The battle over whether Cactus League teams should be forced to charge extra for tickets to help fund a new spring training facility for the Cubs is starting to get ugly.
In an interview with the Arizona Republic, Mesa Mayor Scott Smith criticized White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf for his opposition to the proposed surcharge, which is expected to be introduced into legislation Monday.
Smith said the proposed surcharge -- the "Cubs tax" -- would not affect "current revenue streams" for the other 13 teams that train in the Cactus League. He then noted that Reinsdorf's Sox left Tucson for a publicly funded spring training complex in Glendale, Ariz.
"Is this the same Jerry Reinsdorf that skipped out on Pima County taxpayers who had spent tens of millions of dollars to provide him with a taxpayer-funded stadium, to come to Glendale, where Maricopa County taxpayers provided him a Taj Mahal spring-training facility?" Smith said.
Smith also said Reinsdorf's White Sox play in a publicly funded ballpark in Chicago, and that Reinsdorf looked into buying the Phoenix Coyotoes, who play in a publicly funded facility in Glendale.
"The irony is delicious," Smith said.
Arizona president Derrick Hall told the Republic that the other 13 teams in the Cactus League "feel the same way" about helping to subsidize the Cubs' ballpark in Mesa.
Both Reinsdorf and Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts declined interview requests by the Tribune on Friday.
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Typical Chicago Baseball Argument:
Northside - You guys are all poor criminals
Southside - You guys are all idiotic D-Bags
Northside - I'd go to the cell if I wanted to get mugged
Southside - I'd go to wrigley if I wanted to give away all my $
Northside - You guys don't know %@$* about being a fan
Southside - You guys don't know %@$* about baseball
Northside - We sell out every game, you always have open seats
Southside - Yep, the Cubs, on average, have more people see them lose
Northside - Out record was WAAAAAYY better than yours last year!! (4 more wins, neither made playoffs)
Southside - How have the last 101 yrs been treating you? At least we won in '05
Northside - That was ages ago, stop living in the past
Southside - Why? That's how you built your fanbase, right?
Northside - Please, how come so many away games are filled with cubs fans?
Southside - Because now that the Redsox are good, you are officially the nation's pity case
Northside - Pity!?! I pity you, you guys are all poor criminals
Southside - You guys are all idiotic D-Bags
(Rinse & Repeat)
Thank god for Chicago's reigning revenant - Go Blackhawks!
Listen, this isn't rocket science....so Sox fans listen closely I am going to connect the dots for you....remember Advil for headaches/Midol for cramps.
Mesa is trying to roll out the red carpet to keep the Cubs in Arizona, instead of letting them pull a Reinsdorf and move the team to Florida.
Also, Mesa knows that everyone in the Cactus league enjoys increased attendance when said Northside team plays their team.
Take some well know facts:
Attenance with No Cubs < With Cubs
Attendance = Money (Reindorf's God)
No Cubs = Less Money for everyone in Cactus league/City of Mesa.
Therefore....stay with me Sox fans....its getting interesting now....
Less Money in the Cactus League means that Mesa's economy suffers.
So, in conclusion:
All of Mesa should help to pay for Northside team to stay in Mesa....and every team in the Cactus league benefits from the Cubs staying in Arizona....
Are you pissed yet Sox fans, cause I am just getting amused!!
I'm a bit confused here. Tom Ricketts is supposedly worth Billions right? The 14 other teams are opposed to a "Cubs Tax" which raises Cactus League ticket prices, so as to help the City of Mesa help Pay for a Free Stadium & Cubbie Village.
Right On Cactus League teams! The Cub$ and the Rickett$' are worth hundreds of millions upon millions of dollars and can build their own stadium if they really wanted one. Mesa mayor Scott Smith is just mad because he was promised great box seats at Wrigley and dinner at Harry Caray's.
Build Your Own Stadium Ricketts.
Can't you see that this has nothing to do with Sox vs. Cubs? This drama is created by the media. All teams in the cactus league oppose increasing the price that their fans pay for tickets to benefit the Cubs becasue it makes good business sense.
What a bunch of crap...Jerry did not get rich by letting anyone tax his product...the Mayor of Mesa is full of it! n Raise ticket prices 13 percent across the board for all games by all teams for the CUBS to get a stadium...what a hoot...lets see raise the price of gas 13 percent across the country so WINNEBEGO drivers get hot showers at campgrounds? Simple math..raise ticket prices LESS PEOPLE ATTEND EXHIBITION GAMES! and that DOES affect revenue strams for EVERY other team in Arizona..Shame on you Mayor Smith
t4ybkt
Nada Surf a Cub fan all of a sudden? Pigs must be soaring through the stratosphere, and hell must be coated in ice. I need me a drink to help wrap my head around this.
But nothing draws Sox "fans" quite the way anything Cubs related does. Nothing.
Sure nadasurf - Sox fans are 'jealous' of the Cubs; much like they are jealous of Disney World. Both draw more tourists and have much the same product. The big diff between Disney World and the Cubs is the former still attracts families.
nada surf - man how things have changed in the last ten years. cubs fans like you continue to flatter yourselves. cmon, you really think sox fans are jealous of anything cubby? think about the bad reputation the fanbase has engendered... how about the once charming area known as wrigleyville elvolving into a drunken, cheezeball landscape? then throw in the cubbies - the biggest losing pro sports franchise known to man. what are sox fans jealous of? nada damn thing, amigo. our hearts/minds are with the sox.
Another example of the Sox fans and organization being jealous of the Cubs.
