assembly and then-Gov. Jim Thompson struck a deal in 1987 to build and
fund a new stadium for the White Sox, after White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf had
threatened to move the team to Florida if he did not get a new stadium. The
agreement also created the ISFA – a politically stacked board filled by
appointments from the governor – to operate the stadium. The ISFA also went on
to oversee the renovations to Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears, in the
early 2000s, and taxpayers are still picking up the tab for that project to this
day.
The ISFA has been a boon for the politically connected. Former ISFA Chairwoman
Perri Imer, who served from 2004-2011, claimed in 2013 the ISFA is nothing more
than a “cash cow puppet for Jerry Reinsdorf.” And the Soldier Field renovations
acted as a “huge public-works project with plenty of hefty contracts for
political allies of City Hall and Springfield,” the Chicago Tribune reported in
2002.
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Even without its political ends, the ISFA’s results are dismal for
taxpayers. And given the ISFA’s track record of burning through
taxpayer money with questionable return, it would be wise for
Illinois and Chicago to steer clear of the publicly funded stadium
racket. But they haven’t.
Wintrust Arena opens in November for DePaul men’s and women’s
basketball and for the WNBA’s Chicago Sky in 2018. Taxpayers have
put forward $82.5 million for the arena, primarily used by DePaul, a
private university with an endowment approaching half a billion
dollars. The construction of the stadium also came with an
accompanying taxpayer-funded hotel, both located near Chicago’s
McCormick Place. The funding plan assumes DePaul will practically
sell out all of its home games at its new 10,000-seat arena – a
lofty goal given DePaul men’s basketball averaged just 4,900 fans
per home game during the 2016-2017 seasons, an uptick from two
seasons prior in which it averaged just 2,200.
If the Guaranteed Rate Field and Soldier Field deals are any
example, taxpayers are likely to come out on the losing end of the
Wintrust Arena boondoggle as well. And there could be more, similar
deals to come. Construction of yet another stadium in Chicago has
been proposed as part of a deal to lure Amazon to Illinois. While
funding details are not yet known, any such proposal should give
taxpayers pause, as they will be paying for multiple projects for
the foreseeable future.
Taxpayers should be wary when city or state government puts forward
public money for entertainment purposes. Considering the financial
state of the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois, this is
certainly a cost both can’t manage.
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