The Diamondbacks have been seeking a public funding agreement to upgrade Chase Field. With no deal agreed upon by the beginning of Spring Training, owner Ken Kendrick and team president Derrick Hall expressed their frustration this afternoon.
“We’re at the point where we’re just trying to figure out the best possible partnership, public-private, we can have that would keep us at Chase Field,” Hall told reporters (including Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports and Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic). “That’s been our preference, to stay at Chase and invest in Chase. … There’s a bit of frustration on my part because we thought we’d be at a position now where we could announce exactly what’s happening.”
Kendrick addressed speculation that the lack of progress has led the D-Backs to open conversations with cities outside Arizona. The owner acknowledged the number of municipalities that would welcome an MLB team but stated that the Diamondbacks are “not in dialogue with those communities” and that is “not where we are spending time or energy.” However, he added that the team “may run out of time in Phoenix. We hope that won’t happen. … We’re continuing to have meetings, we’ve ramped up the dialogue in every way that we know how.”
In a follow-up, Kendrick denied that comment was meant to threaten the state with relocation. “I don’t think, in the world that we live in, threats are the right way to do business. We’re community people. I’ve raised my family here; Derrick has raised his family here. We’re a part of the fabric,” he said. “Our franchise is part of the fabric of Arizona, and that’s where we want it to be for forever. … That is our hope at the moment, that we will have that and be able to announce that, and we’re still aggressively interested in making that happen.”
Chase Field opened in 1998 when the D-Backs entered the league as an expansion franchise. The team’s lease runs through the 2027 season. The organizational preference is to renovate the park as opposed to constructing a new stadium, which Kendrick categorized as too expensive.
The club’s renovation plans come with an estimated price tag between $400-500MM, the organization said. It’s unclear how much of that bill the D-Backs want to be publicly funded. Kendrick stated that his ownership group was prepared “to invest hundreds of millions of dollars of our money.”
According to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, the Diamondbacks opened the last three seasons with a player payroll in the bottom third of MLB. They’re up to 16th in projected spending for the upcoming campaign. On the heels of their surprising NL pennant, they’ve pushed spending to a franchise-record mark approaching $143MM.
If they want to invest in Chase Field to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars they don’t need public help on this project.
Wrong. You don’t just invest in buildings that are owned by the county.
Companies do it all the time. They rent then renovate. Team owners think it’s black letter law now that politicians shower them with cash. The empty threat of the mysterious other communities is just part of the game. And he never said the split would be 50/50…..
You also do it to avoid paying property tax on the property. If it’s owned publicly than it doesn’t get a county tax bill.
Good point, but I think most teams are mostly tax exempt.
Yeah, you’re making my point. You do it with an agreement. I read the lawsuit. The county failed to keep their end of the agreement.
I know it’s not the same thing but technically the government owns my house I paid for. They charge me rent in the form of a tax and could take it away at any time.
I don’t mean to bring up a possibly moot point except to show the line between public and private land is tenuous and they have advantages not owning the stadium, as well as, I’m sure, disadvantages. We see yet another advantage (besides taxes) in the fact that they won’t have to pay (in full) for renovations. They also aren’t going to be held solely responsible if it’s not up to par. If they owned it and had to pay for it themselves we may find them in protest instead of support of the needed renovations. And I dont know the deal so I’ll speculate that if they are gonna pay 100s of millions (probably 2) they want more than repairs.
If you live in a apt. Would you invest in the whole complex ?
Stop pretending you can’t pay for it yourselves
Move to Oakland
Orlando?
That market is owned by the Rays.
Would still outdraw the st petersburg Rays, the so does 28-9 other mlb teams.
You have four years to figure it out, gentlemen, so it’s time to reach deep inside yourselves and find a FAIR way to stay in Phoenix.
In ’28, we’ll have the Oakland Diamondbacks and the Arizona Athletics.
Athletics are headed to vegas…
Are they? Are you sure?
sportspromedia.com/news/oakland-athletics-las-vega…
“Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher has confirmed the franchise has submitted its Las Vegas relocation application to Major League Baseball (MLB).”
