The closer you look, the worse the Texas Rangers stadium deal looks for fans and taxpayers.

We already knew the proposed Texas Rangers stadium deal stunk. But the more we learn, the stinkier it gets.

From the beginning, spending $500 million of taxpayer money to replace the current stadium — built in 1994 — seemed like a sweetheart giveaway to the team's ownership. Despite the public funding windfall, prices for tickets, concessions, and parking keep rising — and the promises of extraordinary economic growth are pretty much never fulfilled.

But as new details about the Rangers deal emerge, it looks more and more outrageous. One analysis found that it contains an "unprecedented" clause that essentially gives away an additional $300 million to the team's owners via a transfer of future tax revenue on parking and admissions. As one economist put it:

“It is one of the worst public projects anyone could imagine.”

Yikes.

Moreover, the Dallas Morning News found multiple other ways the deal is a gift to Rangers ownership at the expense of Arlington residents and Rangers fans, including complicated tax arrangements that will save the team millions of dollars and additional public support for an entertainment complex development partially owned by the Rangers.

We'll keep you posted as new details emerge (and they surely will) about other ways this stadium deal rips off fans and taxpayers.