Visions of Stadium Splendor

Uh oh. Maybe no goal?

In recent weeks, Las Vegas City Hall has been heating up as speculation has been ramping up over a proposed soccer stadium Downtown. Findlay Sports & Entertainment and The Cordish Companies have been hyping the cache of a prestigious sports stadium in the heart of "The Entertainment Capital of the World". Yet while they and Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman (I) have been hyping the razzle-dazzle of this stadium, others have been asking the tough questions. How many will actually attend games here? What are the real revenue projections? And how much will Las Vegas taxpayers have to pay for this?



Now, we know Cordish wants $3 million per year from the City of Las Vegas in addition to all the other subsidies Cordish & Findlay are demanding from city government (such as the ~$130 million they want the city to chip into stadium construction). That money would come from hotel tax revenues. Mayor Carolyn Goodman actually admitted it earlier this month on his show, even as she was claiming room tax revenue "isn't tax dollars, it's tourist dollars".

Last night, Las Vegas Council Member Lois Tarkanian (D) told Jon Ralston she would not vote for the Cordish-Findlay Stadium if the vote was today. She mentioned the issue of those hotel room tax revenues, and in particular how those room tax funds are used to maintain Las Vegas city parks. Council Members Bob Beers (R) and Bob Coffin (D) have already been sounding the alarms on this, and Tarkanian added that the city is just about to finish repaying bonds for parks in Northwest Las Vegas.



And the City of Las Vegas just recently raised user fees for youth sports leagues to use city parks. So how much will Las Vegas residents actually have to pay for this stadium?

Las Vegas isn't the only municipal company chasing after a MLS team. And when we look at the history other sports stadium subsidy deals, the outlook turns from merely very concerning to downright frightening.



Look, we're not against soccer. Far from it. And no, Mayor Goodman, we're not all just "naysayers". We're realists. And all we're asking for are the real numbers behind this stadium proposal.

We can see why Cordish won't talk to anyone and Findlay only agrees to "happy talk". However, Las Vegas city officials don't answer to Cordish and Findlay. They answer to Las Vegas residents. So they should not be afraid to drop the spin and start talking about the reality behind these visions of stadium splendor.

Goal?

Last night, the City of Las Vegas held its first of a series of six community town hall meetings at Centennial Hills Community Center. Why? Well... Goal!

Or at least, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman (I) and some City Council Members are hoping they're about to hit a big goal with a proposed Downtown soccer stadium. However, not everyone seems to be sold on this. Las Vegas city officials looked ready to give a "pep talk", but a number of residents were ready to grill officials over the numbers behind this grandiose proposal.



Las Vegas city taxpayers are being asked to chip in nearly $130 million towards the estimated $410 million price tag for the new stadium. A number of financial experts are now stepping forward to explain the many risks the city will take if it decides to partially subsidize The Cordish Companies' and Findlay Sports & Entertainment's desired Downtown stadium. After all, the city will ultimately be on the hook for at least $82 million even if the stadium succeeds in attracting a well performing Major League Soccer (MLS) team and selling out plenty of games... And that's still a major if.

Over the years, Dr. Judith Grant Long has been crunching the numbers on the public costs of "public-private partnership" sports stadiums. She's revealed the hidden costs of these stadium deals, such as "free land", lease discounts, and tax exemptions. Yet so far, the City of Las Vegas isn't noting any of these costs in its "financial analysis" of the stadium plan.

In 2012, Bloomberg News revealed that Americans had spent $4 billion subsidizing sports stadiums since 1986. And what have we received in turn? Oh, about $10 billion in additional costs while sports team owners laugh all the way to the bank.

There are plenty of good reasons for Las Vegas city residents to be skeptical about this latest stadium proposal. Remember when the City of Henderson ran into trouble over a stadium plan that Chris Milam was never going to get off the ground? While the Cordish-Findlay Las Vegas soccer stadium plan doesn't approach that level of fraud (or at least, not yet), there are already a number of warning signs on the high costs the City of Las Vegas will have to incur for it. And so far, there's little evidence suggesting this stadium will actually "pay for itself". After all, no publically subsidized stadium ever truly has.