That’s not proof they are actually moving to Vegas. It just indicates an intention to move.
lol okay buddy, I guess the owner submitting to move to Vegas isn’t proof that the A’s are likely headed to Vegas.
That would be like if I told my friend I was moving to a different city in a few months, I just filed an application for the apartment building I’m going to live in and him saying actually no that doesn’t mean your moving at all you just have the intention of moving.
I was being facetious. Fisher’s new Vegas stadium is not a done deal yet.
This is John Fischer we’re talking about. I wouldn’t trust him if he said the sky was blue. I’d have to verify it for myself.
Not done. More likely than not but this is one to watch. I would imagine OAK would be pretty hostile if he attempted a return.
I feel like if the Vegas deal blows up—that’s the scenario where he explores a sale.
Their not tearing down the Trop so hotel behind it can have a better view of the strip
Then why did owner of The A’s sign a agreement to buy the land where The Tropicana sits on that’s closing for good in short order?
He didn’t. He’s not buying the property. Bally’s is relinquishing it. They are developing the other 24 acres.
I am also seeking a public/private partnership to pay for my home.
Too bad you aren’t a billionaire, some city or state would build it for you tax free.
The key here is that they have a lease at the stadium. They do not own it. If you rent a home, are you going to renovate the kitchen with your money? Pretty clear they are trying to get some renovations as a part of the new lease. Unless you are renting from a slumlord, this is pretty standard.
@Highwaymenace
Sounds like they have a slumlord.
Businesses do it all the time. It’s called build to suit…..
The joints my employers have been involved with received a build-out allowance from the owners. That’s probably more common.
I wouldn’t ask my neighbors to pay for renovations to my apartment then charge them to come and hang out at my place either though.
If it’s a commercial rental, you renovate.
If it’s an apartment, you get what they have.
Finally, a comment from someone who knows a bit about the Dbacks, as opposed to the trolls who post the same tired pablum because they know absolutely nothing about what they are trying to comment on.!
“I don’t think, in the world that we live in, threats are the right way to do business.”
Yeah, right.
People pretend that the owners of the Dbacks can just own county land or acquire that type of property without permits and government (public) cooperation, so communist in their critique, like it’s the fault of greedy rich people. Chase is owned by the County.
This is literally the fault of greedy rich people. They shouldn’t feel entitled to a stadium. Maybe they should have been better with their money and built their own stadium instead of expecting government handouts.
Did you read the case they brought, which disclosed the facts? I did and you are wrong. The county failed to live up to their part. Generally, I agree with sports brands investing in their own stadiums, but it almost always has to be a partnership because of the nature of that type of real estate.
What is communist about suggesting a private company pay for its own facility improvements?
It’s trendy right now to jump on the bandwagon and criticize companies. In this case, the county is breaching an agreement to contribute. That said, I find it hard to disagree with the idea that the Dbacks needs to pay. They just need to work out another agreement in doing so.
When people start to figure out that the government doesn’t produce any wealth they will see that these “public” partnerships are nothing but welfare scams. In Milwaukee they blame it on landlord leasing. When you ask what renovations are to get done for the hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars the only response is about the extension of the lease. Billionaires seeking government money is crony capitalism and should be treated as Socialism.
@Just
The County owns it.
The tenant leases it from the County.
The tenant wants some renovations done and is willing to spend their own money which they’re not obligated to do unless their lease states otherwise.
Im sure the lease stipulates the County must keep the ballpark at a certain “standard “ that is inline with other MLB stadiums.
Who’s in the wrong.?
The D’Backs are actually responsible for upkeep of their stadium. Which is atypical for stadium deals. but in return they also keep all revenue inside the ballpark for other events like concerts.
The D’Backs didn’t like this deal and sued Maricopa county a few years ago. Not sure of all the specifics but I know they ended up getting a $13MM repair fund out of the suit.
That’s something but obviously would not cover any large scale renovations.
@ Leach
Thanks for itemizing the money they’re receiving. You asked who was wrong. I don’t think the government needs to own the land anymore and that would have been a prime time to sell it to the Brewers. Mixing the private sector and the public sector usually ends up with the taxpayer holding the bill. And other reasons not to do it.
