The PawSox have decided they want to start seeing other people. To which I say “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” The last two years of this battle have killed my enthusiasm for McCoy. I never go anymore. Why would we ever want to enter into a risky, complex, and long-term business deal with these arm-twisting weasels?

In 2004, sports economist Andrew Zimbalist wrote in his book “May The Best Team Win,”

There are very few fields of economic research that produce unanimous agreement. Yet every independent economic analysis on the impact of stadiums has found no predictable, positive effect on output or employment. Some studies have even concluded that there is a possible negative impact.

Fast forward a decade and Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello had hired this very man as a “consultant” on the new stadium proposal at a cost to the state of $225/hour. But it soon became clear that Zimbalist was working on behalf of the PawSox owners helping Mattiello sell the stadium idea to the taxpayers. It was also clear that Mattiello had no intention of learning anything of the well-documented, and dismal, track record of these stadium deals across the country.

That original proposal was defeated, but PawSox ownership has been working hard on a new proposal, this time aimed at the old Apex site. And they are in a big rush.

Now comes Mark Conrad — associate professor of law and ethics, and director of the sports business concentration at Fordham University in New York City — with his book, “The Business of Sports: Off the Field, In the Office, On the News,” trying to politely warn the people of Rhode Island that our elected officials would be totally out of their league in negotiations with PawSox ownership, a group of billionaires who have been specializing in these deals for years. ( ProJo 7.2.17

. . . now is the time for the state to invest in attorneys and business advisers well-versed in such contract negotiations, even if that means hiring out-of-state experts. “I would not rely on local officials to deal with this: not to offend anybody, but it’s too complex,” Conrad told The Providence Journal. “In terms of the content of the lease, there’s one question: Who has the leverage?”

Well, they already got us to pay for their lobbyist. That’s how smart we are. I don’t want the state investing in lawyers and business advisors right now.

Brian Heller, an opponent of publicly-funded stadiums, reminded us recently in a piece for the Providence Journal that Zimbalist, while promoting his book, had done a great job of exposing the dubious role of consulting companies in these deals.

And Mr. Heller, clearly in possession of a hard copy, shared the following nugget in a recent email.

On the back cover of Andrew Zimbalist’s book, “May The Best Team Win,” there is a quote by Charlie Hirshberg of Sports Illustrated: “These days a typical owner will rake in big money, claim he’s nearly broke and then threaten to move unless his host city subsidizes a new stadium at taxpayer expense. If you think this is an exaggeration, read Zimbalist’s brilliantly researched study on the economics of the game.”