Other baseball owners are getting public money but not in Phoenix, at least not yet.
You have to wonder just how dedicated Phoenix-area sports fans are to local team owners. Tempe residents said no in a referendum to provide land and money to the National Hockey League Arizona Coyotes’ ownership in its bid for an arena in town last May. Now Derrick Hall, the CEO of Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks franchise is unhappy that no one in the Valley of the Sun metropolitan area is offering the baseball franchise money to build a new stadium and Phoenix officials are not even coming up with a renovation plan at the city’s baseball park. Hall contended the business is not necessarily looking for money but it sure sounds as if the organization wants public money whether it is in a direct hand out or giving the franchise owners land to build a stadium village. “We don’t have our hand out, but if you look at some of the other situations very similar to ours like Milwaukee, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Baltimore in each case they are getting strong investments from the public, from a mixture of city, county, state, and we just aren’t.”
Hall added: “I’m starting to get concerned with the timing. I don’t think the city officials in particular understand the urgency of our lease, which expires in 2027.” Hall also pointed out that his bosses were willing to put up “more than 75% of a potential $500 million price tag” and the business was interested in getting “land we can develop.” The Diamondbacks ownership group wanted the stadium decision made in mid-June. That deadline has passed. The Managing General Partner Ken Kendrick said earlier this year, the ownership group is willing to spend “hundreds of millions of dollars” in its pursuit for the venue that will produce greater revenue for the business and “we’re not looking for a handout.” The Diamondbacks stadium game continues.
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