Perhaps now that Tesla scored the sweetheart deal of a lifetime from the State of Nevada, Cordish & Findlay now want in on the corporate welfare gravy train. What exactly is the goal of Mayor Goodman and the stadium cheerleaders? That's the key question that City Council Members and Las Vegas city residents must ask at the upcoming town halls.

The Secret (Is Out)

What was an inconvenient snow flurry is suddenly becoming a dangerous avalanche. US House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and California Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom (D) are calling for the San Francisco 49ers to bench Ray McDonald while he's under investigation for abusing his pregnant now-wife. The Minnesota Vikings have suspended Adrian Peterson while he's under investigation for child abuse. The Carolina Panthers have just deactivated Greg Hardy following the public revelation of his May domestic violence conviction (he assaulted his girlfriend and threatened to kill her). And 12 other NFL players arrested on domestic violence charges are still active in the league.

It's not just Ray Rice any more. In fact, it never really was. Yet apparently, it took this avalanche of controversy to fall for NFL executives to finally realize they have a serious problem on their hands.



Corporate sponsors, such as Nike, Radisson, Castrol, Cover Girl, and Anheuser-Busch, are either pulling ad deals or issuing "concerned" statements. A growing number of fans are now making #BoycottNFL viral. And even the most hardcore NFL fanatics must now come to terms with the harsh reality of domestic violence...



Or maybe not? Already, rumors are buzzing about another NFL team potentially picking up Ray Rice. And that may be due to the NFL Players Association appealing the NFL's indefinite suspension of Rice. Even as some top NFL officials are signaling their willingness to make changes, others (hint: the owners) have just gone into hiding.

After surviving the firestorm that erupted when the Ray Rice story first broke, Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh made some interesting comments about the meta here. Whether NFL bosses like it or not, this isn't something they can hide from. And whether we like it or not, this isn't something we can hide from.



In a fascinating twist, the NFL just hired Cynthia Hogan as its new Senior Vice President of Public Policy and Government Affairs. In a past career life, she worked with then Senator (now Vice President) Joe Biden (D-Delaware) on drafting and passing the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). It remains to be seen how the NFL's newest top lobbyist will "resolve" this issue going forward.

But right now, we must ask this: How will we resolve this issue going forward? When War Machine/Jonathan Koppenhaver was making national headlines over his assault on then girlfriend Christy Mack and Corey Thomas, we noted that domestic violence is an issue that goes far beyond the confines of UFC, Bellator, and even MMA (mixed martial arts) in general. The same rings true for the 49ers, the Ravens, the Vikings, and the NFL in general. This is still a problem for American society in general.

In debuting her new daytime talk show, former NBC "Today" co-host Meredith Vieira revealed a very dark and painful secret on national TV. It's a secret that only people like Vieira, Christy Mack, and Janay Rice can fully comprehend. And it's a secret that we shouldn't force any person to keep to oneself.

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The secret is out. There's no hiding it back in some dark corner. And really, we never should have done that in the first place. So what will we all do to end the seemingly endless cycle of violent misogyny that threatens way too many American women?

Ray Rice

Last month, MMA (mixed martial arts)'s largest, most lucrative, and most powerful league ran into an all-too-familiar problem. Even though UFC has made plenty of progress recently in welcoming women MMA fighters, it's still facing tough questions over War Machine and other former UFC fighters who have run into legal trouble over domestic violence.

Now to the credit of both UFC and Bellator MMA, both MMA leagues were fast to condemn War Machine. Even as some of his fans continue to rally behind him on social media, Bellator cut War Machine from its roster weeks before he was formally indicted here in Nevada for attempted murder, first degree kidnapping, sexual assault, and a host of other charges related to the violent attack on Christy Mack and Corey Thomas.

While there are legitimate questions on whether the powers that be in MMA are taking domestic violence seriously enough, it's increasingly looking like they're at least taking steps to address this problem. It's harder to say this about the NFL.



