Bucks Are Fine Where They Are

The Milwaukee Bucks have been Milwaukee’s hometown basketball team since 1968, and they have called the BMO-Harris Bradley Center home since it opened in 1988. For the last two years, the team’s owner, Sen. Herb Kohl, has been proposing a plan to build a new arena for the Milwaukee Bucks to help draw more people to the games and to replace the BMO-Harris Bradley Center.

In addition, Senator Kohl was planning on selling the team. The Bucks are a small- market team that doesn’t need a big, fancy basketball arena. In addition, The Bucks have no effective way of funding this new arena, and no location plan to build. The Bucks do not need to build a new arena given the state of the team.The BMO-Harris Bradley Center is the perfect arena for a small-market NBA team. Even though the BMO-Harris Bradley Center is only 25 years old, it has gone through many renovations over the years. For example, a new multi-million dollar scoreboard was installed about two years ago to give more creativity in special effects for advertisements and graphics. The scoreboard also offers crystal clear picture, which is an improvement over the old Sony “Jumbotron.”

Also, LED advertisement boards around the arena allow for enhanced graphics for advertisements. The team doesn’t need anything bigger. They also have a brand new floor to play on. An even more important note, the BMO-Harris Bradley Center shows no signs of aging inside and outside the arena; it is not falling apart.Senator Kohl also said that he was planning on selling the team and has said this for a long time. If the Bucks are sold after the new arena is built and the new owner moves them out of Milwaukee, then what happens? The City of Milwaukee has an empty sports arena without a big tenant. Also, the City of Milwaukee does not need three sports arenas. Plus an even more important item that has to be addressed is, who is going to buy the team?

The Bucks also have another problem: where is the new arena going to be located? A location for any building is important, because it has to be easily accessible and in a good neighborhood so everyone can come and attend a game. Downtown Milwaukee seems to be the best location. The Bucks still don’t know where to put the building.

Another important factor in building a new stadium is cost. According to the Macgiver Institute, Senator Kohl and other supporters want this new arena paid for with public funds. This caused outrage among the people in the city and the county. I wouldn’t want to pay for it. I would rather have that money go to better use, such as fixing the thousands of potholes that are plaguing the city.