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.
