Sweetheart Deal
Dylan McGuinness of the Chron has a good article today on the sweetheart deal the Texans got on using NRG. First here is the headline of the article:
Texans have paid only $4M in rent since 2002. Rockets, Astros paid over $200M.
Here is how the article starts:
As county leaders and officials with Bob McNair’s nascent football team were closing in on a deal for a new football stadium in the early 2000s, the Texans landed a late concession that would prove to be a financial triumph for years to come.
The Harris County-Houston Sports Authority, a joint city-county venture responsible for financing all of Houston’s major sports stadiums, would take out bonds to build the new football facility for the Texans and Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. It would pay off the debt over several decades, mostly with money from increased taxes on rental cars and hotel rooms. The tenants would each pay $1.5 million a year in rent that would go toward the bonds as well, and contribute some money from the events they hosted, including taxes on parking and tickets.
But there was a late snag in the negotiations: Financial analysts approving the framework wanted the tenants to guarantee more money. To address that snag, the Texans agreed to pay a higher rent, upping their annual payment from $1.5 million to $4 million over the course of the 30-year contract.
In exchange, the team would get a major tax break. Instead of paying taxes on parking and ticket sales, it would receive rebates from the sports authority – and the rebates would not be capped. They were in addition to a rebate on local sales taxes for all NFL-related transactions.
These concessions have proved costly for local officials – and a boon to the Texans. From 2002 through 2023, the rebates have totaled roughly $58.9 million in today’s dollars, adjusting for inflation. The sales tax rebates have added another $58.5 million to the team’s coffers, helping to wipe out – nearly entirely – the rent the team agreed to pay over two decades ago.
As the Texans consider whether to push for public money to build a new football stadium, a Houston Chronicle analysis shows the team’s current lease agreement with the county has dramatically benefited the team and its billionaire owners, saving them over $100 million when compared to their Houston professional sports peers, the Astros and the Rockets.
Here is the entire read: Texans’ have paid $4M in rent since 2002. Rockets paid over $250M.
Commentary has addressed this before. Let me say that I was part of the campaigns to get public financing for now Daikin Park, NRG, and Toyota Center over 25 years ago. We are now in a different political climate.
The MAGA DOGE folks in D.C. are cutting the federal government. At our State Capitol in Austin, there is an effort to provide relief on our home property taxes. MAGA folks in Austin are constantly looking over the shoulders of the Democratic controlled Harris County Commissioners Court on spending matters.
The county folks who run NRG, the Texans, and the Rodeo folks are going to have to restructure their rent deal to get by with what the paying customers cough up at NRG. I don’t see how the taxpayers would be okay with providing an NFL team worth a few billion with a new public revenue stream.
Thinks about this. Next year, NRG is hosting seven World Cup matches. And the owner of the Texans says he needs a new stadium. What a joke. Sorry, pal.
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The Chron has a story today on Texas U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and his reelection campaign next year:
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn made it abundantly clear on Thursday that he’s running for re-election in 2026 no matter who tries to challenge him in the Republican Primary.
“I am running for re-election,” Cornyn told reporters during a stop in Austin on Thursday.
After being passed over for majority leader in the U.S. Senate last year, there had been speculation in Washington, D.C., that the 73-year-old Republican may opt against seeking another term next year. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt — both Republicans — have been showing interest in wanting to run for the seat.
But during a press conference in Austin, John Moritz of the Austin American Stateman started telling Cornyn he assumed he was seeking re-election, only to have the senator quickly interrupt him and tell him he is running. Cornyn has been in the U.S. Senate since 2002.
Cornyn didn’t mention potential primary challengers by name but said he’s fine with facing another GOP primary in 2026 if he has to.
“I’ve run in a lot of elections and I’ve always had a primary and fortunately always been successful,” Cornyn said.
In his last re-election in 2020, Cornyn won 76 percent of the vote against a group of largely unknown and underfunded challengers.
Paxton earlier this week said he’s still weighing whether to take on Cornyn in a primary. The Collin County Republican told a D.C. news outlet on Monday that he could decide in “the next couple of months.” They reported that Paxton is trying to line up fundraising commitments as he tries to decide.
“I think I can win if I have $20 million,” Paxton, 62, told Punchbowl News.
Beating a sitting U.S. senator is rare.
In Texas, no U.S. senator has lost in a primary since 1970.
Ok, since you asked Commentary, U.S. Sen. Ralph Yarborough lost to Lloyd Bentsen in the 1970 Democratic Party Primary.
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Speaking of sweethearts, Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco were live on “Today” this morning. We learned that Selena was the first to say, “I love you.” Cute. See the featured photo.
