American Family Field funding; bills signed, Brewers in WI through 2050

Brewers locked in until 2050

The Milwaukee Brewers will stay in town at least until 2050 -- after Gov. Tony Evers signed a pair of bills on Tuesday, Dec. 5.

MILWAUKEE - Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers hosted on Tuesday, Dec. 5 a bill signing ceremony at American Family Field. The governor signed Assembly Bill 438 and Assembly Bill 439 -- a bipartisan package of bills passed by the State Legislature to keep the Milwaukee Brewers and Major League Baseball (MLB) in the state through 2050.

"Folks like many of you here today, and like generations of families across the state of Wisconsin, I've been watching baseball in Milwaukee since County Stadium days," said Gov. Evers. "From meeting Hank Aaron back when I was just a Cub Scout, which is a while ago, to the chance of a lifetime watching the great Warren Spahn 300th career game way back then."

American Family Field funding; bills signed

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers hosts a bill signing ceremony at American Family Field. The governor is signing a bipartisan package of bills passed by the State Legislature to keep the Milwaukee Brewers and Major League Baseball in the state through 2050.

"We want to say thank you for the hard work of everyone here and so many others who are not in attendance. All of them helped ensure that Brewers Baseball will be in Wisconsin for the next generation," said Brewers owner Mark Attanasio. "Our world class ballpark is the bedrock and foundation for this fan experience. That is why today is such an important occasion for all of us. Our public private partnership provides the opportunity to compete on the same stage as any market, both on the field and with our fan experience, regardless of size."

Mark Attanasio

The bills passed include a new ticket tax for non-Brewers events held at the ballpark. It would start at $2 for normal seats and $8 for luxury boxes or suites. That added fee would go up over time, ending at $4 for normal seats and $10 for luxury boxes or suites.

The ticket tax was a last-minute change to save the deal; the bills were at risk of striking out in the Senate. The change lowers what the state will pay, bringing the total state spending to roughly $365 million over the course of the lease.

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The Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimates the Brewers will bring more tax money to the state than what the state is going to be paying for improvements. The state will put in roughly $370 million over the course of the 27-year lease. Milwaukee County and City will each pay $67 million but those local budgets will not notice it. The money comes from the state slashing an administrative fee it charges local governments.

American Family Field, Milwaukee

The law requires the governmental body that owns the majority of the ballpark to study possible developments around the ballpark.

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"I think we can accommodate a lot of things, we can accommodate our fans, and tailgating culture and we can also certainly accommodate development," said Brewers President of Business Operations Rick Schlesinger. "You know there’s a lot of hurdles that need to be addressed and overcome. I think one is the state of Wisconsin owns the land, so the land is not owned by the brewers or the stadium district."

Rick Schlesinger

A news release from the governor's office says since opening its doors in 2001, the ballpark has generated $2.5 billion in total economic output for the state. In 2022 alone, the ballpark supported 3,000 jobs. The Milwaukee Brewers and American Family Field also support more than 1,100 union jobs, including Brewers employees and union employees through vendors and related services.

American Family Field

Bipartisan summary of billsAssembly Bill 438, now 2023 Wisconsin Act 40:

Among other provisions, specifies that before any state funding is awarded to the District, the District and the team must have entered both of the following:
A nonrelocation agreement that requires the team to play all of its home games at American Family Field during the term of the lease.
A lease agreement that: Expires no earlier than Dec. 31, 2050. Requires the team to make $3,360,253 in annual contributions beginning in 2024 through 2045 for both the responsibilities of the District and renovations and improvements of baseball park facilities. Team contributions would increase to $5,360,253 beginning in 2046 through 2050. Requires the team to contribute a further $50 million for stadium renovations and maintenance over the term of the lease, of which $25 million must be contributed by Jan. 1, 2037.
Expires no earlier than Dec. 31, 2050.
Requires the team to make $3,360,253 in annual contributions beginning in 2024 through 2045 for both the responsibilities of the District and renovations and improvements of baseball park facilities. Team contributions would increase to $5,360,253 beginning in 2046 through 2050.
Requires the team to contribute a further $50 million for stadium renovations and maintenance over the term of the lease, of which $25 million must be contributed by Jan. 1, 2037.
Reduces the size of the District’s jurisdiction from the current five counties—Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Washington, and Waukesha—to only Milwaukee County;
Replaces the current 13-member board with a new 13-member board consisting of: four persons appointed by the governor (including a chairperson); three persons appointed by the speaker of the Assembly; three persons appointed by the majority leader of the Senate; one person appointed by the governor from a list provided by the team; and two persons appointed by the governor from lists provided by each of the city of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County;
Together with Assembly Bill 439, provides $500.8 million in public funding over the term of the lease, including $365.8 million in state funds and $67.5 million in local contributions from both Milwaukee County and the city of Milwaukee. These contributions would go into a newly created stadium improvement segregated fund established by the District to be used by the District for stadium renovations;
Beginning in 2024, requires Milwaukee County to contribute $2.5 million annually into the stadium improvement fund until 2050, or until aggregate contributions reach $67.5 million;
Requires a ticket surcharge on nonbaseball events at the stadium. Over the course of the lease, the ticket surcharge is expected to provide $20.7 million to the District; and
Allows for the District to obtain up to $35 million in short-term loans issued by the Wisconsin Department of Administration that could only be expended for major capital repairs, retractable roof maintenance and repairs, and necessary improvements to the stadium’s facilities.

Assembly Bill 439, now Wisconsin Act 41:

Establishes the appropriations needed to enact the state and local funding plan for improvements to American Family Field as primarily enabled by Assembly Bill 438;
Reduces the administrative fee retained by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue for the state’s administrative costs in collecting county sales taxes, keeping more local sales tax dollars in local communities; and
Redirects excess administrative fee collections expected from the city of Milwaukee’s sales tax (effective Jan. 1, 2023) to provide the city’s contribution to American Family Field improvements and maintenance.