The Suns arena dilemma

The rump City Council, with a caretaker mayor, seems in no hurry to address Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver's demands for a new or significantly remodeled downtown arena. Members are divided. Kate Gallego, facing Daniel Valenzuela in a March mayoral runoff, said, “it is not in Phoenix’s best interest to invest in an arena.” Arizona Republic columnist Laurie Roberts wrote, "taxpayers are about to get hosed if this deal goes through."

Here's the real deal: If Phoenix doesn't invest in the arena, Sarver — who has none of Jerry Colangelo's civic spirit — will move the team to the Rez, renaming it the Arizona Suns, no doubt, or even to Seattle, which is hungry to replace its lost Supersonics. The damage to downtown and light-rail (WBIYB) would be catastrophic. Talk about hosed.

Scholars are united in saying that professional sports arenas are bad public investments. But they are neither fans nor do they live in troubled cities. In an Atlantic magazine article, Rick Paulas writes, "Pro sports teams are bad business deals for cities, and yet, cities continue to fall for them. But municipalities can support local sports without selling out their citizens in the process." Indeed, it's outrageous that taxpayers are shelling out millions for super-rich team owners. They should say no. And this is especially true for robust, normal cities.

But Phoenix is neither.

Despite being the nation's fifth most populous city, Phoenix is in constant battle with the supersized suburbs that surround it (whose growth was made possible by massive taxpayer subsidies). And Phoenix has been losing economic and assets to Scottsdale, Tempe, Chandler, Glendale, and elsewhere since the turn of the century. Meanwhile, it holds a disproportionate number of poor people in ever-expanding linear slums.

Glendale, even though driven to fiscal disaster as a result, successfully poached both the Cardinals and the Coyotes. Both teams bear the name "Arizona" (the original plan was to build a downtown stadium for the Phoenix Cardinals), part of the strange toxic hatred of the major city's enchanting name and something that hurts metro Phoenix's potential in the world economy.

Meanwhile, the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community has shrewdly moved beyond casinos to become a player in the region's major enterprise: land speculation and development. In addition to retail and office projects adjacent to the Pima Freeway, the tribes built a resort and major Spring Training facility.

The Rez's closeness to north Scottsdale is a major plus in a metro area without a real center. One can easily see both the Suns and Diamondbacks relocate here; the swells who own the teams would probably pay more to be out of "scary" downtown Phoenix, close to their mansions, and the Rez has considerable financial means. Of course all this is totally car dependent, adding to smog and the greenhouse-gas emissions behind climate change.

Downtown, which suffered decades of malpractice and loss of businesses, is on the rebound. This is especially true thanks to ASU's campus, but also because of light rail, the new convention center, and the Downtown Biomedical Center. But the rebound began when Collangelo moved the Suns, Phoenix's first pro team, from aging Veterans Memorial Coliseum to a new downtown arena in 1992, and fought to build the Diamondbacks ballpark next door in 1998. The public investment was controversial (then County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox was shot by a kook in 1997). But the results began a transformation.

These teams bring millions of visitors downtown every year who otherwise wouldn't come there. They support numerous restaurants and bars nearby. With a metropolitan economy heavily dependent on tourism, the value of these two venues is similarly outsized. Again, Phoenix is not a normal city.

It's not even abnormal in a healthy way. San Diego is now down to the Padres, having lost the NBA Clippers in 1984 and the NFL Chargers last year. A combination beach town and city of advanced industries and the Navy, with a reborn downtown and vibrant, lovely urban neighborhoods, San Diegans simply don't care that much about pro sports. It can say no with minimal consequences beyond the angst for fans.

Denver and Seattle are normal cities, big winners in the new economy. Both have strong downtowns, high-end economies, and civic stewards. Not surprisingly, all the big-league teams play in downtown arenas, convenient to light rail.

Phoenix lacks any of these advantages. Downtown can't afford to lose the Suns. Those who say "hell, no" need to have a Plan B to replace the holes left when one or both teams leave. Merely offering a virtuous veto, particularly when one doesn't even care about downtown, is not enough.

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[soleri]

I've long been a skeptic about the value of pro sports' venues in downtown Phoenix. It wasn't the cost, however, that offended me. It was, rather, the replacement of downtown's fine-grained urban texture with obscenely overscaled structures and their necessary parking garages. Along with its convention center, downtown Phoenix exemplifies the hazards of thinking bigger, better, and taller can replace what was once the city's organic vibrancy. What looks good on a postcard tells a different story during the day when the empty sidewalks and barren stretches of inert monoliths expose our collective wishful thinking. Downtown Phoenix has no soul.

