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This is pretty much a standard part of the baseball game where the billionaire owners of professional sports teams screw the taxpayers out of of billions of dollars in corporate welfare.
After the billionaire owners of a baseball team shake the taxpayers down for millions or billions in corporate welfare they come back a second time and demand more money. You might want to view the original article, because it has a PDF file of the letter Derrick M Hall, the CEO of the Diamondbacks sent to Maricopa County. This insulting letter won't do the trick. It will be followed by a BRIBE to the Maricopa County Supervisors which will do the trick. Did I say BRIBE? I'm sorry, I meant campaign contributions.
Diamondbacks CEO: We might bolt Chase if not upgraded Craig Harris, The Republic | azcentral.com 5:26 p.m. MST March 24, 2016 The Arizona Diamondbacks are threatening to sue Maricopa County and leave downtown Phoenix if the team isn't provided with a "state of the art" stadium, according to records obtained by The Arizona Republic. The team said it sent a letter today to Maricopa County officials that originally was drafted in January. It says the team wants to stay in downtown Phoenix, but "if there is no other choice, we will go elsewhere." The letter also says if the team determines that a retrofit of Chase Field is not feasible and if the county doesn't grant permission for the team to look elsewhere, "we will ask the court for all appropriate relief." The team, in another letter, notified Maricopa County that it wants to "take such actions as it deems necessary in order to move and play Diamondbacks baseball games in a location other than Chase Field," citing the county's failure to make $187 million in repairs to the downtown ballpark. In order to do so, the team must be released from certain provisions of its contract with the county. The contract runs through 2028, but the team must have county permission to discuss options with anyone else prior to the last four years of the contract's term. The county refused the team's request in a letter Wednesday, saying taxpayers built the facility with $238 million in sales taxes. The letter also states the team, according to its contract with the county, is prohibited from trying to move until 2024. The move by the Diamondbacks comes as the Phoenix Suns and Arizona Coyotes also have complained about their taxpayer-funded arenas and want new deals. Derrick Hall, the Diamondbacks' chief executive, declined to be interviewed. The team issued a statement from Hall saying the team wants to remain in downtown Phoenix. He placed blame on the county if the team moves. "The county is putting in jeopardy the investment that taxpayers have made, that the team has made, and the economic windfall the community has reaped as a result. Again, we only want to do what’s in the best interest of D-backs fans and the franchise," Hall said. Hall's statement goes on to say the county's stadium district has told the team it does not have the financial ability to make needed capital improvements, estimated at $187 million. "This spiral is insurmountable and will result in a Chase Field that will no longer be a state-of-the-art facility as our agreement requires and may, in fact, become unsuitable for continued use. We cannot risk being put in that position," Hall said. Fields Moseley, a county spokesman, said Maricopa County has spent $40 million during the past decade on renovations at Chase Field. He said the county does not want to give the team an opportunity to have an early exit from downtown Phoenix.
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