Brewers Maryvale Spring Training Lease

[DHonks]

I like the idea near the 17 more. My favorite was the Scottsdale parcel near the 101 and Bell. Of course, I think an awesome spot would be the land between Scottsdale and 56th just north of the 101, or perhaps immediately north of that near Pinnacle Peak. I'd stop every day after work!!

[lcbj68c]

http://www.springtrainingonline.com/milwaukee-brewers-spring-training-may-move-florida/

 

From just this past winter. Dunedin would be spectacular. Arizona is too congested. Ballparks on top of one another. For all the hollaring about our "sad franchise", perhaps this could help spur a culture change. Shake it up!

[DHonks]

lcbj68c, growing up in WI, I never knew people that went to FLA. The WI retirees move to AZ, Palm Springs, or Vegas. Out here every class I teach has cheese heads in them. I can't fathom the Brewers going to Florida where bus rides are long. In Az, there are no bus rides even an hour.

[AZBrewCrew]

Happy Valley and I-17 wouldn't be super feasible. There's the old dump on the NW side and the kiddie jail. On the east side of that area the Norterra development has grown quite a bit. Maybe a little further north towards Carefree.

[lcbj68c]

lcbj68c, growing up in WI, I never knew people that went to FLA. The WI retirees move to AZ, Palm Springs, or Vegas. Out here every class I teach has cheese heads in them. I can't fathom the Brewers going to Florida where bus rides are long. In Az, there are no bus rides even an hour.

 

I realize it's not the popular option, not by a long shot. But people would get used to it.

[Patrick425]

Brewers should eye Florida. Cactus League Blows.

 

Grapefruit League blows. Rain outs and teams completely spread out.

 

Ditto. Every park in AZ is withing 45 minutes of one another. We follow the Brewers wherever they travel in AZ. Also, games are much cheaper in AZ. Went to Disney World last year and one of our plans was to catch a ST game. Checked 3 or 4 different parks that were close to Orlando and we decided not to go after seeing what the prices were. It was $20 or $30 just to sit on the outfield berm (usually no more than $10 in AZ)! If the Brewers ever move to FL, our days of going to ST will probably end.

[Invader3K]

I found the spring training weather in Arizona to be absolutely amazing when we went in 2010. I'd be disappointed if the Brewers went to Florida.

[nate82]

I have been receiving a lot of political calls lately to call my representative to tell them to vote no on a new spring training facility in Peoria. When I mean a lot I mean a minimum of 3-5 phone calls a day. I had 7 voice mails today just on this topic.

[DHonks]

Peoria already has a nice facility for the Padres and M's. Where do they need another??? The north Valley could use something. The Northwest Valley already has 4 teams.

[pete]

I thought the issue of new facilities was as much political as anything else. There's a development fund that Arizona has that supposedly had some pecking order that they blew off for the Cubs and they've made promises in the past related to Maryvale that they don't fulfill. Stuff like that.

[Dean Machine]

As a fan I love Maryvale and will probably stop going down if they build one of the cold mega structures that are all the rage. Also, AZ for ST is 1000 times better than FL. The weather is perfect (especially early) and you can climb a couple of the local mountains or take a drive to Tuscan and visit Saguaro National Park or the Desert Museum which I could not recommend any more. In Florida you are pretty much stuck going to the beaches where the water is still a little cold to swim or going to Orlando and battling the crowds at the Disney Parks. I actually just returned from the 3 Orlando theme Parks and I couldn't believe how busy they have gotten in January and didn't want to even think about them in March.

[Mass Haas]

If Florida's governor had his way...

[Warning Track Power]

I have been receiving a lot of political calls lately to call my representative to tell them to vote no on a new spring training facility in Peoria. When I mean a lot I mean a minimum of 3-5 phone calls a day. I had 7 voice mails today just on this topic.

Nate I am curious...are you receiving these calls because the City of Phoenix does not want the Brewers to leave the City and thereby having zero teams playing in the City? Or are these calls from City of Peoria types that don't want to spend tax dollars on another stadium in Peoria? Any clue?

[Warning Track Power]

Brewers should eye Florida. Cactus League Blows.

Wrong for the all the reasons listed. Why does the Cactus League "blow" anyways?

 

Besides with Attanasio being based in Los Angeles, I think there is literally zero chance the team moves to Florida while he is the owner.

[pete]

I'd guess there isn't much chance of them moving to Florida and Attanasio living in Southern Cal is a strong reason, but how does he travel? If he has his own plane, its probably not the biggest deal to go to Florida. That article that Mass Hass linked to suggests there could be financial incentive to going there.

 

I wonder whether its a negative for a team to primarily play a small number of teams in ST. One would be the Cardinals - blech.

 

For a negative about the Cactus League, aren't a lot of the problems the Brewers have there political? If they are, there doesn't seem to be much going on with MLB actually involving themselves and of course the federal oversight is non-existent.

[nate82]

Nate I am curious...are you receiving these calls because the City of Phoenix does not want the Brewers to leave the City and thereby having zero teams playing in the City? Or are these calls from City of Peoria types that don't want to spend tax dollars on another stadium in Peoria? Any clue?

 

It is the city of Peoria not wanting to spend tax dollars on another stadium in Peoria.

[Patrick425]

Also, AZ for ST is 1000 times better than FL. The weather is perfect (especially early) and you can climb a couple of the local mountains or take a drive to Tuscan and visit Saguaro National Park or the Desert Museum which I could not recommend any more. In Florida you are pretty much stuck going to the beaches where the water is still a little cold to swim or going to Orlando and battling the crowds at the Disney Parks. I actually just returned from the 3 Orlando theme Parks and I couldn't believe how busy they have gotten in January and didn't want to even think about them in March.

