Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek signed a bill Thursday that would authorize up to $800 million to help finance a Major League Baseball stadium in Southwest Portland. The bill would divert income taxes from a team’s players and some employees to pay off bonds over 30 years.
Senate Bill 110 is the first step — first inning, if you will — in a long campaign that might someday bring Major League Baseball to Oregon’s largest city.
Backers need to find an owner willing to pay billions of dollars in expansion fees to land a new team and cover more than $1 billion in additional stadium costs. Should that happen, Portland would still have to beat out rival cities like Salt Lake City, which has already identified a prospective owner for an expansion team.
The Portland team would then have to cope with potentially major issues at the riverfront stadium site at the former Zidell Yards shipyard south of downtown. The 33-acre property is in a liquefaction zone on soil that may need treatment for industrial pollution. And there are few options for driving to the site, which is well served by public transit but not by major roadways.
The Portland Diamond Project, a private group spearheading the city’s pursuit of a Major League Team, has already begun laying the groundwork for upgrades to the city’s South Waterfront — including some that would use public money.
And for the moment, at least, Oregon’s political and business leaders are united behind the ballpark effort. SB 110 enjoyed overwhelming, bipartisan support from legislators across Oregon and has the backing of Portland’s mayor and its major business organizations.
The breadth and depth of support for a team could send a signal to baseball leadership, and potential owners, that Oregon is capable of mounting a serious bid for a team.
Baseball hopes to award an expansion franchise by 2029 and supporters of Portland’s initiative hope a picturesque stadium could help revive the city’s image, which continues to suffer from a pandemic-era hangover.
SB 110 updates a 2003 law, a “jock tax” that allocated up to $150 million in taxes generated by player salaries for a baseball stadium. That bill failed to deliver a team, and stadium construction costs have soared in the intervening two decades. Player salaries have, too, though, meaning that their income taxes could generate far more for stadium construction.
Skeptics have warned that the $800 million target depends on factors outside Oregon’s control, including interest rates and continued increases in player salaries. Players may also structure their contracts to minimize their state and local income tax bills – among the nation’s highest – which could further reduce what’s available for the stadium.
Separate from the ballpark funding, The Portland Diamond Project is pursuing a share of nearly $50 million in public funds designated for civic improvements. Baseball boosters want the money for “road and greenway infrastructure,” according to the Portland Business Journal, which first reported the April funding request.
The Portland Diamond Project also wants the city to create a new service district in the South Waterfront, similar to the Clean & Safe district that collects fees from downtown businesses and uses the money to fund security, trash cleanup, graffiti removal and other services.
Baseball advocates, led by the Portland Metro Chamber, want a similar arrangement for the South Waterfront.
“An MLB ballpark at the Zidell Yards site would energize the waterfront and serve as a vibrant gathering spot where everyone is welcome,” the chamber’s leadership wrote in a May letter to city officials.
