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UNDERSTANDING THE WATERFALL: Why the A's Stadium Won't Cost You a Dime - The Waterfall Breakdown
Episode 460
The A’s are turning the desert into an economic engine, and the secret is the “waterfall” tax system—a financial model that lets the stadium pay for itself. In this episode, Booney dives deep into how Las Vegas built the most efficient public-private ballpark deal Major League Baseball has ever seen, using a special tax district that funnels every dollar generated inside the stadium—beer sales, tickets, jerseys, you name it—back into repaying the bonds, maintenance, and even affordable housing. No general fund. No taxpayer bailout. Just a clean, flowing stream of revenue that sustains itself. It’s economic recycling, Vegas-style.
But here’s the gut punch: Oakland could’ve done the exact same thing. Back in 2019, California passed Senate Bill 293 (Skinner), a law designed to make Howard Terminal self-funding through the same kind of waterfall mechanism Nevada just used. Oakland had the playbook—and never ran the play. While Nevada executed in months, Oakland choked in years of political paralysis and bad messaging. The result? Vegas gets the glory, the A’s get their dynasty blueprint, and Oakland’s missed opportunity becomes one of the greatest “what-ifs” in modern baseball economics.
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Published on 3 days, 19 hours ago