It's Time to Get Government Out of the SPORTS BUSINESS.

• Author: KEATING, RAYMOND J.

"... Politicians are attracted to sports subsidies like moths to a flame, but it is the taxpayers who get burned."

THE 1990s were a decade of hyperactivity regarding new ballparks, stadiums, and arenas for professional sports teams. While Chicago's Comiskey Park II was the first new major league baseball stadium to open during the 1990s, the decade's second ballpark would set the architectural trend. In Baltimore, Oriole Park at Camden Yards--combining the look and feel of old-time ballparks with all the modern amenities--opened in 1992 at a taxpayer cost of $210,000,000.

One of the signs of the 1990s was the large number of stadiums and fields that were paid for mostly by taxpayers, but named for owners or corporations:

* In 1994, the Cleveland Gateway Complex opened Jacobs Field for baseball's Indians and the Gund Arena for the National Basketball Association's Cavaliers. Costs for the project rose to $462,000,000, of which only $157,000,000 was covered by the private sector.

* The taxpayers picked up $200,000,000 of the $215,000,000 total cost for Coors Field in Denver, home to baseball's Colorado Rockies.

* Arizona taxpayers absorbed $238,000,000 of the Diamondbacks' $355,000,000 Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix, which boasts a retractable roof, natural grass field, and a Jacuzzi and swimming pool over the right-center-field wall.

* Taxpayers in St. Petersburg, Fla., spent $138,000,000 on spec for Tropicana Field (formerly known as the Thunder-Dome)--a domed stadium offering AstroTurf with dirt base paths and various fan amenities, including a cigar bar--and fortunately managed to attract the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Or maybe it was not so fortunate, since the Devil Rays proceeded to upgrade it at a cost of $70,000,000, with $62,000,000 coming from the taxpayers.

* A bit south of St. Petersburg, the National Hockey League's Florida Panthers christened the National Car Rental Arena. Broward County built the rink at a cost of $185,000,000.

Even today, not all stadiums are built at taxpayer expense, or at least not primarily. The Atlanta Braves moved into the $232,000,000 Turner Field on Opening Day 1997. It was originally built for the 1996 Olympic Games and was generally financed with private funds. In fact, the deal included all construction costs, the stadium's conversion to baseball after the Olympics, the demolition of the old ballpark, and the retirement of the debt on the former facility.

The National Football League's Jack Kent Cooke Stadium for the Washington Redskins, since renamed FedEx Field, cost $180,000,000 in private and $75,000,000 in public funds. The United Center in Chicago was largely financed with private dollars. The total cost of $175,000,000 included a mere $10,000,000 from the state for infrastructure improvements. A new arena for which the private sector picks up 94% of the tab isn't perfect, but nowadays, it is pretty good.

New ballparks and stadiums will continue to come on line, with politicians ready to offer lavish taxpayer subsidies. For example:

* In July, 1999, baseball's Seattle Mariners moved into Safeco Field. The retractable-roof, 45,600-seat ballpark is estimated to have cost $498,000,000, of which taxpayers are on the hook for $372,000,000. Elected officials specifically ignored the will of the people on the stadium issue. In September, 1995, King County taxpayers voted against a hike in the sales tax to pay for a new ballpark, as well as for repairs to the old park, the Kingdome. Weeks later, the Mariners were in an exciting playoff series with the New York Yankees, and team and government officials took advantage of the fact to approve a taxpayer-financed facility.

* There is more suffering to come for Seattle taxpayers. The NFL's Seahawks will move into a new stadium in 2002, estimated to cost $430,000,000. Team owner Paul Allen, cofounder of Microsoft and America's third-richest man, is kicking in $130,000,000. Costs to the taxpayers are supposedly capped at $300,000,000.

* The 1998-99 Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos are scheduled to move into a new stadium in 2001. In November, 1998, voters gave the okay to a $360,000,000 stadium, for which the team would lay out $94,000,000 and the taxpayers would be billed $266,000,000. A legislative review of the stadium project, however, found that costs could go as high as $460,000,000.

* Opening Day 2000 promises to be busy for new baseball stadiums. The Houston Astros are scheduled to move into a 42,000-seat, retractable-roof ballpark. Estimates place total costs at $250,000,000, with $180,000,000 from rental car and hotel taxes. The Milwaukee Brewers hope to move into Miller Park. Costs are estimated at $367,000,000, with taxpayers paying $277,000,000. After four votes against publicly financed ballparks for the San Francisco Giants in recent years and a failed attempt to move the team to Florida, the Giants will take up residence in the mostly privately financed, $306,000,000 Pacific Bell Park. However, taxpayers will spend $26,000,000 for land and infrastructure.

* The New York Mets have announced plans for a stadium with a retractable roof and a movable grass field. The ballpark's costs are estimated at about $500,000,000. It could be opened by 2002, with 45,000 seats--including 78 luxury suites and 5,000 club seats. Although the full financing scheme is yet to be announced, New York taxpayers could be on the hook for about $390,000,000.

* Meanwhile, crosstown rival George Steinbrenner has been pining for a new Yankee Stadium for several years. Even though the Yankees are flush with revenue (especially from television contracts), they maintain that they cannot compete with other teams that play in new ballparks, ignoring the fact that they won the World Series in 1996, 1998, and 1999. So, since at least 1995, Steinbrenner has been performing the baseball version of Hamlet, trying to decide whether he should keep his team in the Bronx (in a completely refurbished Yankee Stadium, which, incidentally, was completely rebuilt in 1974-75 after decaying since its 1923 opening) or move to a new facility on the west side of...