Diamondbacks looking to leave Chase Field citing lack of funds for Stadium Improvement due from Maricopa County (Phoenix: sales, theater)

[Bungle]

I'm seeing a lot of comments about how the stadium is fine and doesn't need work, etc...

None of you are engineers that have actually inspected the stadium. You have no idea the condition of the inner workings of the stadium. As you all know the roof is retractable...can you imagine the cost if hypothetically the motors or other major pieces needed to replaced or upgraded after 20 years wear and tear? Costs add up and they may not be obvious to your casual game observer. The ~$180mil cost for repairs/upgrades are said to be to continue to provide a state of the art stadium. They are trying to avoid it turning into a dump in the long run.

[ScottsdaleMark]

True Bungle, I have decided that I am opposed to retractable roof stadiums because I have noticed that no matter where they are located, the roof always seems to be closed most of the time. Think about the Cardinals facility...they keep that roof closed most of the time, despite generally fantastic weather. (The most recent article I could find was from Feb. 2015 when the count was at 71 games closed and 22 games open.) They say the crowd noise is better with it closed, plus people get so touchy if they have to sweat a little bit, ergo, the roof is rarely open even on beautiful fall days. Given the crowd noise, you wonder if the coaches/players wouldn't prefer to ALWAYS have it closed.

I feel the same is true of the Diamondbacks. For most of the season, they end up with the roof being closed for the game. I remember I was there on a lovely cloudy summer day with temps in the high 90's. Why not open the roof up for the night game given it was cooler than normal and let people enjoy a rare July day in the 90s, cooling off into the 80s as the game gets under way? Nope, they closed the roof and turned the AC on like always. Given the climate, I understand it's better for their business to keep it closed most of the year, but that just makes you wonder why they didn't just build a dome and save a lot of money since the roof is usually closed anyway.

[cjseliga]

Originally Posted by ScottsdaleMark

Given the climate, I understand it's better for their business to keep it closed most of the year, but that just makes you wonder why they didn't just build a dome and save a lot of money since the roof is usually closed anyway.

Probably because they wanted real grass to play on, so even though the roof is closed 95%+ of the home games, they can still open the roof the rest of the time during the day so those UV rays can nourish that grass! Is it worth spending an extra $50 or $100 million for a retractable roof, when it's always closed for games, just to have real grass to play on, probably not.

University of Phoenix Stadium obviously doesn't have that problem since the field rolls out, so the grass can grow in the sun. They could have easily made that stadium a permanent dome, especially if they don't want to hardly open the roof at all and keep the noise in. Now that the Toronto Argonauts have stopped playing in Rogers Centre (SkyDome) they are converting the field over to natural grass, leaving only the Trop in St. Pete the only ballpark with artificial grass, and they will be probably replacing that stadium in the not too distance future.

[phoenixmike11]

Phoenix native and writer of the Arizona blog (and former Arizona Republic columnist)-Jon Talton's take on the Arizona Diamondbacks stadium situation-

Rogue Columnist: Snakebit


Neil Demause's view on the Diamondbacks situation (he writes a blog about sports stadium rip-offs and wrote a book about it as well)

Diamondbacks owners to taxpayers: Give us blank check to upgrade 18-year-old stadium, or we’ll sue to move | Field of Schemes

[JGMotorsport64]

Can't we just sell the DBacks to Mike Bidwill? He unlike Kendricks has been a civic steward and held his end of his agreement up despite dealing with the petulant child that is Glendale.

Kendricks is too involved in the sprawl hustle, he gains from building stuff.

[PhureeKeeper]

Didn't they like the swimming pool?

[Leaving Arizona]

WTH? Chase Field - or Old BOB - is "falling apart" already?

Ztonyg, you're not alone. It's all horse hockey.

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by JGMotorsport64

Can't we just sell the DBacks to Mike Bidwill? He unlike Kendricks has been a civic steward and held his end of his agreement up despite dealing with the petulant child that is Glendale.

The DBacks definitely need a new owner. It's not the same team as 15 years ago when they were regarded as the hottest new NL team and World Series champions. As far as I'm concerned, the team (including the owner) should be paying all the costs for any stadium improvements. Perhaps if the team had a better standing in the NL and won a few more World Series games, there would be more contributions from private donors on some of the repair costs.

[West Phx Native]

to the diamondbacks, bye, don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out, just remembered, they evicted a old lady, who had lived in her house her entire life to build the stadium, they broke her spirit and she died soon after.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

The DBacks definitely need a new owner. It's not the same team as 15 years ago when they were regarded as the hottest new NL team and World Series champions. As far as I'm concerned, the team (including the owner) should be paying all the costs for any stadium improvements. Perhaps if the team had a better standing in the NL and won a few more World Series games, there would be more contributions from private donors on some of the repair costs.

Well, the problem is that both parties signed a contract agreeing to something else, and the county doesn't have the money (the 187 million is not what's needed now, but over the life of the rest of the lease.). It's not in either party's interest for them to go anywhere else in the Valley. They are going to have to work this out somehow.