By Renata Cló/Arizona Republic
Phoenix area cities spend millions of taxpayer dollars to build, maintain and operate spring training ballparks, but the now-resolved labor dispute between Major League Baseball and players means a shortened training season and less time for cities to recoup the money.
Spring training’s return brings a mix of frustration and relief from city leaders. Frustration that the loss of games three years in a row has impacted tax revenue, small businesses and the local economy. Relief that at least a portion of the games will be played.
Spring training games will begin March 17 and run through April 5.
The Cactus League is a spring rite in Arizona when 15 professional ball clubs come to the Valley to practice before the start of the MLB season. Spring training brings tourists and baseball fans, many escaping cold weather climates, to watch their favorite teams play in the more casual, intimate ballparks.
Spring training carried an estimated $364 million economic impact during the 2020 season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study by the L. William Seidman Research Institute at Arizona State University.
The last study of a full season was done in 2018 and concluded that spring training brought an economic impact of $644 million.
The studies focused on spending by out-of-state visitors, who crowd bars, restaurants and hotels. Cities recoup a portion of their expenditures through sales tax revenues.
The loss of games is a concern for Kevin Phelps, the city manager in Glendale, which built a ballpark for the Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers. He proposed MLB should help make up for the lost income and make a contribution of $10 million to the state tourism budget that would go specifically to promote future spring training activities.
When word came Thursday that the league and players had reached a deal, he said he was happy for the league’s owners and players but disappointed for the business and hospitality industries who “got the bad end of this deal.”
“They rely on a full spring training season, yet for the third year in a row, they will not see a significant benefit from spring training,” Phelps said. “We don’t expect that even with a couple of weeks of spring training, there will be many out-of-state visitors coming to stay in our hotels or eating in our restaurants.”
The executive director of Cactus League, Bridget Binsbacher, said the league was relieved to see MLB and players coming to an agreement but also recognized frustration over the loss of spring training games in the last three years.
“Gosh, this was just another wait-and-see kind of situation that we were all in. Now, we’re just looking at the opportunity we have and making the most of it,” she said.
