General

Philadelphia Will Not Pay For Any Parades That Probably Won’t Happen Anyway

Nov 4, 2009, 8:55 PM UTC

I’m sure the office of the Mayor of Philadelphia will call it advance budgeting, or political transparency or something like that, but to the sports fans in Philly, they’ll just chalk it up to bad timing.
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â†µThe Philadelphia Inquirer’s From the Source breaking news blog reports that Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter has told the Phillies that if they win the World Series, the city will not pick up the tab for a parade.â†µâ†µâ‡¥He said he communicated this to the team, citing a policy in place since shortly after last year’s Championship Parade under which the city will not take on the costs associated with a parade. The city’s final bill for last year’s Broad Street bash was about $700,000.â†µâ‡¥
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â†µâ‡¥“We do not expect to pick up any of the costs related to that kind of event,” he said.â†µâ†µâ†µFor those who don’t know, the city of Philadelphia is beyond bankrupt, closing many public buildings, including things like city libraries, just to keep the rest of the city afloat. So there’s no way the city can afford a potential parade. That said, you have to wonder what the city was thinking by letting this information go public the day that the Phillies are playing in a Game Six where they are the only team that can be eliminated. If tonight were Game Seven, you can chalk it up to preparation, but couldn’t this conversation wait until Thursday?â†µ

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â†µAnd perhaps more importantly, why did last year's parade cost that much money? I was fortunate enough to go to the parade, and it was a conglomeration of as many people as I've ever seen -- if they said three million people, I'd believe it. But 700 grand? According to reports, the Steelers parade cost the city of Pittsburgh only $79,500. Are fans in Philly nearly 10 times more dangerous? Wait, don't answer that.â†µ

â†µâ†µThe city of Pittsburgh did spend half a million dollars in Super Bowl protection for Sunday night, in an effort to deter car flipping and presumably, drunken Three Rivering. But the $700,000 Philly spent last year likely doesn’t account for the bedlam that ensued the night the Phils won the title.â†µ

â†µâ†µThe lesson here: winning is expensive. But the solution seems simple. The city should make the team pay for their own parade, and the team can pass that cost on to a network for the exclusive rights to broadcast it. They’d make that money back faster than it takes for your all-star second baseman to say “World F’n Champions.”â†µ

â†µâ†µNow let’s render this conversation moot until Friday. And if the Phillies lose tonight, fans have a jinxing mayor’s office to blame.â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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