Homeless in Arizona

And of course the elected officials who steal our money and give it to these millionaire sports professionals would lose out on the bribes, oops, I mean campaign contributions from these billion dollar sports teams give them.

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Cactus League costs: Phoenix-area cities lose millions operating stadiums but say it's worth it

By Allie Seligman and Peter Corbett The Republic | azcentral.com Tue Mar 5, 2013 11:09 PM

Cactus League baseball has boosted Arizona tourism for decades, but the annual migration of several hundred thousand fans to the Valley is costly for taxpayers.

Last year, eight of the nine cities that host spring-training teams lost money on their stadiums and practice facilities, with combined deficits of more than $10million annually, according to municipal records examined by The Arizona Republic.

The Cactus League, with an average of 221 games the past five years, generates tens of millions of dollars at the ballparks throughout the season, but the teams take the lion’s share of game revenue.

Plus, the cities pay the majority of the costs to maintain the ballparks, watering and mowing the grass and meticulously grooming the fields.

The Republic’s analysis of financial records of the nine cities that host spring training revealed that:

Mesa has lost an average of $1.47 million annually over the past five years hosting the Chicago Cubs at Hohokam Stadium and Fitch Park.

Phoenix lost an average of $1.7 million over five years hosting the Oakland Athletics at Phoenix Municipal Stadium and an additional $1.8 million annually at Maryvale Baseball Park, spring home of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Peoria lost an average of $1.63 million annually over the past five years hosting the San Diego Padres and the Seattle Mariners.

In four years of operation at Camelback Ranch, Glendale has lost an average of $18,882 annually. The Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers are responsible for most day-to-day operations there. In 2012, the city’s revenue agreement with Phoenix kicked in, and Glendale made $57,804.

The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community east of Scottsdale declined to provide comparable data for its operation of Salt River Fields at Talking Stick for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies.

Tribal President Diane Enos said the information is confidential. But she said the tribe is pleased that the baseball complex has generated spinoff revenue on the reservation and in the East Valley.

It has spawned redevelopment at the nearby Pavilions at Talking Stick shopping center and development of a butterfly pavilion northeast of the stadium that is the first element of a planned $170 million entertainment complex.

But Andrew Zimbalist, a sports economist at Smith College in Massachusetts, said spring-training facilities are rarely profitable.

A study of Florida’s economy after the 1990 Major League Baseball lockout that canceled most spring-training games showed the cities and towns with teams saw no discernible impact on retail sales or tax revenue that year, Zimbalist said.

Arizona and Florida draw visitors from late February through March regardless of spring training, he said. “One type of spending replaces another type of spending, and there’s not a net gain,” he said.

It’s possible some cities could fare differently, Zimbalist said, but any modest economic increase is offset by the cost it takes to build and maintain the facilities.

“If you want to justify it, rather than looking at economic gain, you should look at if there’s a social or cultural benefit,” he said.

Outside uses

Cactus League officials argue that the cities’ investment in baseball for spring and year-round training generates more than $600 million annually for the state’s economy. A 2012 study for the Cactus League Association revealed more than $230 million in visitor spending that goes to hotels, restaurants, rental-car agencies and other businesses catering to tourists.

It did not show the sales-tax revenue generated for the cities that invest in spring training, but 86 percent of the direct spending is in Maricopa County.

City officials also say the stadiums are used for much more than spring training. Most ballparks are rented out to third-party users year-round to help offset the costs to run the multimillion-dollar facilities and serve as sites for community engagement and activities.

Renting space to outside users can bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. In Peoria, 58 percent of facility use was sporting and non-sporting rentals in 2012. [So instead of losing $1,000,000 a year, they only lost $900,000 a year when these additional revenue are counted. Whoppie!!!!]

“It’s a site that we need to use year-round,” Peoria Sports Facilities Manager Chris Calcaterra said. “Otherwise, you’ve just got a facility you’re just putting money into, and it’s not bringing out-of-town guests to spend money.”

Used-car sales, arts festivals, concerts, company picnics and weddings fill spaces across the campus year-round, Peoria Sports Complex Manager Chris Easom said.

“You name it, we’ve probably done it or thought about doing it here,” he said.

Goodyear has found its niche in high-school graduations and youth and adult baseball tournaments.

The year Goodyear Ballpark opened, it hosted 18 non-baseball events that brought in $144,000. That grew to 59 events last year that brought in $479,000.

When the Los Angeles Angels and its minor-league players aren’t using Tempe Diablo Stadium and its six practice fields, the city uses the 44-year-old facility for high-school playoff games, men’s league games and tournaments, and recreational-vehicle shows, said Kathy Berzins, Tempe community manager.

Community assets

Other non-baseball events go beyond making money.

Cities use their ballparks for holiday gatherings and other special events. Goodyear’s Fourth of July fireworks show draws about 15,000 people. Salt River Fields hosts a Halloween hot-air-balloon festival. [Of course these things could be done at a high school football field at no extra cost, but lets not let logic and reason get in the way of giving million dollar handouts to professional sports teams]

Such events and partnerships with community leagues and high-school teams may not bring in money, but they do add to the quality of life for residents, Peoria’s Calcaterra said.

“Revenue maker? Probably not. But community enhancer? Absolutely,” he said. “Cliche as it may sound, we build memories.” [Another lame excuse to justify giving millions of dollars in government welfare to wealthy baseball teams]

Surprise goes one step further, using its stadium as a recreation campus. Only about half of Surprise Stadium’s expenditures go toward professional-baseball operations, said Mark Coronado, director of Community and Recreation Services.