 

 

I couldn't agree more. Not only for the reason's you mentioned, but the average cost of going to a ST game in FL is much higher than in AZ. Deviated from our annual AZ ST trip last March and decided to go to FL (mainly to go to Disney). Never again!

[Invader3K]

I'd guess there isn't much chance of them moving to Florida and Attanasio living in Southern Cal is a strong reason, but how does he travel? If he has his own plane, its probably not the biggest deal to go to Florida. That article that Mass Hass linked to suggests there could be financial incentive to going there.

 

I wonder whether its a negative for a team to primarily play a small number of teams in ST. One would be the Cardinals - blech.

 

For a negative about the Cactus League, aren't a lot of the problems the Brewers have there political? If they are, there doesn't seem to be much going on with MLB actually involving themselves and of course the federal oversight is non-existent.

 

My guess is that the Brewers will end up wherever they're given the best deal on a stadium, whether that's somewhere in the Phoenix area or in Florida. I do think they'd prefer to stay in Arizona for the reasons given already.

[Warning Track Power]

Nate I am curious...are you receiving these calls because the City of Phoenix does not want the Brewers to leave the City and thereby having zero teams playing in the City? Or are these calls from City of Peoria types that don't want to spend tax dollars on another stadium in Peoria? Any clue?

 

It is the city of Peoria not wanting to spend tax dollars on another stadium in Peoria.

http://www.peoriatimes.com/news/article_7d698d50-3def-11e4-b07c-7788abf832e6.html

Nate...after doing a little research on the subject it appears candidate Binsbacher took campaign contributions from the Brewers and candidate Toma is upset about the issue. Is there a general feeling as to which way the wind is blowing in terms of which candidate is more likely to be voted in?

 

Thanks for indulging me...this kind of issue, mixing politics and sports, is fascinating to me.

[nate82]

Is there a general feeling as to which way the wind is blowing in terms of which candidate is more likely to be voted in?

 

 

Without dragging this thing all political but I believe Binsbacher had about 47% of the votes in November. She would only need to pick up 3% and there will definitely be less voter turnout then so it is possible that she gets the vote but that doesn't really matter. In order for a new stadium to be put up which will cost over $500k I believe would have to go on a ballot for the voters to vote on. I think I know exactly where they want to put the new stadium which would be awesome for me as I could just walk there for every spring training game.

[Warning Track Power]

After looking at the articles and maps, I have to believe that the location of the stadium would be between the 303 and the intersection of El Mirage and Vistancia. Easy access off the 303 at Lone Mountain and a ton of developable land.

[Warning Track Power]

http://m.brewers.mlb.com/news/article/110550514/owner-mark-attanasio-addresses-brewers-emphasizes-confidence

 

Attanasio addresses potential future Spring Training facilities in both Arizona and (God no) Florida.

[lcbj68c]

It's really not a big deal. It's just spring training. I've been to Arizona and I've lived in Florida for 11 years. I don't see the problem in getting around to the parks in Florida and I've never once been rained out. Seems dramatic I guess. :Shrugs: If the final answer is Florida, it'll be just fine.

[Patrick425]

It's really not a big deal. It's just spring training.

 

It's not about the importance of the games (ST vs regular season games). It's about taking a week off of work. Paying for airfare. Paying for lodging. You want to have an enjoyable experience and most people are looking for value. I guess if I were to make an argument about it just being a ST game, then I would argue that people don't want to pay a ton to watch a meaningless game where the starter only play for 5 innings. On average, prices for FL ST games are a lot more that AZ ST games.

 

We have gone to ST in AZ just about every year, save 1 or 2, for the last 12 years. We go for about a week and our general MO is to go to every Brewer game, home or away, while we are there (other than a day we might take to go to the Grand Canyon or Sedona). We like to sit in the berm because it is generally the cheapest ticket and it's nice just to spread out on a blanket in the grass and soak in the nice weather. Several fields in FL do not have berms, or have limited berm space, and of the FL games I have seen on TV, when they show the berm area, it usually just looks like quilt with a mass of people. Does not seem very "relaxing". I did a quick view of AZ and FL ST prices. First I looked at teams that have lower demand and looked at games where they play other teams with lower demand. Here is what I found:

 

FL:

Minn - lowest price $12 (when they play the Yankees or Boston it's $14 - if you can get a ticket)

Pit - lowest price $15 (when they play the Yankees or Boston it's $17 - again, if you can get a ticket)

Toronto - lowest price $17 and they don't have a berm

 

AZ:

Milwaukee $8.00

Cleve $6.50 for kids, $10.50 for adults

 

 

Higher demand teams:

 

Tor @ NY: Lowest price $21.50 (no berm from what I could see).

Minn @ Boston: Lowest price $27 (only available seats left for this game - RF Grand Stand).

 

AZ:

Mil @ LA Dodgers: $14

Mil @ SF: $16.50

Mil @ LA Angels: $18.25

 

If your team plays in FL and they happen to be playing NY, Boston, or Washington good luck getting tickets and if you do expect to pay through the nose. Even if they are playing a team where tickets are less in demand, you are going to pay inflated prices compared to AZ.

 

Lastly, in regards to travel time between parks. FL is clearly more spread out than AZ. According to Google maps if you stay in Orlando and want to go see your team play in Fort Meyers it's 2 hours and 47 minutes, Clearwater: 1 hour and 40 minutes, even Lakeland (which would be one of the closer sites) is 45 minutes. In AZ the greatest distance between two sites (Mesa to Surprise) is 1 hour and 6 minutes and if you centrally locate yourself, you probably have no more than a 40 minute drive to any park.

 

AZ Spring Training >>>>> FL Spring Training

[patrickgpe]

i went to Maryvale 3 seasons ago, and got to drive by a few other facilities. I really hope they stay in Arizona but leave Maryvale.