By Paul Sullivan
The battle between the Cubs and their fellow Cactus League owners over a proposed ticket surcharge to help fund a new spring training facility in Mesa, Ariz., is expected to heat up this week.
The White Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks are leading the opposition to the "Cubs tax," a surcharge on all Cactus League tickets.
The Cubs have declined to comment on the brewing brouhaha, although Mesa mayor Scott Smith, who has been outspoken in his remarks about Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf's opposition to the surcharge, released a statement Sunday saying the project would benefit the entire Cactus League.
The battle between the Cubs and their fellow Cactus League owners over a proposed ticket surcharge to help fund a new spring training facility in Mesa, Ariz., is expected to heat up this week.
The White Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks are leading the opposition to the "Cubs tax," a surcharge on all Cactus League tickets.
The Cubs have declined to comment on the brewing brouhaha, although Mesa mayor Scott Smith, who has been outspoken in his remarks about Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf's opposition to the surcharge, released a statement Sunday saying the project would benefit the entire Cactus League.
"The Chicago Cubs are far and away the leader in spring-training attendance," Smith said. "They bring in thousands more tourists than any other team in the Cactus League, which creates an economic impact for all of Arizona in excess of $100 million each year. And, the Cubs spread these benefits around. Scottsdale and Phoenix/Tempe get more Cubs tourists in their hotels than Mesa! This is about jobs and tourism dollars that positively benefit this state every year. "
Smith also said he hopes Cactus League teams would meet with him and Arizona House Majority Leader John McComish, who will introduce the legislation on Monday, before opposing the surcharge.
"This is not just a Mesa or Cubs problem," he said. "All teams and cities will reach a point in the future when they too will be faced with the challenge of upgrading facilities that have aged or are obsolete.
"Hopefully, the teams will keep an open mind and discuss honestly how this problem can be resolved so the Cactus League can remain strong and successful. To do otherwise is shortsighted, selfish and foolish. I welcome the opportunity to explain the bill and other proposals to the leaders of any other Cactus League team."
HoHoKam Park, where the Cubs play, is by no means an obsolete ballpark. But it is one of the older facilities remaining in the Cactus League. In December, Cubs president Crane Kenney said the team needed a new facility because Cubs fans may decide to attend their road games at more modern Cactus League ballparks in the future, bypassing HoHoKam.
"You now have 15 teams within 45 minutes of each other, roughly," Kenney told Cubs beat writers. "And facilities like Camelback Ranch (shared by the White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers) and Goodyear (shared by Cleveland and Cincinnati) are truly state-of-the-art.
"If I go to Arizona and I'm a Cubs fan and I want to see my team, I can choose to either go to Goodyear, Glendale or one of these really neat facilities to see the Cubs play the Reds, or the Indians or the Dodgers or the White Sox. Or I can go to HoHoKam, which is less of a facility.
"So what I worry about in some ways is that people coming to Arizona, (because) it's so easy to get to the Cubs games anywhere they play, that they start attending the away games, because our facility has fallen behind some of the newer stadiums. Part of this is defensive. Yes, we do draw well. But I do worry (that) down the road, will fans say, 'I absolutely want to see the Cubs, I absolutely want to see them in Arizona, but I don't necessarily need to see them in HoHoKam?' So that's part of the reason why (the Cubs need a new facility)."
Because of the controversy surrounding the surcharge, the Arizona legislature is now expected to ask for a special audit by the auditor general of all contracts entered into by the Arizona Tourism and Sports authority during the calendar years of 2008 and '09 to acquire land or construct, finance, furnish, improve, market or promote the use of existing or proposed spring training facilities.
That audit would include the deals that brought the White Sox and Dodgers to Glendale, the Indians and Reds to Goodyear, and the plan to bring the D-backs and Colorado Rockies to a new facility in Scottsdale. The sports authority was created in 2000 to help raise money for the Arizona Cardinals stadium in Glendale, and for Cactus League facilities.
Smith also said he hopes Cactus League teams would meet with him and Arizona House Majority Leader John McComish, who will introduce the legislation on Monday, before opposing the surcharge.
"This is not just a Mesa or Cubs problem," he said. "All teams and cities will reach a point in the future when they too will be faced with the challenge of upgrading facilities that have aged or are obsolete.
