Tyler August was right. Leave the politicians out of the championship celebration.
The Milwaukee Brewers are World Series champions. First time in franchise history. Cooper Pratt, Jacob Misiorowski, William Contreras, and the rest of a small-market roster that just refused to lose beat the Rays in five games. Wisconsin celebrated like it was 1982 all over again, only this time the ending was better.
Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August posted the correct take last night. Do not let any politician take credit for tonight’s win. The Brewers as an organization are incredible. The players are incredible. The manager is incredible. The owners want to be in Wisconsin. Celebrate the team. Celebrate the players. Celebrate the taxpayers and the fans. Just leave the politicians out of it. Please.
The problem with the supposed narrative that Crowley saved the Brewers is that anyone involved with the negotiations will tell you, that is NOT what actually happened.
That lasted about as long as it took for the champagne to dry. Within hours, the usual suspects were already rewriting history. David Crowley, Milwaukee County Executive and the Democratic nominee for governor, was positioned in friendly coverage as the man who “saved” American Family Field and kept the Brewers in Milwaukee. One piece even ran with that exact wording. Governor Evers was quoted as saying that Crowley brought people together when no one else could. Keep in mind that this is the same Evers who rigged the Democrat primary and handpicked Crowley despite Hong’s seemingly insurmountable lead after Crowley had dropped out of the race. Of course Evers is now going to say Crowley was instrumental.
The problem is, that is not how the deal to keep the Brewers here in AmFam Field actually happened.
In June 2023, Crowley signed a Milwaukee County Board resolution opposing the use of any county tax levy dollars for long-term renovations at the ballpark. At the time, Crowley knew that Legislative Republicans wanted a local contribution to the stadium fix since the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County would be the biggest benefactors if a deal was reached. When legislative Republicans put forward a plan that included a local contribution for a local facility, Crowley objected publicly (Brewers stadium deal in limbo as Milwaukee County leaders clash with state GOP on funding deal). He said the proposal “sticks it to Milwaukee County taxpayers.” Team Crowley went so far as to tell the local media that “funding stadium repairs was not a top priority” for the county executive.
Doesn’t sound like Crowley was instrumental in finding a bipartisan solution. Sounds like Crowley was trying to torpedo the whole deal.
In his view, funding should come from the state and the Brewers themselves. Not from Milwaukee County. Even though the original stadium was called Milwaukee County Stadium.
He was not alone in that instinct. Plenty of people, including many conservatives, do not love writing checks for professional sports teams. The difference is that legislative leaders understood the political reality. Letting the Milwaukee Brewers walk would have been unthinkable, especially in a state that just watched them win it all. Speaker Robin Vos and the rest of the Republican leadership in the Assembly and Senate moved a bill. They did not hand the team a blank check. They structured a deal that largely used income tax revenue generated by the players themselves, including visiting players who pay Wisconsin tax on the days they play here. That is money that exists only because the Brewers are in Milwaukee. If the team leaves, those dollars leave with them.
Doesn’t sound like Crowley was instrumental in finding a bipartisan solution. Sounds like Crowley was trying to torpedo the whole deal.
The final package, signed as Wisconsin Act 40, committed roughly $366 million from the state. The Brewers put in their own money. And yes, the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County each contributed $67.5 million. Legislative leaders got Crowley and Mayor Cavalier Johnson to put local money into the deal, even though both had opposed it. The lease was extended through 2050. Taxpayers statewide were not held over a barrel for a one-time surplus raid that would have done nothing to change the underlying incentives.
Crowley later talked about the “additional revenue flexibility” the county received and claimed it added no cost to local taxpayers. That flexibility came because the Legislature had already passed Act 12, which let the county raise its sales tax. The stadium contribution was paid for out of the new money the county was collecting from people spending money in Milwaukee. The team stayed. The economic activity stayed. The sales tax revenue from games, concerts, and everything else at American Family Field stayed. Milwaukee County and the City of Milwaukee will collect more of that money because the Brewers are still here, including a World Series run that put the team and the entire state in the national spotlight.
None of that makes David Crowley the singular reason the Brewers are staying in Milwaukee. He started by opposing county participation. The bipartisan vote, the governor’s signature, the City and County’s eventual participation, and the ownership group’s willingness to extend the lease all mattered. Make no mistake: it was primarily legislative leaders’ and Governor Evers’ recognition that the political cost of letting the team leave was higher than the cost of a carefully designed package.
Voters notice when a politician tries to turn a championship into a personal talking point. If someone tells you, “I saved the Brewers,” the reasonable response is to ask what they actually did. Did they vote for the bill that kept the team? Did they negotiate the player tax structure that limited the hit on general taxpayers? Or did they sign a resolution against local money, call the plan a stick-up of Milwaukee County taxpayers, and then show up for the ribbon-cutting once the hard work was finished?
The Brewers won because the players executed and the organization built a roster that could compete despite coming from the smallest market in the league. The team is still in Milwaukee because the Legislature refused to be the politicians who let them leave. Everything else is gross campaign messaging. Tyler August had it right the first time. Celebrate the team. Leave the politicians out of it.
