Poll- Most oppose funding of stadium

ST. LOUIS -- A new statewide poll shows opposition -- especially in rural Missouri -- to public funding for a $346 million downtown ballpark for the St. Louis Cardinals, according to a new poll sponsored by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and KMOV-TV.

Nearly 65 percent of voters polled statewide objected to the team's request for financial help from the city of St. Louis, St. Louis County and the state, according to the poll, released Saturday. That opposition was solid across the state, among urban and suburban voters. Thirty-two percent supported the idea.

But support grew to 51 percent when those polled were told that taxpayers would share in the profits if the team were sold.

In the St. Louis area, where voters were generally more sympathetic to the stadium plan, the support grew to nearly 57 percent. But rural and outstate voters were split -- even with a promise of profit sharing, 50 percent of outstate voters supported the idea.

Zogby International interviewed 802 likely voters in Missouri and 806 in Illinois. Zogby conducted the telephone poll over five days, ending Wednesday. It has a margin of error of 3.5 percent. The margin of error is larger for subgroups.

With the profit-sharing deal in mind, men were nearly split in their support for the plan, with 51 percent supporting it. Women are dead-set against it. On most of the poll questions, the percentage of opposition among women registered in the mid- to upper-60s.

Only 6 percent of Missourians polled were undecided.

Illinois as well

Illinoisans also aren't keen on using public money to help out the Cardinals, even with the enticement that the team might move across the Mississippi and build a stadium in their state. The opposition was statewide. In downstate Illinois, for example, 57 percent objected to raising taxes to subsidize construction of a Cardinals ballpark in their state. Only about a quarter supported the idea.

Cameron Jackson of Lincoln, Ill., a 59-year-old retiree who relies on Social Security, says she isn't swayed by the desires of wealthy team owners.

"I would rather see my taxes used to get the homeless off the streets," she said.

The Missouri legislature is considering two bills to provide public subsidies to fund the Cardinals' stadium and other sports facilities around the state.

This week the Senate may take up one bill that authorizes $7 million for 30 years to help retire bonds for the Cardinals' stadium. Kansas City's football and baseball stadiums together would get $9.8 million a year for 30 years. The bill would also fund projects in Springfield and Branson as well as provide economic development money for small towns throughout Missouri.

A bill awaiting House consideration would fund the St. Louis and Kansas City projects as well as provide $3 million a year for the Savvis Center.