Initially, the NFL merely gave Baltimore Ravens runningback Ray Rice a two game suspension after pleading guilty in New Jersey to assault. A leaked elevator tape shows the full account of Ray Rice punching his then fiancee (now wife), Janay Rice, and knocking her to the ground. Even as he left the elevator, Ray Rice left Janay on the floor as her feet were on the elevator door track.

When the video was finally released to the public, Fox "News" enjoyed some "elevator humor"... While the rest of America was disgusted beyond belief.



How could this happen? And why did Ray Rice (at least initially) get away with a crime just as heinous as the one War Machine is now on trial for? Oh, and if UFC & Bellator are now coming to terms with this problem within their ranks, why can't the NFL?



We are now approaching the 20th anniversary of Congress' original passage of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). This is why we can't help but remember the "TEA" fueled Heritage Action's campaign to kill VAWA that came dangerously close to succeeding last year. This is why we continue to sound the alarms on the "mainstream-ization" of language, attitudes, and even actions that were previously thought to be relegated to the deepest and darkest corners of the "manosphere". And this is why we can't ignore this horrific failure of the NFL.

While a number of media pundits are bloviating over Ray Rice's future in professional football and speculating over why Janay Rice is still standing behind him, we'd rather focus on the more important issue behind this tragedy. Why is it still so damned difficult for so many to take domestic violence seriously? And how many more people must be hurt before we take further action?

Is "good football" truly worth more than women's lives?

"Everything She Got"

Expect some major legal fireworks in Simi Valley, California, later today. After fleeing there to evade arrest for the near fatal assault of Christy Mack, War Machine (aka Jonathan Koppenhaver) is due to appear in the Ventura County Courthouse for an extradition hearing. The Clark County District Attorney's office wants him back here in Nevada to stand trial for the Christy Mack attack.



The newly released Las Vegas Metro Police report mostly confirms Christy Mack's account of what happened. It then goes on to claim War Machine attempted to rape Mack (aka Christine Mackinday) before beating former "Megan Wants a Millionaire" contestant Corey Thomas and Mack. Needless to say, the Metro Police report shines more light on why War Machine decided to run away when he had his initial chance to tell police his side of the story.

However, that isn't stopping some celebrities some speaking up on War Machine's behalf. Earlier today, "Sons of Anarchy" star Chuck Zito actually said Mack "deserved everything she got" if she indeed "cheated" on War Machine.



So she "deserved everything she got" if she "cheated"? And because the police report has her describing the relationship with War Machine as "on again, off again", that means she's a "liar" and a "slut" who "deserved everything she got"?

There's a term for this. It's called "slut shaming".



"Everything she got"? Everything Christy Mack got was attempted rape and quite possibly attempted murder. And she's not alone. 600 people are raped every day in this nation. That's two people every minute. Yet all too often, victims are told they "deserve everything they get" because they did something "slutty".

"Everything she got" was a horrific attack on her life. And yes, it's not her fault. No matter what War Machine thought of his relationship status with her, no matter how Christy Mack described her relationship with him, and no matter what Corey Thomas was doing on her bed, there is no justification for the kind of violence that occurred at Mack's house. "Everything she got" was a crime committed against her. That's why War Machine is now in court.

All Our Problem

We were careful in describing his career path on Thursday... Because we sensed this was coming. Accuracy is always important. But really, is this necessary?

(Go to 9:00 on the video below for the fireworks.)



Look, we get it. Dana White wants to talk about Ronda Rousey. He wants to talk about the all female cast of competitors on the new season of "The Ultimate Fighter". He wants to show us all the progress UFC has made in integrating women MMA fighters and valuing the contribution women are making to MMA.

Dana White and other UFC executives don't want to talk about War Machine, especially since he hasn't fought for UFC since 2008. They don't want to talk aboht Josh Grispi either, even though his last MMA fight was for UFC last year. (Basically, they're now receiving the Jason Miller treatment.) They don't want to talk about male MMA fighters running into domestic violence related trouble, especially when they feel they've done so much in recent years to promote equal rights in MMA.

