As explained during Thursday’s #PFTPM, more than a few teams are currently angling for a new stadium. The Ravens, who still play in the building that lured them from Cleveland 27 years ago, are in the process of finalizing renovations at M&T Bank Stadium.
According to The Baltimore Banner, via Sports Business Journal, upcoming upgrades to the venue will cost more than expected.
Previously, $434 million in Maryland funding had been reserved for the renovation. With the price now expected to be $489 million, the Ravens have agreed to pay the $55 million excess — with the state reimbursing up to $35 million.
The stadium authority board approved the plan this week. The Maryland Board of Public Works must also sign off on it.
And while nearly half a billion dollars technically qualifies, in forensic accounting terminology, as a shitload of money, it’s nothing close to what it would cost to build a new one.
The Ravens and Baltimore deserve credit for building a building in 1998 that still works at a time when teams with stadiums paid for in large part by taxpayers after 1996 are already shaking the public-money tree for more big green apples.
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