The build-it-and-they-will-come mentality is what passes for urban planning in Phoenix. I'm not blaming the professionals for being unable to create a civic heartbeat downtown. That was always an impossibility. Where I find fault is the emptiness of the dream itself. Once we tore out the last of downtown's character, what did we think we would create? An urban playground, maybe? A simulacrum of vitality? It exposed instead our pretenses in the worst way possible. Instead of real citizens doing real things, we have the homeless pushing shopping carts and puzzled tourists asking where the real downtown is.

The patient needs constant immunosuppressive treatment lest rejection of its artificial organs kicks in. This means subsidies, and they can and will never end. It's the bad bargain we struck when we abandoned downtown in the late '50s for the joy of driving everywhere. Phoenix was too small a city when this misbegotten period began to withstand its worst effects. Everything since then has been a footnote to a tragedy. At long last, there is no need for a downtown in a vastly overgrown suburb.

Imagine you're a president who fancies himself the greatest deal-maker ever. He thinks he has the midas touch and buys or builds hotels, a professional football team, an airline, casinos - you name it. He keeps declaring bankruptcy because his actual abilities are crude and limited. He needs a constant infusion of cash to maintain his delusional self-image, including that of oil-rich nations interested in leveraging his incompetence for their own interests. This is the nightmare we're living with nationally. For Phoenix, the good news is that our insanity is limited by a specter much worse than orange bloat and out-of-control narcissism. Climate change will deal our delusions a much harsher verdict than would an election or a special counsel. Our planning requires an advance directive for the end of life itself.

[Jerry McKenzie]

Sarver can go pound sand. No more public money for corporations or the rich. I think he will be very disappointed or surprised that the Salt River Tribe or the Gila are going to expect him to put up more money and will insist on a cut or at least profitability for any deal. Both tribal governments do a much better job looking out for their communities than the Phoenix or AZ gub’mints do.

[Jacob Hughes]

People who hate Robert Sarver:
- Suns fans
- Suns employees
- former Suns employees and players
- Maricopa County taxpayers
- US taxpayers

[B. Franklin]

Since we obviously care more about sports than we do about children, I have no doubt that, somehow, someway, the money will be found to keep our mediocre teams downtown.

Perhaps they can take the money from public schools? Oh, that's right, that money is already earmarked for Eddie Farnsworth.

Well, it will be found somewhere...

Personally, I think that ASU and the presence of 12,000 or so students downtown has done more to breathe life into the area than Jerry Colangelo ever did.

Adding the Suns' home games and the Diamondbacks' home games, you end up with about one third of a year's worth of days/nights. I wouldn't want to run a business based on customers--maybe--showing up every third day.

In my experience, the vast majority of sports' fans get in and out of downtown without a glance sideways.

[100 Octane]

"In my experience, the vast majority of sports' fans get in and out of downtown without a glance sideways..."

When I used to frequent downtown I found the same to be true, the exception being a few strip clubs that would let you in with no cover if you had a ticket stub from the Suns or D'backs.

I would hate to see the Suns leave, but not sure they are worth the investment. More so if they don't start winning.

[Phil Motta]

Couldn't have summed it up better, Jon. The knee-jerk reaction about giving stuff to rich team owners or feeling we should have preserved every single old building downtown is a gross, counterproductive simplification. What the entire Phoenix metropolitan area (larger than either metro Denver or Seattle-Tacoma...a surprise to most people) is lacking are leaders who give a rip about it. There are plenty of people who live to exploit it (e.g.,team owners unfortunately), but not enough who care about it (Michael Crow being a notable one who does). The new mayor needs to be in the latter camp, whomever she may be.

[the_intellectual_assassin]

The demographics of downtown phx have changed. While the homeless will always be with us, thousands of “real” citizens are moving to downtown/midtown condos, correct? If the Suns left I don’t think that would stop people from moving there. If downtown is more residential than retail—or at least more than in the past—then maybe it won’t be so dependent on subsidized tourism (just subsidized housing) for economic development. So that money could go to other things than lining the pockets of terrible owners while still enriching nearby residents (and visitors from other parts of the Valley). The Glendale experiment has been a boondoggle. But that’s what happens when you think sports are your only option. Downtown just has more options now. No reason to throw good money after bad.

[Cal Lash]

Optimism and hope like religion is necessary for many.