Yes, UFC has made some progress in leaving behind its sexist past. Yes, War Machine had been under contract with Bellator this year (until he was released from that contract when this story first broke). But really, what's the point of arguing over who he was under contract with when?



Look, we get it. No one wants to take responsibility for the transformation of Jonathan Koppenhaver into War Machine. And no one wants to acknowledge the severity of rape culture in America. Even many (mostly "TEA" flavored) politicians scoff at the reality of violence against women.

Nope, it's easier to cry about some mythical "war on men". It's easier to dismiss the "disposable". And of course, it's so much easier to simply blame the victim.

Christy Mack is a porn star, so she must be a "slut" who "deserved it". Marichuy Gamino is an "illegal" and a "t----y", so she "deserves it". Jada went to the party, so she "deserves it".

No. Just no. No one "deserves it". No one deserves to be assaulted to near-death. No one deserves to be thrown into solitary confinement after reporting one's sexual assault. And no one deserves to be drugged and raped at a teen party.

As we said Thursday, this isn't just a MMA problem. This is an American problem. And it's long past time for us to blithely dismiss violence against cis and trans* women.

Dana White may be callous in trying to dump the entire War Machine fiasco onto the lap of a rival MMA league simply because that was the last league he worked for. However, we're no better when we ignore or marginalize violence against women that doesn't involve MMA fighters. This is all our problem. So what will we do to solve this?

War Machine

Normally, we don't do this. But today, we just must. We noticed this Instagram post from UFC welterwight fighter John "Doomsday" Howard.

"This is for that p---y a-s War Machine. Yo, you're a straight b---h. I have three daughters, a mother, a sister and an aunt who went through that s--t. You're a straight p---y, straight p---y. A skilled fighter beating up a little girl like that. You're a p---y a-s motherf----r."

Wow. He certainly got his point across.

In case you're still scratching your head as to what "Doomsday" is talking about, he's referring to the horrific assault of Christy Mack last Friday. The Las Vegas porn star has taken to Twitter to describe the details of the attack that nearly ended her life. And she has already named ex-boyfriend Jonathan Koppenhaver as the perpetrator.



So why are "Doomsday" and other MMA figures freaking out on social media? Koppenhaver, who is currently better known as "War Machine", had been fighting for Bellator MMA after bouncing around UFC and other MMA leagues. Even though Bellator has already fired "War Machine", MMA insiders are worrying about "War Machine" becoming the latest in a string of MMA fighters engaging in domestic violence.



This isn't the first time "War Machine" has run into this kind of trouble. Last year, he "jokingly" tweeted "real men rape". He was convicted of 2 misdemeanor assaults (in 2007 & 2008) here in Nevada before a 2010 San Diego bar fight led to 2 felony assault convictions in California. And just moments before the brutal and near fatal attack on Christy Mack, "War Machine" tweeted this.

"[...] f--k u talking about? She's my Property and always will be."

Obviously, this is why MMA insiders are concerned. However, they shouldn't be the only ones concerned by this.

In 2012, (the lower House of) Congress failed to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). It took nearly a year of pressure from Senators and constituents (on G-O-TEA House Members like Nevada's Joe Heck) before the House finally agreed to pass the bipartisan VAWA renewal that the Senate had already agreed to.

But why was this "controversial" at all? Behind the scenes, "TEA Party, Inc.", powerhouse Heritage Action announced it would actively campaign against VAWA renewal. It even declared it would negatively score Members of Congress who voted for VAWA. That dragged out (and almost completely dragged down) what was supposed to be an easy vote for a broadly bipartisan bill meant to aid victims of domestic violence.

Throughout 2012 and early 2013, G-O-TEA aligned interest groups (such as Heritage Action) seemed to be taking their queues from the Men's Rights Movement. The Men's Rights Movement doesn't just oppose legislation like VAWA. The Men's Rights Movement claims any and all efforts to combat sexist discrimination and other forms of misogyny are somehow "attacks on men".



