Moody Center Developers Face Music for Alleged Bid-Rigging—Because of Course They Did

In a shocking turn of events that absolutely no one saw coming—except, you know, anyone who’s ever glanced sideways at a corporate-funded sports arena—the geniuses behind Austin’s shiny new Moody Center have been slapped with a federal indictment for good ol’ fashioned bid-rigging. That’s right, folks: the same people who brought you $18 watered-down beers and $50 parking spots might’ve also played a little fast and loose with the rules. Who could’ve predicted such a thing? Oh, wait. Everyone.

Tim Leiweke, CEO of the Oak View Group (which sounds less like a development firm and more like a villainous conglomerate from a dystopian YA novel), is now facing the music—ironic, given that his arena was built to host it. The feds allege he orchestrated a bid-rigging scheme so blatant it might as well have come with a neon sign reading "Yep, We’re Skimming Off the Top." The Moody Center, that $375 million temple of capitalism, was supposedly born from a "fair" bidding process. Sure, and I’m the next headliner at ACL Fest.

Let’s be real: this is the same arena that probably displaced a dozen local DIY venues just by existing. But hey, at least now we know why those ticket fees are so astronomically high—someone’s gotta pay for the legal team. And while UT students are out here eating ramen to afford textbooks, the university got played like a fiddle in this whole deal. Classic.

So next time you’re crammed into a nosebleed seat, squinting at a jumbotron while a billionaire artist lip-syncs their greatest hits, just remember: the real performance was the white-collar crime happening behind the scenes all along. Encore, anyone?