"Hopefully, the teams will keep an open mind and discuss honestly how this problem can be resolved so the Cactus League can remain strong and successful. To do otherwise is shortsighted, selfish and foolish. I welcome the opportunity to explain the bill and other proposals to the leaders of any other Cactus League team."
HoHoKam Park, where the Cubs play, is by no means an obsolete ballpark. But it is one of the older facilities remaining in the Cactus League. In December, Cubs president Crane Kenney said the team needed a new facility because Cubs fans may decide to attend their road games at more modern Cactus League ballparks in the future, bypassing HoHoKam.
"You now have 15 teams within 45 minutes of each other, roughly," Kenney told Cubs beat writers. "And facilities like Camelback Ranch (shared by the White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers) and Goodyear (shared by Cleveland and Cincinnati) are truly state-of-the-art.
"If I go to Arizona and I'm a Cubs fan and I want to see my team, I can choose to either go to Goodyear, Glendale or one of these really neat facilities to see the Cubs play the Reds, or the Indians or the Dodgers or the White Sox. Or I can go to HoHoKam, which is less of a facility.
"So what I worry about in some ways is that people coming to Arizona, (because) it's so easy to get to the Cubs games anywhere they play, that they start attending the away games, because our facility has fallen behind some of the newer stadiums. Part of this is defensive. Yes, we do draw well. But I do worry (that) down the road, will fans say, 'I absolutely want to see the Cubs, I absolutely want to see them in Arizona, but I don't necessarily need to see them in HoHoKam?' So that's part of the reason why (the Cubs need a new facility)."
Because of the controversy surrounding the surcharge, the Arizona legislature is now expected to ask for a special audit by the auditor general of all contracts entered into by the Arizona Tourism and Sports authority during the calendar years of 2008 and '09 to acquire land or construct, finance, furnish, improve, market or promote the use of existing or proposed spring training facilities.
That audit would include the deals that brought the White Sox and Dodgers to Glendale, the Indians and Reds to Goodyear, and the plan to bring the D-backs and Colorado Rockies to a new facility in Scottsdale. The sports authority was created in 2000 to help raise money for the Arizona Cardinals stadium in Glendale, and for Cactus League facilities.
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The Chicago Cubs have always been popular in the Cactus League, and Mesa should do what is necessary to keep the team here ("Cubs' rivals in Cactus League oppose bill," Saturday).
However, the proposed surcharge on all Cactus League venues is wrong.
The Cubs only play the other Cactus League teams once or twice at their stadiums.
To ask fans in the remaining cities to pay for the Cubs' facility is wrong, and the legislation should be defeated.
Contrary to what we are now hearing, the Cubs are not the Cactus League.
Some of us saw this coming when the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority funds were drying up with the expansion.
Funds were spent with reckless abandon, and no one had the foresight to look ahead and anticipate the scenario that we now face.
I am sorry for my friends in Mesa, but this is wrong
So the new meatball owners took this lousy public financing mess, still needing to clear major public hurdles, over the private deal in Naples? And these are supposed shrewd business people in charge now? In times like these, you take a private deal ANY day of the week, over this impending bruhaha. Stay tuned Florida...
Being the top draw in the Catcus league the Cubs deserve to have a state of the art facility built just like many of other teams have.
What best for the Arizona economy is for the Cubs to stay. I don't hear Jerry doesn't complaining about the extra revenue he receives when the Cubs play at their facility.
Jack M on February 9, 2010 8:24 AM
The Kansas City Royals and the Cleveland Indians have to pay for the Cubs state of the art stadium complex?
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No, not at all. Did you even read anything on this issue? The ticket purchasers would pay the tax, not the teams. No Royals or Indians would have to give up any money.
It really isn't that difficult for a non-retarded person or non-Sox fan to understand.
I just enjoy that Crane Kenney actually said the words "really neat facilities." He is a man of the times. And those times are the 1950s.
The only reason we would not go to Ho Ho Kam is because it is sold out and we can't get tickets. We go to see the Cubs not the stadium. While we travel to the away games, also, our first choice is always the home field. We have been going to Spring Training for over 20 years.
The Kansas City Royals and the Cleveland Indians have to pay for the Cubs state of the art stadium complex?
Absolutely beautiful.
Cubs fans are used to inferior delapidated 2nd rate stadiums. HoHoKam park is still an upgrade over the dump they call Wrigley. Must be a very slow news day.
