SPRING TRAINING BASEBALL ATTENDANCE DROPS IN ARIZONA DUE TO WBC--towns lost revenue, jobs, possibly children starved

Spring baseball tickets below 2005 levels

Officials blame weather, classic "WHEN THE CHICAGO CUBS DROP, THAT'S A WAKE-UP CALL FOR ALL OF US."

Scott Wong The Arizona Republic Apr. 8, 2006 12:00 AM

Ticket sales for West Valley spring training games this season fell sharply from last year's highs, with officials blaming inclement weather and competition from the inaugural World Baseball Classic for less-than-stellar turnouts. At Peoria Stadium, where the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres play, fans purchased about 200,000 tickets during the monthlong season, an 11 percent drop from last year. Meanwhile, at Surprise Stadium, which hosts the Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers, fans bought 153,700 tickets, a 7 percent decline. But waning sales weren't specific to just the west side. It was the same story across the Cactus League, which saw 1.16 million tickets sold this year, a nearly 9 percent decrease from 2005. Hohokam Stadium, where the Chicago Cubs play, saw about 11,070 fans each game, more than 1,000 fewer than last season's figure. "When the Chicago Cubs drop, that's a wake-up call for all of us," said Mark Coronado, who oversees operations at Surprise Stadium just off Bell Road. Reports of declining ticket sales come as a debate heats up over the financial viability of spring training stadiums. A recent Arizona Republic story pointed out that of the eight municipalities that host Cactus League teams, all but one loses money maintaining the stadiums. Although Surprise pulls in about $3.3 million in revenues each year from things such as ticket sales, concessions and souvenirs, the city operates at a loss of about $300,000 during spring training. Peoria pulled in nearly $5.2 million in revenues this year but typically loses about $750,000 in running the Peoria Sports Complex. Peoria Vice Mayor Bob Barrett, however, said cities take in far more in sales taxes from restaurants, hotels, shops and other local businesses than they lose from running the stadiums. If you look at any of these facilities in isolation, the answer is, {grave}Yeah, they lose money,' " said Barrett, whose Ironwood District includes many restaurants and businesses near the ballpark. "But the stadium and baseball facility are the generators of an awful lot of income from venues that surround them." Unusual weather was partly to blame for the lower-than-expected attendance counts. Peoria Stadium had not seen a cancellation due to rain in the previous three years. But a sold-out Saturday game between the 2005 champion Chicago White Sox and San Diego Padres was rained out. Later that night, a Seattle Mariners game also was called. And other games at the stadium were delayed because of bad weather. "That hurts the walk-up sales," said Cactus League President J.P. de la Montaigne, Peoria's community development director. Both de la Montaigne, who heads operations at Peoria Sports Complex, and Coronado said they believe the Baseball Classic, which held games at Chase Field and Scottsdale Stadium, had a positive impact on the sport. But they were split about whether the international tournament was good for business. De la Montaigne said the classic "brought attention to the game overall, so people got more interested in spring training earlier than normal." Coronado, however, said the classic created a logistical nightmare, as teams from South Korea and Japan took over the two West Valley stadiums one week for workouts and exhibition games. When a reporter pointed out the tournament would come around only once every four years, Coronado responded, "Thank God."

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