Exterior photo of Chase Field. Home of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Image Credit: Dru Bloomfield (CC BY 2.0)

The Arizona Diamondbacks and the Maricopa County Stadium District are going to arbitration over which party is responsible for the $187 million in needed repairs at Chase Field in downtown Phoenix. A Maricopa County judge has ruled in favor of the county after the Arizona Diamondbacks filed a lawsuit against them over the unfunded repairs. The case will now be sent to an independent panel that will handle the matter privately.

As the Diamondbacks organization have claimed, the county doesn’t have the money to fund the desperately needed repairs because they failed to book concerts and other events at the ballpark and generate additional revenue. The Arizona Diamondbacks are also trying to get out of their lease, which will expire in 2028 following the 2027 Major League Baseball season. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has even stated that he would likely move the Arizona Diamondbacks to another city unless the Chase Field dispute is not solved in a timely manner. In all likelihood, the arbitration period will take six to nine months to complete.

The Arizona Diamondbacks originally sued Maricopa County in January of 2017 in an effort to break their current lease and seek funding for a new ballpark in the Phoenix area. The situation intensified in June when Chase Field’s sanitation pipes and air conditioning began malfunctioning. Maricopa County should tread carefully with this issue. Major League Baseball is already eyeing Charlotte (NC), Montreal (Quebec) and Mexico City (Mexico) as potential landing spots for a MLB franchise that would likely relocate. The league will get a clearer picture of that scenario after the Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays solve their stadium debacles.

 

Reference:

12News.com 

 

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