Let citizens decide on stadium

New Mexico United, by any metric, had a stellar first season in the United Soccer League. It went 11-10-13, made the United Soccer League Playoffs and led the USL in attendance with an average of more than 13,000 fans a game.

Now, New Mexico United is looking for a win in the New Mexico Legislature. Last week marked another round of discussions for the club to transition out of its initial lease at Isotopes Park and into its own stadium.

Early numbers floating around note a $100 million stadium expense, with a $30 million public investment in the project with hopes it would attract other soccer clubs and host non-soccer functions year-round.

We’ll be told of studies that professional sports will revitalize wherever it lands in Albuquerque, and there will be jobs and investment. And our representatives should say, “Why don’t you pay for your own stadium?”

I’m a pretty big sports fan. I’ve got an embarrassing amount of hats and jerseys I barely wear in my closet, and I usually come home to find something on ESPN+ or NBA League Pass, which I buy instead of cable because I really don’t need HGTV.

But I paid for that stuff myself, and that’s how it should be. Fans of professional sports should be the ones to fund the things that entertain them, not every rank-and-file taxpayer.

I like sports, but I don’t want $30 million handed to a professional sports team when I know Clovis High School needs upgrades beyond the school district’s $20 million bonding capacity.

I’ve enjoyed the United’s success story, but I don’t want $30 million handed to a professional sports team when I see Portales city workers handling some water system issue every week.

I hope the United has an even better second season, but I don’t want $30 million going to a professional sports team when I can’t drive faster than 40 mph on a gravel road connecting Melrose and Elida.

I’m sure people in every other corner of the state have similar items, and they’d rather fund those before giving a soccer team a publicly funded stadium so it doesn’t have to the current publicly funded stadium — which, by the way, has had its turf converted for the soccer team at a cost of about $270,000 in Albuquerque city funds.

Isotopes Park exists in its current form today because Albuquerque voters approved taxes to go toward its development. What better time than the 2020 election, when voter participation will be highest, to let New Mexico voters decide if the process should be repeated?

This argument isn’t about the New Mexico United. It’s about whether tax dollars should subsidize for-profit entertainment.

We’re told that professional sports teams bring jobs and trigger more investment surrounding the stadium. But the jobs are either temporary construction jobs or seasonal jobs that only happen during games, and the investment would have been spent on some other form of entertainment.

We’ll be told that stadiums aren’t profitable unless a public subsidy is involved. If that’s the case, then the stadium probably shouldn’t exist. In reality, pro sports teams know how to make a profit without public money, but it’s easier to do it with public money and there’s always a government somewhere that will say yes.

Hopefully, the New Mexico Legislature says no, or at least gives citizens a chance to decide.

Kevin Wilson is editor of the Eastern New Mexico News. He can be contacted at 575-763-3431, ext. 320, or by email:

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