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Fight for Cubs spring training venue heats up
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Now that the sale of the Cubs is complete and the Ricketts family has been named the new owner, one big question likely to be asked in tomorrow's press conference is about the state of the Cubs spring training site and whether a move to a proposed site in Naples, Florida, is in the works.
The Cubs have been an institution not only here in Chicago, but also in Arizona both in Mesa and before that Scottsdale. But according to a recent article in the Tribune by Paul Sullivan, a Naples, Florida, group is vying for the Cubs to make the move. The Cubs must decide by the end of next year whether to exercise a $4.2 million "escape clause" built into a 25-year agreement that ends in 2016.
This is not the first time rumors of the Cubs moving their spring training facilities to Florida has been discussed. Earlier this season, rumors abounded that chairman Crane Kenney was in Florida meeting with officials there to discuss a possible move from Mesa.
Cubs fans need to remember these are discussions and nothing has been set in stone yet. In fact, the City of Mesa starting pitching for the Cubs to stay as early as the last home game of spring training this past year. However, in response to the most recent news, The City of Mesa will meet with the Ricketts and other Cubs officials next week, according to an article in the Arizona Republic, during the Organizational meetings to be held there.
There is no argument that the facilities at HoHoKam and Fitch Park down the road have become obsolete. The new parks that have opened recently in the Phoenix area have been built with better and updated amenities for fans and better and closer amenities for the players, including better training facilities. It was reported on Spring Training Online that the Ricketts are opposed to a proposal to just keep renovating HoHoKam Park. This set the city of Mesa thinking about how to keep the Cubs in town. Two sites are possibilities, though one, on Indian reservation land, has not yet been officially offered.
There are a couple of things to keep in mind. Quite a number of teams have moved their spring training facilities to the Phoenix area, and out of Florida. Recent newcomers to the Cactus League include the Cleveland Indians, Los Angels Dodgers, Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals. The Cincinnati Reds will be moving soon. But more importantly, the loss of the Cubs from the Phoenix area would hit the area hard. The Cubs are the biggest spring training draw, with the strongest fan following. A study conduced earlier this year by the Maguire Company of Phoenix and commissioned by the City of Mesa, found that average attendance at Cubs spring training games in Mesa was 10,700 fans compared with 5,800 for all the other Cactus League teams. Also, according to the study, should the Cubs leave and be replaced by an "average" team, the loss to the Arizona economy would be approximately $52.2 million per year, including the loss of thousands of jobs. That's a lot of money. The Cactus League itself could lose more than $30 million. The City of Mesa is not going to go down without a fight. The Cubs also need to consider the fact that with so many teams n the Phoenix area, average travel time between venues is usually less than an hour. The Florida teams are more spread out, and travel times can range from three to four hours in some cases.
The Cubs have a long history of spring training baseball in Arizona. They first moved from Catalina Island in California in 1951 at the urging of Dwight Patterson, a local businessman and rancher, who wanted to promote his city and raise funds for local little league teams. The Cubs agreed to train in Mesa and play at Rendezvous Park Stadium (capacity approximately 3,000), located about a mile from where HoHoKam Park now sits. The Cubs briefly left Mesa in 1965 and returned to California for one year. After that year, they returned to the Phoenix area, playing in Scottsdale from 1967-1978. HoHoKam Park was opened in 1977 and was home to the Oakland A's for only one season. The Cubs moved into the park in 1978 and remain a fixture there today.
It is also worth noting legislation was brought to Arizona in the 1980s by then-governor Rose Mofford who also created the Arizona Baseball Commission in 1989. This Commission was charged with determining how to keep baseball in Arizona. The legislation she was instrumental in passing was to provide for future growth of baseball in Arizona. While that money no longer exists, the spirit of the legislation does.
Now it's up to the Ricketts to determine the next step for the Cubs and spring training.