From Darren Mack to Elliot Rodger, we've seen what happens when "men's rights activists" resort to extreme violence to "make a statement". However, most others don't go that far. That's because they don't have to. Rape culture has increasingly become mainstream, as politicians, professional athletes, music artists, and other celebrities have been trying to make misogyny culturally acceptable. And sadly, some in the "mainstream media" seem all too willing to "go along to get along".

And then, there's this. Reports are now surfacing about Las Vegas Metro Police biding its time in responding to Christy Mack's assault. Metro may have very well given "War Machine" just enough time to make a clean escape while threatening Mack's very fragile survival. What does this whole situation say about us? What does this growing trend of extreme misogyny say about our society?

It's not just MMA fighters and bosses who should worrry about "War Machine".

Foul

Right now, a whole lot of Americans are watching the World Cup. And why not? Team USA is performing surprisingly well in Brazil. And right now, millions of Americans are trying to figure out whatever excuse they can latch onto in order to watch the games.

So we have a whole lot of Americans rooting for the American soccer team. How much more patriotic can we get? According to G-O-TEA soccer team reject washed up troll soon-to-be-unemployed circus clown pundit extraordinaire Ann Coulter, this isn't patriotic at all. And why's that? Oh, Latin@ Americans immigrants love soccer! And of course, this column wouldn't be from Ann Coulter unless it had some extra xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny, and plain old stupidity tossed in for "good measure".



Believe it or not, Ann Coulter and her fellow fire breathing G-O-TEA pundits from hell are dictating immigration policy in the lower House of Congress. Of course, this is not really a surprise to those of us who have been keeping track of House Speaker John Boehner (R-Marlboro) smoke signals. It's been evident for some time that House G-O-TEA "leaders" care more about their pyrrhic political victories than they do about accomplishing anything in their chamber. Even though it's now been a year since the US Senate passed comprehensive immigration reform (CIR), they've made it clear that they'd rather waste taxpayers' time & money trying to impeach President Obama on frivolous law suits.

And speaking of those frivolous law suits, it's increasingly looking like they will be targeting DACA. Oh, yes. That's right. They're going there again. They're once again demanding the deportations of DREAMers.



Never mind that these Americans want the same opportunity to succeed that all the rest of us take for granted. Never mind that American families continue to be torn apart while the House continues to block bipartisan legislation that the Senate passed a year ago. And never mind that passing CIR would actually benefit our economy. No, House G-O-TEA "leaders" would rather continue pandering to their 21st Century Know Nothing base with dirty underwear, vendettas against Spanish language media, and attacks on the entire Latin American region (??!!) than accomplish anything worthwhile.

Oh, and of course, they're now attacking soccer... Because immigration. Yet in a bizarre way, it makes sense why they now hate soccer. They just don't their foul called out.

UFC in Trouble? And Why?

Over the years, UFC has become the biggest (and more lucrative!) sport in Las Vegas... And the fastest growing sport in the world. More and more fans are tuning into games, attending games, buying merchandise, and even aspiring to become MMA fighters themselves.

However, UFC's rise hasn't been without controversy.



And now, there's a new challenger in the ring ready to take on (the owners of) UFC.

Culinary Union Local 226 set up a website recently at unfitforchildren.org that details the foul-mouthed tirades of Dana White, president of Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Here’s unfitforchildren.org quoting White berating some poor schoolyard schlub: “Whoever gave you that quote is a (anatomical expletive) and a (homophobic slur with a modifying expletive).”

Culinary asks, “Can you imagine NBA Commissioner David Stern or NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell talking like this?”

I like UFC and realize it’s a nice amphetaminic boost for our deathbed economy. But the question put to White is a reasonable one, especially given UFC’s desire for mainstream legitimacy. The Vince McMahon shtick is juvenile.