That would be true if the County gave the D-Backs money and they the D- Backs pocketed the money and didn’t use the money for what it was intended for, which was to renovate the County owned bldg.
I’m not saying anything disparaging about the D’Backs here. They certainly don’t have a sweetheart deal. I was just sharing some info. I think Kendrick is a relatively good owner.
A’s fans tried to tell everyone. Oakland was the beginning of the tour to milk public funds out of cities. Milwaukee already caved to the tune of $546m for upgrades to a 23 year old facility that cost $392m to build ($632m adjusted for inflation).
Chicago, Tampa, Phoenix, Kansas City are all next and the list keeps growing.
Toronto has done two big renovations. No public money
Rogers bought their stadium for $25MM, which was 4% of the construction price. They really got themselves a sweetheart deal there.
True- But Rodgers can print money
But doesn’t the County recoup the some of revenue from people that come to watch games in taxes?
How many new swimming pools in the renovation?
One for the home team and for the visitors.
Oakland Diamondbacks?
Maricopa county owns Chase, not the D’backs and even if they were willing to pay for 90% of the renovations, they would still need the county to approve them. I have yet to see the county’s willingness to do anything at this point.
This is just the opening round of negotiations between the team and the county.
Read the room. Working class Americans are sick of subsidizing the extravagances of the ultra-rich. If they want a new stadium they should stop eating avocado toast and drinking oat milk lattes.
Gabe-How much milk lattes would they have to drink to save a billion dollars? Asking for a friend.
7, if they go to starbucks
Now hold on, no need to disparage avocado toast.
@Gabe- Not as mad as our Government giving illegals $$ that should go our Vets and and homeless
As long as it doesn’t go to you, I’m pretty much ok with it
I understand it as a brewers fan we just went thru it but these teams are holding cities hostage pay or we leave they all say they won’t but the commissioner gets involved over time saying other cities that want a team but he “don’t want to move them” I understand it’s a “lease” but really is it… the state gov doesn’t pay the bill the tax payers do I’m not crying wolf but come on mlb has done 5 teams recently the a’s the rays the marlins the brewers now the dbacks…. Come on stop threatening cities… let’s just skip the season go right to the World Series dodgers vs Yankees that’s what they want what’s the point of having a season give mlb what they want… then you don’t have to threaten the low payroll teams heck they can put it on Amazon make even more money I’m a huge fan but come on where does it stop…. If I was a small market fan I would be worried they will threaten your city next!!!! Your cat poop on the bottom of there shoe….
@mustache101- In the NFL The Rams moved out of LA (Actually Anaheim)) to St Louis.
The Raiders moved out of LA back to Oakland. So the 2nd largest market was without a NFL.
Which when you look back on it. The NFL never tried to put an expansion team back in LA.
They kept that market open so other NFL teams could use LA as a threat to move their team there unless the current city or county they played in built them a new NFL stadium.
Once all the NFL teams got what they wanted. The NFL finally let Stan Cronkey move the Rams back to LA and Dean Spanos Move the Chargers from San Diego to LA. Originally the plan was to have the Chargers and Raiders share a stadium in Carson. A suburb in LA County. I know it’s off subject.
But MLB really doesn’t have that luxury that I can think of where they can use a Market that can support a MLB team asa leverage if say the D-Backs can’t come to agreement. with the State of AZ.
I understand that that’s why I’m not crying wolf but that’s 2 teams in the nfl mlb does it every year with multiple teams again I get it but did the nsfl threaten 5 teams in a few years??? The nfl did 2 teams over a long period of time…I appreciate your opinion but like you said it’s off subject… they threatened us (Milwaukee) with Nashville Portland and charlotte where they could move a team to and mlb has done it far more then the nfl but I do respect your opinion
And on another note the nfl is looking at expansion cant blame them it would just be an issue of how to work out the divisions if the nfl had there way there would be overseas teams not sure it would work but there selling games there to think about it… I don’t know how players would like that travel would be an issue but you bet there
Looking at it but again I respect your opinion
What teams played in the World Series last year? How about the year before that? When were the Yankees even in the World Series last?
