Bye-bye Baseball?
In June it was reported that the Tucson Sidewinders may be leaving Tucson potentially heading to Reno. There have been mixed reactions to this news. Baseball fans will certainly miss the excitement of the games.
However, paid attendance at the Sidewinders games is not as high as projected. The Sidewinders pay the city of Tucson a certain amount based on the paid attendance numbers and their departure may actually mean more money for Tucson.
Currently, during regular season play, because of complaints that the fields were not in good playing condition the city does not schedule any other events for the ballpark. If the Sidewinders decide to go elsewhere it would open up opportunities for other events such as concerts, high school events and other more lucrative events. It was reported in the Arizona Daily Star on June 13, 2007 that the city had already turned down two concerts. The concerts would have brought in $25,000 in revenue.
Also the terms of the contract with the Sidewinders does not allow for the city to receive a portion of the revenue from concession sales. Concerts and other events would allow for a cut of the concession sales.
So it appears that the Sidewinders potentially leaving could actually increase city revenues from Tucson Electric Park. It would be a shame to not have the opportunity to take in a good baseball game and the city is not offering any incentive for the Sidewinders to remain. It will be interesting to see just how this game ends.
Picture courtesy of Wire Image
August 9th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
sounds to me like the city has lots of plans for the ballpark that don’t involve baseball, else why not offer incentives.
My family goes to maybe 2 games a year. Other opportunities would interest us more, such as concerts. For us, even though we like the thought of a team for the city, it makes more sense to use it in other ways. It’s too bad it couldn’t have been used for both.
August 11th, 2007 at 7:39 pm
I am kind of disappointed about them leaving. Personally I hate concerts even when I like the music. I love going to the baseball games and I really think that the possibility of concerts was still pretty wide open. It is not like the summer is really the most conducive time to have a concert. I cannot see why a singer much less the crowd would prefer a summer concert to a winter one at an outdoor place in Tucson.
December 11th, 2009 at 1:17 am
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