About 65 percent of games, practices and other activities at the complex are community- and city-run.

“You’re playing 190 games collectively on one Saturday morning, plus you are hosting practice opportunities for these teams all week long,” Coronado said. “If you ask residents, they’ll tell you that the Surprise recreation campus is their recreation-activity hub.”

Revenue generators

Officials argue that the cost to build, maintain and operate the facilities is far outweighed by the out-of-state visitors and sales-tax revenue they bring in.

A Cactus League economic-impact study released in December estimated that direct spending by visitors last year was $230 million, up 36 percent from the previous study in 2007. [Well if they bring in gazillions of dollars in revenue, let the professional baseball teams build the stadiums. The revenue they bring in should easily pay for the stadiums. Of course the professional sports teams would not be asking for million dollar handouts if that were true]

“The Number 1 reason they came was the Cactus League — baseball,” said Coronado, who is also president of the Cactus League Association. “Truthfully, if you are a spring visitor to the Arizona market, to Phoenix, you know to stay away in March if you don’t like baseball because you’re not going to get a room.”

The league, which expanded to 15 teams in 2010, attracted a record 1.7 million fans last year, roughly 56 percent out-of-town visitors.

Adding a multiplier effect of those expenditures pushes the economic impact of the Cactus League to $422 million, said Bruce Fohr, president of FMR Associates, a Tucson firm that conducted the study for the Valley cities, Arizona Commerce Authority and Arizona Office of Tourism.

A second study by Elliott D. Pollack & Co., the first of its kind, estimated that the year-round baseball activity involving minor-league players, coaches and other personnel at the team complexes adds an additional $210 million to the state’s economy.

Catalysts for growth

Fostering development and attracting visitors have always been major goals of the Cactus League.

Peoria, which built Peoria Sports Complex in the 1990s, is working to revamp the surrounding area. Plans are in the works to build a hotel, boutique shops and trendy restaurants. The city is expected to donate about 17 acres of land, currently used for parking at Peoria Sports Complex, and pay for a $30 million parking garage.

Goodyear, Surprise and Glendale — in much-less-developed areas — hope to emulate the growth other ballparks around the Valley have fostered.

About 500 acres stands empty around Surprise Stadium. The long-term plan is to attract restaurant and entertainment options there, Coronado said. In Glendale and Goodyear, development constructed in a reeling economy never took off.

Other costs

Next month, construction will begin on new team clubhouses that came as part of Peoria’s negotiations to sign the Mariners and Padres for another 20 years. The $14.1 million Padres clubhouse and the $13.9million Mariners clubhouse are expected to be completed in time for next year’s spring-training season.

Mesa is spending $84 million on a new stadium for the Cubs and an additional $15 million on utilities and parking for a new baseball complex at Riverview Park, southeast of the Loops 101 and 202 interchange. Adjacent land is designated for a retail and entertainment complex. The Cubs will move in next season.

Meanwhile, Mesa approved a 20-year deal Monday with the Oakland Athletics to move from Phoenix Muni to a refurbished Hohokam Stadium in 2015.

Mesa will pay up to $17.5 million to improve Hohokam and the practice facilities at nearby Fitch Park. The Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority will pay $8.2 million of Mesa’s costs, said Chris Brady, Mesa city manager.

It’s part of the evolution of the Cactus League, which has rarely been static over the past 20 years, with teams moving or getting new facilities nearly every year.

Rob Harman, Phoenix deputy parks director, said the city has had a good relationship with the A’s since 1982 but could not afford to provide the facility improvements the team wanted for a long-term deal. “I’ve come to think of it as almost a Cactus League arms race,” Harman said of the escalating costs of spring-training facilities.

Phoenix is spending $1.5 million for clubhouse improvements at the Maryvale Baseball Park in west Phoenix for the Milwaukee Brewers.

In exchange, the Brewers extended their contract with Phoenix through 2022, but the team can leave any year after 2014 if it gives the city notice.

At this point, the Brewers’ options are limited in the Valley because stadium funding from the sports authority is tapped out. But Phoenix recognizes that it could lose both its teams.

“I’m not sure we need to be in the stadium business to reap the benefits of the Cactus League,” said Harman, noting that spring-training visitors use the city’s airport, rent cars and stay in Phoenix hotels.

Phoenix would no longer spend $3.5 million subsidizing the spring-training operations at Maryvale, Phoenix Muni and the A’s practice fields at Papago Park.

A new model

Some cities are moving away the traditional city-run ballpark setup.

At Glendale’s Camelback Ranch, the White Sox and Dodgers run day-to-day operations. Glendale paid $200 million to build the facility, a portion of which it expects to get back from the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority.

The city also provides fire and police services each year, a combined $42,208 to $53,808 annually, along with about $25,000 in transportation staff costs. Capital expenses, another city responsibility, have ranged from $55,335 to $128,557 per year.

Still, an agreement with Phoenix, where the stadium is located, gives Glendale 80 percent of the sales-tax revenue generated in and around the ballpark for 40 years or the city is paid $37 million.

Mesa’s new contract with the Cubs is closer to what Glendale is doing at Camelback Ranch than the more traditional Cactus League model.

Under the current deal, the Cubs, Mesa and HoHoKams civic group have different splits of the ticket revenue, concessions and sponsorships, said Brady, Mesa’s city manager. The city hired groundskeepers and staff to take care of the fields, operate concessions and run the stadium on game days.