D-Backs can hunt new site
County OKs deal for team to exit Chase Field early
The Arizona Diamondbacks can leave Chase Field and end the team’s 20-year residence downtown as early as 2022, Maricopa County leaders decided Wednesday.
The county Board of Supervisors passed the agreement 4-1 a week after making the deal public, ending a longstanding lawsuit. It allows the team to immediately start looking for another home in exchange for dropping its demand for the county to pay up to $187 million in stadium upgrades.
Under the agreement, if the Diamondbacks found a new location in Maricopa County, the team could leave Chase Field without penalty in 2022, five years earlier than the team’s current contract.
A new stadium built on tribal land, an idea that has been rumored, would have to charge the same taxes as currently charged at Chase Field, according to the agreement.
If the team left Arizona after 2022, the team would have to pay penalties of between $5 million and $25 million.
County Supervisor Clint Hickman, R-Litchfield Park, voted against the deal.
Hickman said he believed the 30-year contract with the original Diamondbacks owners should be binding. He also worried about an extra $20 million the county would likely have to reimburse the team for stadium repairs under the deal, as well as an “out clause” that could allow Major League Baseball to move the team even earlier.
“The county taxpayer thought that the contract was signed for 30 years,” Hickman said. “This new ownership group bought everything lock, stock and barrel, including the preexisting agreements.”
County Chairman Steve Chucri, R-Paradise Valley, who helped broker the deal, said he believed the agreement would keep baseball in Maricopa County for the long term.
“Although it may not be perfect, (the deal) best captures what’s good for the county, what’s good for our community, what’s good for the taxpayer and what’s good for the team,” Chucri said.
Diamondbacks majority owner Ken Kendrick praised the deal for putting to bed years of conflict.
“(W)e will do everything in our power to ensure a safe and friendly environment while being diligent in determining the best long-term stadium option for the DBacks,” he said. “Our front office will continue to focus on our team on the field, the fan experience and the key role we play in the Arizona community.”
Chase Field opened in 1998 thanks to roughly $250 million from county taxpayers and more than $200 million in construction and enhancements paid by the team.
One resident spoke publicly in support of the deal at the meeting. Diane Barker urged the Diamondbacks, other downtown businesses and Phoenix to cooperate on improving the stadium.
“I’d like to see these corporate oligarchies put their money in it to make it a great project,” Barker said.
No residents spoke in opposition, although several weighed in via email.
The “out” clause says MLB can require the team to leave Arizona at any time without penalty “because of the condition of the stadium ... if all parties have acted in good faith,” one resident said.
Chucri said he did not believe the league would use the clause to move the team out of state because Maricopa County is the fastest-growing county in the nation and other stadiums are in worse shape. He said the county would sue if the league did.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and the Diamondbacks have threatened to leave in the past. Chucri said he believed it was a negotiating tactic.
The Diamondbacks sued Maricopa County in 2017, seeking to break the team’s 30-year lease to look for another home. The lawsuit argued that the county had not saved enough money to keep Chase Field in good condition.
The county said that it had enough money for structural repairs but would not pay for cosmetic upgrades like suite renovations, which it argued were the team’s responsibility.
The lawsuit went nowhere for months until a judge ordered the two sides into private mediation, which produced the preliminary agreement.
Under the deal, the team will take control of stadium maintenance and be allowed to spend $35 million in repair money on a new scoreboard, air-conditioning equipment and other items that previously were in dispute. The team also could receive up to $20 million from the county at the end of the contract as reimbursement for repairs.
The team also will take over booking events from Scottsdale-based Select Artists Associates. Net revenue would be dedicated to repairs.
In return, the county would be released from any obligation to pay for further repairs and will maintain ownership of the land in downtown Phoenix, which leaders said could be redeveloped if the team leaves.
Supervisor Denny Barney, R-Gilbert, said that it’s clear the Diamondbacks do not intend to stay at Chase Field past the end of the current contract in 2027 and that the county will not build the team a new stadium.
“We’d love them to be in Chase Field, but we really want them to stay in Maricopa County because that’s what the taxpayers bargained for,” Barney said. “We don’t have the ability to put more money in the stadium nor will we build them a new stadium. If they can find something that will take them the next 20, 30, 40 years in Maricopa County outside of Chase Field, great. As long as they’re here — that’s our goal.”
Supervisor Steve Gallardo, D-Phoenix, whose district includes the stadium, encouraged the city to talk to the Diamondbacks about staying in downtown Phoenix.
“I really understand the importance of having Major League Baseball in downtown Phoenix and I hope that’s a goal we continue to have,” said Gallardo, who initially criticized the county’s stadium deal-making as rushed.
Supervisor Bill Gates, R-Phoenix, said the agreement would help keep baseball in Arizona.
“It’s an opportunity to turn the page and become partners again, quite frankly, with the Arizona Diamondbacks,” said Gates, who helped negotiate the deal and received campaign donations in 2015 from team majority owner Ken Kendrick; his wife, Randy Kendrick; and team President Derrick Hall.