Paul Daugherty: FC Cincinnati stadium deal won't get better than this

Cincinnati’s First Scion sat at a news conference table, calmly exasperated. “What are we waiting for?’’ asked Carl Lindner III.

It isn’t often you see a member of the city’s First Family making a public appearance, unless he or she is cutting a ribbon. Certainly not to ask city and county governments for money.

In this case, the money would be in the form of something called a TIF, which stands for Tax Increment Financing, which is a means of paying for infrastructure needed for a community development project, without directly taxing us to pay for it.

The development in question is a soccer-only stadium for Futbol Club Cincinnati, of which the Lindners are prime owners. In a remarkable show Tuesday afternoon, Lindner and team president/general manager Jeff Berding announced FCC would pay for such a stadium. Entirely.

No $100 mil from the public. No public obligation to maintain the stadium, or to keep its goodies updated. The team wants a new whiz-bang scoreboard? The team pays for it.

“We will 100 percent privately finance the stadium,’’ Berding said. Actually, he said it more than once which was good, because I wasn’t sure I’d heard him right the first time.

Lindner called it “a legacy opportunity.  It’s our bid to lose. The county commissioners need to understand that. This is a layup.’’

If the city and county are going to say yes, they need to do it quickly. The MLS owners meeting is Dec. 14. For Cincinnati to be considered for MLS expansion, its stadium deal has to be in place by then.

You could quibble with the TIF. It’s basically deferring tax money. FCC won’t pay any taxes for many years. You’re not getting taxed more; nor are you getting the benefits of the revenues the city/county would have had without the TIF. Your take-home won’t suffer. You might not have those new police officers, though, or that remodeled school.

You could also see Tuesday’s news conference as a strong-arm move. Lindner and Berding essentially said this to elected officials: We’re giving you a sweetheart deal on a project that is needed for Cincinnati’s continued growth. You’d be crazy to say no. If you do, that’s on you.

That’s true. It was a strong-arm move. Power-wielding isn’t always subtle.

But look at this way:

You said no new taxes. Done.

You said keep the team in Ohio. Done. Oakley is their preferred site.

Common sense said no hike in “bed taxes’’ on hotel rooms that are already highly taxed. Bad for convention and tourism business. No hike in bed taxes? Done.

This isn’t a good deal. Compared to the tried and true, blackmailing, arm-twisting, greedy, arrogant talents team owners have for ransoming their cities dry, it’s a very good deal. A miracle, almost.

“We’ve been very transparent,’’ Berding said. “We’re making an extraordinary commitment to the tune of $350 million in order to bring the world’s game and the global promotion that comes’’ with it.

Lindner said the stadium “is critical for our city. Soccer is the international sport. It’s turning into a global economy and for Cincinnati to be a vibrant part of that, we think the future is soccer.’’

Well, maybe not quite all that. An MLS team won’t make us Paris. At least not overnight. But the overriding point is well taken. Soccer isn’t the whole future, but it’s a whole lot bigger chunk of it than it used to be. Kids play soccer, because their parents played soccer. Kids don’t watch baseball on TV. They watch the Premier League.

Recent college graduates watch soccer. Having a major pro team in town is a definite selling point. You can bet P&G is highly pro-futbol.

The soccer referendum around here has been obvious enough. All you’ve had to do is go to a game.

You and 20,000 others.

FCC ownership is still talking with Kentucky. They have a site, a development partner and a TIF already in place. They also have leverage owing to those facts. They want the stadium in Oakley. They want the city and Hamilton County to agree.

Berding says if the soccer club isn’t granted the TIF, some other developer will make the same ask. Oakley is “a hot neighborhood’’ in Berding’s words, and he’s right about that.

Did we mention no new taxes?

Lindner did stray a bit into self-praise. “My family has invested millions of dollars in the city. Investing in our city is something our family has been doing our whole lives,’’ he said. He also suggested that soccer wasn’t a big money maker, at least not right away.

He believes it will be, though. Believe that. Carl Lindner III wouldn’t be calmly exasperated at a press conference if he didn’t.

Nothing wrong with making money, as long as everyone benefits and the public isn’t bludgeoned with money demands from rich guys. This proposal isn’t that.

Whaddaya say, city and county? Ball’s in your court.