They can't even enjoy the so-called championship of 2005 without obsessing on the Cubs. it's not healthy you rubes.
Jerry, you were part of the ONLY Chicago sports champions, and that's the Chicago Bulls. Be happy with that and don't worry about the Cubs ok dope?
To the rest of the jealous Sox fans with amjor inferiority complex issues...... find another sport to follow, it's obvious you can't handle being ignored by Chicago and the rest of the country. This IS A CUBS CITY. PERIOD.
Here to shed light on the dark world of loser Sox fans
Nada
Cub fans have to tell themselves over and over and over again that other fans are "jealous" of them. It's the only way to keep their simple minds off the fact that they have been used and abused by the Tribune marketing machine and will now be dragged around like yesterdays trash by the equally pathetic Ricketts family. It's almost kinda sad how pathetic these dopes are.
Yeah, you could get elected with that platform... Let's be against everything that politicians are for. But I'm afraid to say that once you get elected, I'm going to have to be against that idea. Sorry.
A politician is against someone or something. Then I am for it. This country would be much better off if people opposed every idea that politicians have and seek to enforce upon us.
The cubettes are big boys. Let them finance their own stadium or get Mesa to help them.
When Reinsdorf built Sox Park he got the state and city to kick in and added some of his own money. He didn't get the cubbettes to kick in nor did any other major league team make a contribution.
So to Rickets and Mesa, if you both want to keep the cubbettes in Mesa then find a way to do it with your own money.
Phil on February 6, 2010 9:29 PM
if the fans keep filling the seats the front office has no reason to make the effort to win a real championship.
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Dude, they have a payroll pushing 150 million, the moronic theory you and the other green hat wearing dolts subscribe to couldn't be further from the truth.
Take a step back and think about it, if your moronic theory was true, why wouldn't they keep
the payroll around or under 100 mil like the whiney, poor mouth crying franchises do? After all, the seats are full, and according to your brilliance, they aren't trying to win.
Let me guess, you find sports talk radio, where idiotic thoughts like this grow, informative, you're a product of the CPS, and I am going to say southsider, too.
So the mayor justifies fleecing every ticket purchaser of all the other teams just because Reinsdorf was able to fleece Pima County taxpayers in his move? Seems to me none of these deals the teams make with politicians are in the interest of the public. Read "Free Lunch" by David Cay Johnston to learn about a million ways in which the rich exploit the rest of us in these sleazy public deals. None of these stadium deals work out for the taxpayer or the local economy. They are pure theft by the fat cats from public coffers. The owners, athletes and media walk away with billions, the taxpayer is left with the bill. The jobs created for vendors, janitors and parking attendents, or even the bars and restaurants in the immediate neighborhood, don't come even close to recouping taxpayer investment. Read the facts. Then get mad.
Congrats to the Scrubbies on winning another attendance championship....if the fans keep filling the seats the front office has no reason to make the effort to win a real championship.
Many of you pointed out that the Cubs draw a bigger fan base and rack in more money than any other teams in the Cactus League. If that's the case, why can't they afford their own stadium? They're making a lot of money right? Just asking.
Lets see.... The 15 cactus league teams bring in I believe 120 million during the spring training season. The Cubs bring in over 50 million during the spring by themself. So it takes 14 other teams to match the Cubs. Mr. Rinesdoffer left Tucson for greener pastures.... Why so he did't have to travel 1-1/2 hours for a game in Pheonix area. The only time the Sox, Diamondbacks were sold out in Tucson were is when the Cubs came down to play...
It's like in the Simpsons, where Mayor Quimby tells the hollywood people, there's a $1000 leaving town tax...I agree, though, the teams have to pay something out, it's not like baseball is broke
Hang on to your wallets, Mesa. You've just been fleeced. Are the Ricketts planning on a 102 year anniversary celebration this year?
Bill Riggs on February 6, 2010 11:25 AM
Eisman57. I'm sure the Diamondbacks are jealous of the Cubs. Seems to me the Diamondbacks have won the world series in the last Century. Give it up Cub fans. 101 and counting.
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This is a business issue, not an on the field issue, idiot.
Anybody with any sort of comprehension skills can see that, but you don't. Shocking. Let me guess...southsider?
And where was the term "jealous" used, other than your post?
Eisman57. I'm sure the Diamondbacks are jealous of the Cubs. Seems to me the Diamondbacks have won the world series in the last Century. Give it up Cub fans. 101 and counting.
Like a politician. Don't worry. It's not my money, it's not your money, it's the taxpayers money. The US Congress has increased its personal spending 15% in the past few years despite the recession courtesy of the citizens. Yes, gym memberships are up with the taxpayers footing the bill. Such is life in the US. Anyone want to go to the indoor pool this afternoon? I wish.
Yes, but the mayor is missing the point..this is JERRY'S money that MIGHT be affected. And anybody who has been paying attention knows that nothing is more important to Jerry than his money. Nothing.
It's ok for Jerry to use other people's money for things such as, let's say a ballpark that was obsolete about 30 minutes after it opened its gates, but don't you even think about getting near his.
What a despicable creature.
"The irony is delicious," Smith said. It's not so much irony, Mayor Smith, as it is hypocrisy.
I love Mesa Mayor Scott Smith. I wish he was representing my interests here in Iowa. Reinsdorf is a whiney hypocrite and Derrick Hall is understandably humiliated by the Cubs outdrawing his Diamondbacks by tens-of-thousands of fans. No news here.