- The Arizona Diamondbacks want public funding for $500 million in upgrades to Chase Field, with the team contributing $250 million.
- Critics estimate that the deal could cost taxpayers as much as $1 billion and create a ‘slush fund’ for developers.
- • Despite reservations from Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and Gov. Katie Hobbs, a deal will pass that fails to truly hold taxpayers harmless.
We’re suckers.
And before it’s all said and done, taxpayers will get suckered into handing over hundreds of millions of tax dollars to the billionaire owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks to fancy up Chase Field in downtown Phoenix.
We shouldn’t do it, but we will.
Right now in the Legislature, they’re trying to figure out a way to pass House Bill 2704, which would have the taxes we pay on items purchased at Chase Field go toward improvements at the ballpark instead of going to state and local governments.
The team says the stadium needs about $500 million in upgrades. The deal also has the Diamondbacks saying they’ll chip in $250 million.
Baseball unifies us in ways few other things can
But will they? And should we?
We shouldn’t. But we always do. Because, yes, we’re suckers. For baseball. For professional sports in general.
I get it. I was born outside of Pittsburgh at a time when the great Roberto Clemente played for the Pirates, and every kid who played baseball (or any other sport) not only wanted to wear the No. 21 jersey but was willing to fight for it.
Literally.
A sports franchise unifies a city or a state in ways that nothing else can.
In a ballpark, there are no Republicans or Democrats. People aren’t identified by the color of their skin but by the color of their T-shirts, replica uniforms or ballcaps.
Other cities would love to lure the Diamondbacks
It’s why someone who is a Diamondbacks fan but who was raised in, say, Chicago, will break out the red and blue Cubs gear when his old hometown team visits Arizona.
Ken Kendrick, the billionaire owner of the Diamondbacks, knows this. The politicians negotiating with the Diamondbacks know this.
I’d guess Kendrick doesn’t want the hassle of moving a franchise to another city, but he’s smart enough to keep the prospect of such a thing peeking out from his back pocket.
Likewise, the politicians who want to keep the team in Arizona don’t want to give away the store, but they know as well that there are a bunch of cities willing to do whatever it takes to lure a team looking for a new home.
They range from places like Salt Lake City, Portland and Nashville to Montreal (which lost its team in 2004) and Mexico City.
Arizona will fall for it, even if taxpayers must pay
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego doesn’t like the current deal under consideration at the Legislature, saying it could cost taxpayers $1 billion, more than double what lawmakers were told.
Likewise, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Thomas Galvin said in an op-ed for The Arizona Republic that he worries “some proposals could create a slush fund for developers.”
Gov. Katie Hobbs has chimed in as well, saying, “So, I will sign a bill that has the agreement of all the parties that holds taxpayers harmless and keeps the Diamondbacks here in Arizona.”
HA!
She knows, as we all do, that no matter what type of deal is made, it will not hold taxpayers harmless.
And most of us will fall for it, because the politicians and ball club executives making the pitch know from experience that we can’t hit a curveball.
Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.
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