Phoenix has always been home for the homless in Winter. I recall when to get housing and food all you had to do was show up at the State Hospital or drink enough to get the cops to throw you in the jail at 17 S 2nd Avenue. A number of jail guards obtained good art work from incarcerated native Americans. But who got the magnificant brass door knobs?

[Cal Lash]

Or should it be houseless?

[Cal Lash]

Pro Sports/The Suns: I quit the world of sports when it became PRO. I did attend one Suns basket ball game in the late sixties or early seventies at the State Fair grounds.
I would prefer to see something other than a PRO sports venue?

[Ruben]

The arena capacity is 18,400.

The Suns are falsely reporting attendance of 15,000. ( that may be tickets sold)

Actual game attendance is 6,000 to 8,000.

I don't see any math where it would make sense to spend $100+ million to entertain 6,000 people.

[Mike doughty]

Since most of the followers of this blog are liberals(as I am)we are guilty of going off half cocked without a plan B. We need to consider our options very carefully. Surely we can figure out how to help the Suns without making Server richer.

[Cal Lash]

How about an amateur sports arena.
Glad you decided i was a liberal.

[Ruben]

If left to the normal markets forces, the Suns arena could become an indoor swap meet or a large Goodwill store.

The value of the Sun's franchise, around $1.4 billion , will only go higher if the Suns found a new location.

[DoggieCombover]

As is generally the case, I thought California was leading the way when they didn't hang on to their football team 25 years ago. It seemed pro football was no longer a desirable asset for major cities, at least at the going rate.

Lo and behold, the Rams are back and now there are two NFL teams in LA. While I'm not a big fan, and I wouldn't walk across the street to see the garbage Sarver continues to put on the floor, I think there are positives to having the teams in town. And the venues get used for a lot more than just sports, it seems every major entertainment act (Cirque de Soleil, Disney on Ice, WWE, etc. etc.) that can't fill a football stadium ends up downtown, along with WNBA, college bowl games and other amateur sports. It's a pretty big engine for downtown. What needs to happen is Phoenix needs a head cracking mayor to sit the hissy bitches down and get the Diamondbacks, Coyotes and Suns to figure out a way to make it work.

[Cal Lash]

I agree, Talton for Mayor!

[DoggieCombover]

There ya go, Cal!

[Ruben]

Doggie, please don't encourage that peyote smoking police pensioner.

Mr. Talton couldn't get elected assistant to the assistant back-up ambulance driver in Anywhere, AZ.

And that's on Arizona, not Mr. Talton.

If the state leaders had implemented just 25 percent of Jon's "suggestions" over the years, we would be in a much better place going into the coming battle with Mother Nature.

[Cal Lash]

CHIEF Ruben has been hallucinating in his tepee sweat lodge. Zinkes comin for U.

[Ruben]

The Sarver organization just uttered the magic words, GIVE US WHAT WE WANT OR WE'LL MOVE. That makes it easy. Vote no on the improvements and let the leave.

[Rogue Columnist]

You don't get off that easy, Ruben (and others).

What's your Plan B to counteract the damage to downtown?

And as much as I'd love it, we lack the means to restore the fine-grained storefront urban texture lost to these giant developments. And nothing would fill it in the age of online shopping.

[Ruben]

Move the AZ Rattlers in. They played there before and unlike other sports teams they win championships. Bring the Coyotes back downtown, they are dying in Glendale. The Coyote fan base is more of the central/east population. In order to further fill the arena, you could ask the new group of tenants now arriving downtown. I bet they have ideas that would not even occur to us old farts.

[Ruben]

My bad. Rattlers are already there. Just add Coyotes and other events.

[Ruben]

Exhibit A for "other events" just look at any New Times publication. There are events downtown that I couldn't dream up with all of cal's peyote. I bet they would love to have the arena as a venue for their activities and their arts. If the public has to pay for the damn place let these young folks use it. The concourse would make a great revolving art exhibit area.

[Jim Miller]

It will be interesting to see how the climate towards sports in general changes once more and more states pass laws to regulate sports betting.

http://www.espn.com/chalk/story/_/id/19740480/gambling-sports-betting-bill-tracker-all-50-states

Even at this point we are seeing major adoption in terms of sports betting on major news outlets such as abc and cbs, which frequently display sports betting lines and odds on their broadcast.

Not only that but local agents have more and more information at their disposal to become a bookie and get a piece of the pie on the upcoming trends and rising in popularity of the activity.

Two years from now the landscape can look very different.

Great piece by the way, I subscribed.

[software developers]

t's a pretty big engine for downtown. What needs to happen is Phoenix needs a head cracking mayor to sit the hissy bitches down