Another reasonable question, though, from UFC fans: What union? In case you don’t know the history here: It’s no surprise that the big hotel union that represents more than 50,000 workers on the Strip would be sticking the shiv in the side of UFC, which is owned by Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, who in turn own a controlling stake in Station Casinos.

Culinary has unsuccessfully been trying to unionize Station’s many valley casinos for years, with the fight intensifying in recent years, to include high-stakes federal litigation.

Especially in the last three years, players, coaches, and team owners in other sports have faced a whole lot of heat for allowing homophobia, misogyny, racism, and other forms of discrimination in their respective sports. Has UFC really faced that kind of scrutiny yet, especially considering what Dana White seems to get away with saying?

Of course, this isn't the real reason why Culinary 226 is now going after UFC. This is.



Culinary has been working on this aggressive campaign to unionize Station Casinos for decades, yet until recently it seemed like it was failing to gain any traction. But when Station went bankrupt, Culinary saw opportunity. And as Station continues to pile up the federal charges of workers' rights violations, Culinary has made some hard kicks. And now that the Fertittas have a new billion dollar empire with UFC, which is part of a sport that's already been swirling around plenty of controversy, Culinary is aiming for the ultimate knockout punch.

Of course, Dana White is now complaining that Culinary is "just trying to make this thing look bad and trying to hurt the Fertittas by lobbying against the UFC and mixed martial arts". Well, duh! Both Culinary and the Fertittas have long used this tactic against each other, and against other adversaries. When Station went bankrupt, the Fertittas pressured creditors into allowing them (and a posse of banks, such as Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan Chase) a leveraged buyout of Station, even though a more credible (pun intended?) suitor had emerged in Boyd Gaming. Station pummeled those creditors that opposed the leveraged buyout and/or supported the Boyd deal and used all the legal tricks in the book to get the Nevada bankruptcy courts to agree to something that probably no other court in America would green light.

And most recently, Station joined forces with the Nevada Resort Association to convince the Clark County Commission that Dotty's somehow became the greatest threat ever seen to Nevada's way of life. Why? Well, Dotty's had grown exponentially all over the valley as locals were coming to enjoy the smoky, intimate, slot experience that seemed to lure customers away from Station Casinos. And of course, it helped that Dotty's had earned very little sympathy by local lawmakers by operating in such a dark gray legal cloud that allowed Dotty's to straddle the fence between "casino" and "bar", and prey after gambling addicts. It was becoming increasingly obvious that the Clark County Commission had to do something about "The Dotty's Loophole", but what ultimately emerged smelled rotten in that it looked less like a fair solution to legal discrepancies over "incidental gaming licenses", and more like yet another political wet kiss to the Nevada Resort Association and Station.

So do Dana White and the Fertittas really want to criticize Culinary for engaging in activities that the Fertittas themselves have mastered to get their way whenever Station is in trouble?

I'll be honest. I like MMA, and UFC really fascinates me. I see the intense skill involved, and I realize there's more to it than the brutality that first meets the eye. However, I also believe it's more than fair for Culinary to hit the Fertittas on UFC's more controversial aspects to shame them into improving Station Casinos' workplace. As we've seen above, the Fertittas have never shied away from hitting below the belt to preserve their precious assets. So what gives them the right to change the rules of the fight when they face a more experienced opponent in Culinary 226?

The Real Super Bowl Winner: Las Vegas??!!

Apparently so...

Nevada sports books recorded a profit on Super Bowl wagers in 2010 for the ninth time in 10 years, according to Nevada Gaming Control Board figures released today.

The state’s 182 sports books took in $82,726,367 worth of wagers, which resulted in a winning percentage of 8.3 percent or $6,857,101. The figures are unaudited.

The money wagered was up $1.2 million from 2009, while the profit increased by $179,000.

And after surviving what was a very rough 2009, I'm sure the casinos here are breathing a sigh of relief over the early good signs for 2010.

So overall, The Super Bowl seemed to be quite super for Vegas.



Maybe the NFL doesn't want to hear about it, but I think this will really get all the movers and shakers in Florida wondering why we made more money off the big game than they did. ;-)