Does Crane Kenney think people are stupid? How do you get from anywhere in the Phoenix area to Tuscon in 45 minutes? What kind of car is he driving?
The Cactus League would die without the Cubs. Any owner who denies that is lying. I go down to AZ every year and attend both home and road games and I can't recall any game where Cubs fans were outnumbered. I've also been to numerous other games that don't involve the Cubs and the stadium is seldomly at 3/4 capacity. Like them or hate them, the Cubs draw.
The other thing to remember is that it's a SURCHARGE... Meaning it's added on the the existing ticket price. I think $0.25/ticket, tho I could be wrong on the price. It's not cutting into profits - rather just an add on that gets put aside for the Cubs park. If anyone should be peeved, it's the fans of the other teams. And honestly, if I had to pay an extra $0.25/ticket to keep the Sox in town... fine. No biggie. I'd rather have the rivalry element in play then to see them move to FL.
Mike wrote on February 8, 2010 3:56 PM
"It should be pointed out that U.S. Cellular Field was subsidized through HOTEL TAXES. The public, by and large, did not finance it."
WRONG!
First who stays at hotels??? The public!!! And to say only people from outside Illinois stay at hotels is dead wrong.
Secondly the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority is funded through hotel taxes AND RESTAURANT TAXES. Do you not eat out?? Every time you eat downtown a percent of that bill goes toward the debt service of The Cell and Soldier Field.
The majority of these funds are generated from the citizens of Illinois.
I could understand the use of a tax to pay for a stadium upgrade or new build. What is at issue here is a ticket surcharge. That is something that is unfathomable. Could you imagine going to a Chicago Cubs, White Sox, or even a Bears game and being told that a portion of your ticket price was going to pay for a new practic field for the Chicago Fire or a new stadium for the Chicago Rush? While it is fine for any team to impose whatever ticket prices it feels are needed to pay for its own opertions to say that all fans shoulder a cost not associated with their team is ludacris. Last I checked the Cubs are not the only game in town and for anyone to think that the other teams in the cactus leagues do not have there own fan base who support them is shortsighted as well. Use the State Sports Authority and Legislative body to raise taxes or better yet have the cubs fans foot the bill for their team. If they believe that a new training facility will be the thing that brings them a championship all the best to them, just don't raise my teams ticket prices to pay for it.
So it's fair that the Sox are playing in a facility that used taxpayer dollars, but if the Cubs need a new facility there should be no tax dollars involved in helping them build it? Sounds pretty fair to me.
I'm guessing if fans are willing to travel to AZ to see games they aren't going to stay away because they are paying 1% - 2% more per ticket. This puts the onus on baseball fans instead of the general public, which seems more fair to me.
When you receive your statement from a hotel in the PHX area there is a tax line item for the "sports and tourism authority" which was used to build Camelback Ranch. So basically every person who stayed in a hotel in PHX contributed to the White Sox having a place to stay, but because it wasn't called out specifically as a "white sox / dodgers / indians / reds" tax nobody cared. Either way tax dollars are going to be needed to keep teams in AZ and if Jerry wants to reap the benefits of having Cubs fans show up and spend money at his facility then he needs to be flexible.
It should be pointed out that U.S. Cellular Field was subsidized through HOTEL TAXES. The public, by and large, did not finance it.
This is such an idiotic arguement in the first place. There is nothing wrong with hohokam park! They don't need a new facility. It is just an outright dumb argument to suggest Cubs fans would go to other parks instead of going to the cubs home field because their facility is outdated. I have been there and there is nothing wrong with it. You got beer, hot dogs and baseball. What else do these coddled panty waists need? It's things like this that make pro sports such a bunch of bs. It's the same stupid arguements on why Chicago lost Comiskey, Chicago Stadium, Soldier Field and will loose Wrigley. Corporate sky boxes not because they can be updated and maintained.
I seem to remember that the taxpayers of the State of Illinois paid for U.S. Cellular Field. I do not recall Mr Reinsdorf complaining that was unfair. Now his fans (as well as other team's fans) are being asked contribute to the modernization of the Cubs facility. All I hear from him is whining. Grow up Jerry.
It'll be interesting to see what comes from this audit the are proposing. Reinsdork new what he was getting into when he moved from FLA -- stop whining about your inadequacies!