| NEWS | Play Ball Spring Training is salvaged, but the economic damage may already be done. BY ELIAS WEISS F or decades, Arizona has been a magnet for baseball fans nationwide who soak in the sun’s rays watching their favorite players show off their talents before the regular season begins. But in recent years, the strain of the pandemic paired with a labor dispute threatened the viability of the tourism machine, a key economic driver for Phoenix-area businesses and jobs for residents. Drawn by months of stunning weather, especially during the winter and spring, residents have relocated to Arizona for generations to enjoy the longer outdoor season. That’s what the family of Mesa sports fan Steven Stonecipher, now 50 years old, did during his childhood. The Stonecipher clan moved from the often chilly and windy St. Louis area to metro Phoenix decades ago. Owners of the St. Louis Cardinals, a National Football League team, made that same move and rebranded the team to become the Phoenix Cardinals in 1988. Avid fans recognize them now as the Arizona Cardinals football team. Stonecipher left his familiar Busch Stadium seats when he moved west. But the ardent fan of America’s favorite pastime had something he considers even better awaiting in the East Valley: base- ball’s world-famous spring training. There are 15 Major League Baseball clubs that migrate to Arizona for spring training every year, often attracting fans from the Midwest, the West Coast, and the Southwest to workouts and Cactus League games. The other 15 teams in the league train as part of Florida’s Grapefruit League as the springtime sun thaws the turf at Wrigley Field and Fenway Park. Many fans have come to associate mid- March with a balmy vacation, cold beer, ballpark fare, and “bleacher coaching” as eager players compete on the diamond for roster spots. Ten stadiums make up the Cactus League, a moniker for the Arizona circuit. They dot the Phoenix suburbs and host exhibition games ahead of the MLB’s 162-game marathon regular season. Stonecipher previously loved attending 8 spring training. For years, he has watched the spectacle unfold from his own back- Dom Nunez of the Colorado Rockies bats in a game against the San Francisco Giants last Saturday at Salt River Fields. yard near two active stadiums. In 1977, the Oakland Athletics opened Hohokam Stadium on Center Street near downtown Mesa. Since 2014, Sloan Park on Rio Salado Parkway has been home to the Chicago Cubs, earning the stadium the colloquial title of “Wrigley West.” The Cubs, who snapped a 71-year National League pennant drought in 2016 en route to their first World Series title since 1908, have trained in the East Valley since 1952. “This time of year you got more people in Mesa spending more dollars,” Stonecipher told Phoenix New Times. “Hotels and restaurants are full.” But he’s not so keen to attend the events as much anymore. Instead, he decided to forgo the home- town fun this year, citing a big uptick in cost and what he sees as an organization with owners and players who are neglecting the fan experience. “When they start squabbling over money, the average everyday fan can’t see a game comfortably anymore,” Stonecipher said. It was animosity between owners and players that nearly nixed spring training this year altogether. The MLB and the MLB Players Association ended an owner-imposed lockout on March 10, when they agreed to Rob Tringali/Stringer/Getty Images Sports a new collective bargaining agreement after more than three months. This 99-day lockout is the second- longest work stoppage in MLB history, trailing only the players’ strike in 1994, which lasted 232 days and stretched into 1995. “I know that the last few months have been difficult,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said during a news conference the day the lockout ended. “There was a lot of uncertainty, at a point in time when there’s a lot of uncertainty in the world.” Manfred and numerous team owners touted “saving” spring training, albeit a delayed and abridged campaign. After all, the Cactus League has a $644 million impact on the Valley of the Sun, according to a study by Arizona State University’s Seidman Research Institute. “The Cactus League is a key annual driver for tourism and hospitality,” said Anthony Evans, a senior researcher at the ASU institute. But not everyone agrees that the economic impact of baseball’s spring training is so much money. Many of the Cactus League’s 2 million out-of-state fans treat exhibition games as a secondary activity, not the primary reason for travel to Arizona in the early spring. At least that’s what is forecast by Victor Matheson, a sports economist, and professor at the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts. “The only way you really make money from this is people trav- eling down from places like Chicago,” Matheson told Phoenix New Times. “Even then, the money you make from spring training is often overstated.” MLB ticket prices have climbed steadily each year since 2006. Fans can expect to spend about $35 plus taxes and fees for each ticket this season. To catch a glimpse of spring training in a Phoenix suburb, most fans are willing to spend $1,620 or more, according to the ASU study. “A lot of these people are tourists who would have visited Arizona anyway,” Matheson said. Perhaps the biggest winners of the economic trickle-down effect could be restaurants, bars, and grocery retailers who feed hungry fans looking for a break from a steady diet of corn dogs and french fries. Dollars spent near the ballpark should not necessarily be attributed to the economic impact of spring training, the sports economist argued. Once upon a time, Stonecipher remem- bers paying $25 for a day at Hohokam Stadium. “What it costs to see a regular game today is astronomical, let alone spring training,” he said. It was the evening of December 1, 2021, when the previous collective bargaining agreement between MLB owners and players expired. The owners called for a lockout immediately, barring players from setting foot in stadiums and training facilities. The new five-year agreement features the biggest base salary hike ever, new bonuses for top young players, and a slew of other considerations. The minimum player salary has grown from $570,500 to $700,000, a 22.7 percent increase that’s the highest in a single season since 2003. By 2026, the minimum salary will increase to $780,000. The luxury tax threshold, which deter- mines how much a team will be taxed if its payroll exceeds the limit, also was increased by a historic margin to $230 million, $20 million more than last season. Teams carrying a payroll above $230 million are taxed on every dollar above the threshold. By 2026, the threshold will be $244 million to address inflation and higher player salaries. >> p 13 MARCH 24TH– MARCH 30TH, 2022 PHOENIX NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | NEWS | OPINION | FEEDBACK | CONTENTS | phoenixnewtimes.com
