Ready to pay a(nother) 9% tax to take in an Arizona Diamondbacks game?

Diamondbacks lawyer Nick Wood says the team isn’t looking for a handout, merely a financial structure that will allow it to make major improvements to Chase Field.

Opinion: It is not enough that the Arizona Diamondbacks get exclusive rights to run a sportsbook. Now the team wants to tax fans to pay for ballpark improvements, and the Legislature is all for it.

By Laurie Roberts | Arizona Republic

The line for opening day at Chase Field, April 9, 2021, Phoenix, AZ

The Arizona Diamondbacks may be a losing on the field, but the team had a grand slam of a week at the state Capitol.

Not only were team owners given exclusive rights this week to run a multimillion-dollar sports betting operation, but the Arizona Senate approved a plan to tax fans to pay for stadium improvements.

The Senate also agreed to lend the team the state’s credit rating so it can finance the upgrades with low-interest government bonds.

Nice assist, if you can get it.  But, of course, your rank-and-file business owner who doesn’t field a professional sports team, can’t get it.

Just like you can’t bid for the chance to win one of those 10 lucrative state licenses to run a sports book.

Fans, not taxpayers, would pay the tax.

Diamondbacks lawyer Nick Wood says the team isn’t looking for a handout, merely a financial structure that will allow it to make major improvements to Chase Field.

“We’re taxing ourselves,” he told the Senate Finance Committee last month.

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