How does the Brewers public-funding deal compare to other professional sports teams? (2024)

American Family Field would get a big boost in public money for long-term renovations to the over two-decade old Brewers stadium in Milwaukee under a new plan proposed by Wisconsin Republican lawmakers.

The deal unveiled Monday would spend around $600 million of state and local cash on American Family Field's renovations over nearly 30 years, with the Milwaukee Brewers pledging $100 million to the effort.

States and municipalities have helped foot the bill for sports stadiums in the U.S. for decades to the tune of at least $4.3 billion since 2003, according to CNBC. Meanwhile, experts continue to debate whether the financial impact that teams promise with new or renovated stadiums ultimately comes to pass.

Here's how the Brewers deal stacks up against how much other teams' taxpayers paid for new or restored stadiums.

More: Taxpayers to spend $600 million on American Family Field. Brewers would stay until 2050

Wisconsin taxpayers fronted $250 million to build Fiserv Forum

The best local example is Fiserv Forum, which opened in 2018 as the home of the Bucks and Marquette men's basketball. The overall cost of the stadium was $524 million with $250 million pitched in from taxpayers in various forms. The state paid $203 million via $55 million funded directly by the state, another $55 million provided by reducing Milwaukee County's annual share of state revenue over several years, and the remaining $93 million came from the Wisconsin Center District, the state-created agency which operates the expanding Baird Center convention facility, UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena and Miller High Life Theatre. The district's funding includes county taxes on hotel rooms, restaurant meals and car rentals.

The city provided $47 million from two tax incremental financing districts with the county selling vacant land in the Park East strip to the Bucks for $1.

The current owners paid $174 million while former owner Herb Kohl pitched in $100 million.

Owners paid the bill for $500 million in renovations at Wrigley Field

It has been a decade since the Cubs agreed to a $500 million renovation with the city of Chicago. That project received no public funding, according to Reuters. Instead, the owners footed the bill for the project. A new agreement signed with the city of Chicago allowed the owners to seek to open new revenue streams outside the stadium and also allowed them to build a 175-room hotel, a plaza, and an office building with retail space and a health club.

Las Vegas has agreed to $380 million in public financing for the Oakland Athletics stadium

The A's will be moving to Las Vegas in 2028, and the city plans to build them a stadium so they will come. The new facility will cost an estimated $1.5 billion to build, according to the Associated Press. Of that, $380 million will come from a public financing package that was approved by the governor in June 2023. Public funding would mainly come from $180 million in transferable tax credits and $120 million in county bonds. Backers have pledged that the creation of a special tax district around the proposed stadium would generate enough money to pay off those bonds and interest. The plan would not directly raise taxes.

A new Kansas City Royals stadium would include $1 billion in public funding

The Royals are shopping for a new home, and money could be a major deciding-factor for where it ends up. The city sits on the Missouri-Kansas border, and reports say the owners are looking at sites on both sides. The owners are also asking for a big chunk of public funding for the project, totaling $1 billion in public funding, according to Kansas City's NBC affiliate, KSHB. At least another $1 billion in private financing will be spent on the stadium and accompanying ballpark district, the owners added. No deal has been proposed or approved yet.

Chicago taxpayers are on the hook for $640 million in financing for Soldier Field

The Packers rivals are seeking a new home in the Chicago area, but taxpayers are still paying off Soldier Field's 2002 renovations. Two decades ago, the city and the team agreed to a $587 million renovation with the city financing $387 million through municipal bonds levied by a tourism tax in Chicago.

Unfortunately, 20 years later, the city now owes $640 million after years of deferring payments, according to NBC Chicago News.

Nissan Stadium in Nashville is getting $1.26 billion in public money

One of the latest examples of a new sports stadium is Nashville's Nissan Stadium, which is scheduled to break ground in 2024. The Titans home cost an estimated $2.1 billion. The cost to the public? According to Forbes, $1.26 billion. That's broken down by $500 million from the state and $760 million coming through revenue bonds issued by Nashville’s Metropolitan Sports Authority to be repaid via a 1% Davidson County hotel occupancy tax, in-stadium sales tax, 50% of sales tax from future development of the stadium's campus and ticket taxes and fees.

That is more than half of the cost for the new stadium coming from public funds. It is one of the most expensive publicly funded stadiums in the country.

Public financing will amount to $850 million for the new Buffalo Bills stadium

The planned new stadium in Buffalo for the Bills has a current budget of $1.5 billion, with $850 million of that coming from public financing. That is well more than half of the project coming from taxpayers.

The Bills stadium would be the 19th NFL stadium built since 2000. Of those, only three — Gillette Stadium, MetLife Stadium and SoFi Stadium — have been built without any public funding, according to The Buffalo News.

The other 16 have received a combined $7.3 billion from taxpayers, when adjusted for inflation, according to USA Today.

More: Who owns American Family Field and why are taxpayers on the hook for stadium costs?

Drew Dawson can be reached at ddawson@jrn.com or 262-289-1324.