If the benefits would split 20 ways, collective bargaining might work. But it doesn't seem that they would, especially given the geographical dispersion of the finalists.
Regions (such as US Northeast, or Nashville - Atlanta - Raleigh) might be able to assemble a useful coalition to share the bennies and any pains.
Not sure if BOS and NYC wouldn't stab each other in the back.
> If the benefits would split 20 ways, collective bargaining might work.
I'm shocked to not see this objection in the article or elsewhere in the comment section. If the shortlist were final and cooperation could be enforced, collective bargaining would still only work if the top 20 cities all had a similar chance without perks.
As is, some of the cities would obviously be out of the running in a no-perks race, so collective bargaining (even over many iterations with many companies) is a clear loser for them. That undermines the entire proposal. It could be repaired if strong contenders like DC agreed to let weaker contenders offer perks up to parity with the strongest players, but that's vastly less plausible or easy to calculate than "no perks".
Regions (such as US Northeast, or Nashville - Atlanta - Raleigh) might be able to assemble a useful coalition to share the bennies and any pains.
Not sure if BOS and NYC wouldn't stab each other in the back.