Brewers to sign 25 year agreement with Maryvale

[Invader3K]

Assuming agreement by the Phoenix city council. Sounds like the Brewers will be making the bulk of the investment, which will upgrade the current facility. Adam McCalvy has the details on Twitter.

[MillerParkSouth]

I'll admit to never having been to Maryvale, but based on everything I've read about the area, I have no idea why the team would pay to stay there.

[pacopete4]

Yikes. This news is brutal.

[balsamlaker]

Excited to see the aggressive timeline as I was hoping to make my first trip in 2019. Exciting for the Brewers to be close to ending the decade-long discussion and develop an improved spring training home, Arizona league home, rehab facility, and operations home.

[trwi7]

So if the Brewers are paying for almost everything, why are they staying in Maryvale?

[homer]

So if the Brewers are paying for almost everything, why are they staying in Maryvale?

 

Cheap land? They control all the revenue? Not sure.

[homer]

Yikes. This news is brutal.

 

Why?

[bork]

If approved at a city council meeting next Wednesday, it would green light the first significant renovation of a Cactus League facility primarily paid for by a team and be the second-longest lease in that circuit. The Brewers would agree to invest $41 million to $63 million to the project, with Phoenix paying $2 million a year for the next five years, for a total of $10 million.

 

http://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2017/11/09/brewers-commit-much-63-million-keep-spring-training-maryvale-baseball-park/846711001/

[Dean Machine]

Excited to see the aggressive timeline as I was hoping to make my first trip in 2019. Exciting for the Brewers to be close to ending the decade-long discussion and develop an improved spring training home, Arizona league home, rehab facility, and operations home.

 

If I were you I would go this year if at all possible. The amount of access, especially on the Minor League field, you have at the current moment is amazing and will probably diminish which has been the case at all the new stadiums. Plus moments like a couple of years ago when I walked to my car alongside Doug Melvin and Craig Counsell will probably disappear.

[balsamlaker]

trwi7 - The easiest answer is probably they just have to renovate a stadium, not build a stadium. With how things have changed politically/economically in Arizona regarding spring training facilities, any build or remodel was likely going to involve the team paying the cost and the area contributing yearly like this deal is.

[patrickgpe]

I said in the previous thread, its hard to justify to have the taxpayers build a stadium for the MLB team to use for 1.5 months a year. The brewers clearly tried to find a new home and couldn't and needed to resolve the issue. 25 years is such a long time though in a shady area now, and who knows how much worse that neighborhood will be in 2043.

[jerichoholicninja]

So if the Brewers are paying for almost everything, why are they staying in Maryvale?

 

Because it would have cost them a lot more to go anywhere else.

[jerichoholicninja]

I said in the previous thread, its hard to justify to have the taxpayers build a stadium for the MLB team to use for 1.5 months a year. The brewers clearly tried to find a new home and couldn't and needed to resolve the issue. 25 years is such a long time though in a shady area now, and who knows how much worse that neighborhood will be in 2043.

 

With the amount of money the Brewers are kicking in I'm sure there must be only a tiny fee to get out of the contract.

[Humans Need Water]

Nobody goes to Brewers spring training to stay or hang out in the area surrounding the stadium...just like with almost every other stadium in the Cactus League. It's absurd that people continue to mention it when there are zero issues involving spring training games. I've never once heard anyone complain about that area outside of people on this site. Yes, it's not sexy but there's literally nothing to worry about and it's 3min directly north of the freeway on a heavily traveled road. There are MLB stadiums in worse neighborhoods (i.e. 90min south). A few blocks from the BOB in downtown PHX there are neighborhoods filled with metal bars on their front doors and all the windows...people park there for MLB games (I've done it before because a structure was full).

 

The PHX metro area is massive with a ton of entertainment and restaurant/bar options greatly scattered. Everyone has a car unless you're a Giants fan staying in downtown Scottsdale and enjoy walking a mile to everything....and if I recall correctly there's a decent setup by Cubs stadium too. Westgate district in Glendale is 15min away. Peoria is 20. Scottsdale is 30. Tempe is 25. Nobody hangs out in the immediate surrounding area in Maryvale just like nobody hangs out in the immediate surrounding area for the Reds/Indians, Dodgers/White Sox, Rockies/Dbacks (unless staying at Talking Stick), As, Angels, etc.

 

The Brewers grounds are nice as is but a renovation will make it look even better. The access to the players/coaches at all levels, especially the minor leagues, is second to none (this can't be emphasized enough). Everything about it is easy - entering/exiting parking lot and stadium, buying tix, walking the concourse, plenty of shaded seat options, prices are cheap ($23 to sit in shade 16 rows behind home plate). It's a nice relaxing setting to watch a game. I've gone 6 of the past 7yrs. Crazy happy they're staying put. And I don't see the access to the players going away - I see the focus being a facelift everywhere along with better clubhouse/locker room, workout facilities, etc. None of this restricts the accessibility on minor league side

[DHonks]

Humans need water, people frequently express concerns about the neighborhood. For example, recently I was discussing GCU golf course, and people expresssed they wished it were in a better neighborhood.

[rcc]

If the city council doesn't okay this proposal they are crazy. There are many major league teams who want the city to fund the entire park and they are big money teams. Example is the Red Sox and what they are doing to Pawtucket, RI and threatening to move the team to Providence or elsewhere if they don't get what they want.

 

A big win for Maryvale and very generous of the Brewers IMO.

[pacopete4]

Yikes. This news is brutal.

 

Why?

 

Because in my opinion, the area is a dump. There are so many nice places in the Phoenix area and the Brewers will now be stuck in it the for the next 25 years.

[MrTPlush]

We spend a ridiculous amount of money on our spring training complex(more than any other team does) and probably stay in the worst one in the worst area. Props to the Brewers for managing that one.

[patrickgpe]

I can't blame the brewers. they tried to find a new city. If there is no public support for the project, then they are stuck where they are.

 

I do question why they had to sign a 25 year lease when they are paying the lions share of the project though.

[MrTPlush]

I blame the Brewers. It didn’t take an expert to see the direction public funded stadiums was going. Should have went out and paid a lions share of a new stadium deal years ago when cities were still looking to add spring training sites. You would easily have been preferred when most teams were still pushing for cities to football the bill. Instead now they have to pay the majority to renovate a complex because no city even wants a team. They have no one else to blame...except themselves. They gambled and played their hand wrong thinking eventually a city would cough up money to bring them in. They were wrong.

[Outlander]

I have never gone to Spring Training and probably won't for a number of years so don't really care where it is in Arizona. The only concern is the money because we are led to believe the savings for the last couple of years would go to players but spending $60 million makes those saving disappear rather quickly.

[MVP2110]

Yea. My concern is this extra savings Mark A had the last few years now goes purely to this instead of the Major League team. Seems to put the Brewers at a disadvantage.

[MVP2110]

Yea. My concern is this extra savings Mark A had the last few years now goes purely to this instead of the Major League team. Seems to put the Brewers at a disadvantage.

[homer]

The area isn't all that bad there's really just nothing nearby - particularly during the day I don't think there's anything to worry about and that's when 99.9% of spring training games occur there. There are certainly worse neighborhoods in Phoenix. This is not about maximizing the fan experience. This is about facilities upgrades for rehab, extended spring training, AZL, etc.

[clancyphile]

I'm okay with this. I am assuming that the Brewers would pay about $8.2 million/year over the first five years (while Phoenix provides the $2 million/year), and then the last $22 million goes for the purchase.

 

Just improving the rehab and spring training facilities could help the team and help re-coup the investment over the years.