I agree large-market teams have advantages, but MLB is the most competitive of all the major sports leagues.
Also, Milwaukee officials were foolish to cave to the Brewers’ demands.
Can you imagine how mad mlb would be if a World Series was rays vs brewers!!!! They wouldn’t be able to handle it…. I was sad that Arizona beat my team but they deserved to get where they got they earned it!!! Now there city is under fire by mlb….. I tip my brewers hat to Arizona fans and there ball club the commissioner will be there soon to make the threat sound serious
If they don’t have putting a roof on the place as part of the deal then it should not go through. Think whatever you want in years to come they’ll be playing home games with 120 degree heat. I don’t even know why MLB wants to keep teams in places like that or move them to Vegas. Where they gonna get water? Those communities are on the surface, unsustainable in the long term. That long term also will probably start in the short term, if you will.
YOU get a new stadium. YOU get a new stadium. YOU get a new stadium.
Still haven’t repaired the roof two years on. Should build a new smaller stadium in partnership with the SRPMIC east of the 101. However, if Ken and his group decide they want to leave, the Diamondbacks name,history, records and intellectual property should stay in Phoenix for the next owner/custodian.
Not all rich people are greedy and not all greedy people are rich. Rich people are the most charitible people there are. It’s not a crime to be rich. Jealousy, however, will make you miserable.
They don’t build ‘em’ like they used to
People are way over-analyzing this. It is a simple business deal that most cities engage in. How many businesses did Newark steal from NYC by offering them tax breaks? Or, when NYC was on the verge, how do you think they got businesses to invest in Times Square?
And on a personal note, I find it surprising that there are people that don’t want the county to chip in for the improvements, but also objected to the A’s leaving Oakland.
Stadiums lose money for a city, especially when the concessions go back to the team. It’s not like a museum or a park where people go and then eat and drink in restaurants nearby. They might have a couple of beers before the game but then they eat and drink inside the stadium. Well documented in books by smarter folks than I am. Plus, cities end up paying for cops, traffic, and other manpower expenses at the behest of the team. Not a good deal, made worse by cities depleting money from other, necessary areas just to pay the billionaires to build them a place of business. Oakland and Phoenix, hold firm. If the team doesn’t want to play there at the end of the lease, screw ’em. Let ’em go play in a cultural wasteland like Oklahoma City or Salt Lake City.
Public-private partnership means the taxpayer pays, the private company profits.
The stadium is 26 years old!?! Throw it away like an old computer! If the fans want the privilege of spending way to much money to see a ballgame, they will fork over the tax dollars to build a new one.
“has led the D-Backs to open conversations with cities outside Arizona”
“I don’t think, in the world that we live in, threats are the right way to do business
Sounds like a threat to me
I agree with most of what I see posted here. I also would be interested to see what all the money they want is truly for. If it’s for building unnecessary additions to make more money and draw people to park then is that really the same as repairs and what does the language of the agreement specify in this regard?
I don’t know what renovations (in the sense of upgrades to the stadium) that the team is shooting for, but the team did just make repairs to the sound system and lights (if I’m not mistaken, both had fallen below industry standard).
There is also the out of town scoreboard and the large clock (both of which are not going to be cheap repairs, because the companies that made both went out of business some years ago), and the retractable roof (the cables are in such poor condition that the team won’t open the roof unless there are no fans in the ballpark).
Couldn’t tell you the exact wording, but the county does bear much of the burden regarding funding for maintenance; which they’ve dropped the ball on time and time again.
The team does have a legitimate argument against the county on a few different fronts. Highly doubtful that the repairs would be more expensive than a new stadium. But gotta make sure that administrators and bureaucrats get their piece of the pie first, prior obligations be damned.
What’s the difference between people who expect a good living off welfare programs and billionaires expecting the public to fund their venues?
They should move. Every team that doesn’t get whatever they want should move. I hear there’s a league in Dubai looking for talent maybe they can start there.
Sure Dan Ug, move them to Dubai and change their name to the Cobras, right?