Hobbs Signs House Bill To Keep Diamondbacks In Phoenix, Upgrade Chase Field

Jack Janes

Arizona has already lost one professional sports team in the last year, and it wasn’t going to lose another.

The Diamondbacks’ lease with Maricopa County expires in 2027, leaving a sense of uncertainty between the team and city. With the state still licking its wounds from the departure of the Arizona Coyotes in 2024, working on a deal to keep the Diamondbacks became a priority.

Now, that won’t be a worry for the next 30 years.

“The stadium has generated $5.4 billion in GDP for our state, with countless small businesses and the workers they employ relying on a strong and thriving downtown Phoenix that Chase Field and the Diamondbacks anchor,” governor Katie Hobbs said Wednesday. “It’s a simple fact that without the Diamondbacks playing here at Chase Field, Arizona would be worse off, and I was not about to let that happen.”

Sporting a Diamondbacks jersey, Hobbs signed HB 2704 on top of the Diamondbacks’ dugout to solidify the team’s future for the next three decades. It’s a future that includes renovations to Chase Field, which opened in 1998, the year the Diamondbacks made their MLB debut as an expansion team.

Areas needing renovations include the air conditioning and the retractable roof. The HVAC system is still the original unit and has struggled in recent years to keep up with the demand of high temperatures.

The retractable roof, on the other hand, has dealt with leaks and cable issues in the past, leading the Diamondbacks to remove the Friday Night Fireworks promotion.

“Fans have routinely shown up for this city and this state, and it’s time that we show up for them,” Hobbs said.

Rep. Jeff Weninger, R-Chandler, served as the bill sponsor and said plenty of naysayers believed a deal couldn’t get done.

“This was too important,” Weninger said. “To come together to preserve the Arizona Diamondbacks, not just in Arizona, but in downtown Phoenix.”

HB 2704 redirects 82% of the Diamondbacks’ state income taxes and one-half cent transportation tax collected from all buildings owned by the Maricopa County Stadium District to the District Fund. The diversions of these taxes over the next 30 years will raise up to $500 million for renovations to Chase Field.

“This is a way of taking no new taxes, but the existing sales tax and some of the income tax that is generated here, created here, and put it right back into the stadium,” Diamondbacks President and CEO Derrick Hall said.

The $500 million will also be adjusted annually for inflation.

The Diamondbacks are contributing $250 million of their own money to help fund the renovations as well.

The money the Diamondbacks get from the diversion of taxes must only be used on renovating the infrastructure of Chase Field. Pool suites, suites and club seating do not fall under the infrastructure definition, however.

As for when those renovations will begin, it’s still up in the air.

Hall said that Thursday is their first meeting with their stadium consultant, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL). After the meeting, Hall said they can start bringing in architects to finalize exact details.

Although different blueprints have been drawn up over the years, Hall said they will probably start from scratch and maybe take some ideas from previous drawings.

“We’ll bring in a lot of fan-facing and new fan-experiential type of renovation as well, but at first we’ve got a lot of things that most people wouldn’t even see, like the HVAC system, cement, cracks, pipes, a lot of work that we have to do infrastructure-wise,” Hall said.

The retractable roof has had issues in the past few years, making itself one of the top priorities to get fixed. Hall said the Diamondbacks hope to fix the roof this offseason.

Another top priority will be the air conditioning in the ballpark.

“We have a 27-year-old HVAC system that has at times struggled to keep fans cool, rainstorms that led to flooding and stadium evacuations, and Arizonans deserve better than this,” Hobbs said.

These renovations aren’t going to happen overnight. The bill will raise money for the next 30 years to fund the renovations, but Hall is hopeful that the major renovations can begin in the next five years.

“We’re also looking at a new ribbon board, a new video board,” Hall said. “Those things can happen immediately without interfering with too many of the prearranged and prescheduled off-season events and bringing in cranes.”

The bill was first introduced in January, and it was a six-month journey to come to an agreement. It ultimately ended in a 35-20 vote from the Arizona House of Representatives to pass.

“Thousands of families, including my own, have made memories here that will last a lifetime,” Hobbs said. “With these renovations, we’re not just preserving a ballpark. We are ensuring that families can keep coming together generation after generation to share in the joy and excitement that happens right here at Chase Field.”