If the D-backs leave Arizona after '22, the team would have to pay penalties of between $5-25MGETTY IMAGES
Maricopa County leaders decided the D-backs can "leave Chase Field and end the team's 20-year residence" at the downtown Phoenix ballpark as early as '22, according to a front-page piece by Rebekah Sanders of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC. The Board of Supervisors "passed the agreement 4-1 a week after making the deal public, ending a longstanding lawsuit." This allows the team to "immediately start looking for another home in exchange for dropping its demand for the county to pay" up to $187M in ballpark upgrades. If the D-backs find a "new location in Maricopa County, the team could leave Chase Field without penalty" in '22, "five years earlier" than the current contract. If the D-backs were to leave Arizona after '22, the team would have to "pay penalties" of $5-25M. County Chair Steve Chucri, who helped broker the deal, said that he "believed the agreement will keep baseball in Maricopa County for the long term." The D-backs sued Maricopa County in '17, "seeking to break the team's 30-year lease." The lawsuit went "nowhere for months until a judge ordered the two sides into private mediation, which produced the preliminary agreement." Under the deal, the team will "take control" of ballpark maintenance and can spend $35M in "repair money on a new scoreboard, air conditioning equipment and other items." The team could receive up to $20M from the county at the "end of the contract as reimbursement." The team also will "take over booking concerts and events" from Scottsdale-based Select Artists Associates, with any net revenue "dedicated to repairs." In return, the county will be "released from any obligation to pay for further repairs and will maintain ownership of the land" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 5/10).
