East Valley won when Glendale got stadiums
By Gary Nelson, Tribune Columnist
Contact Gary Nelson at [email protected] or phone (480) 898-6541
I read in the paper the other day that the Coyotes’ hockey season is over. This came as news to me because I rank hockey right up there with Botswana’s soccer team as something worth following.
The end of hockey season does, however, bring Los Arcos to mind.
The former home of Scottsdale’s first big shopping mall is nothing more now than a fenced-off, windblown patch of dirt and concrete at Scottsdale and McDowell roads. It’s a big, ugly mess.
But it could be worse. There could be a hockey arena there now.
Scottsdale was headed in that direction after two public votes approved having developer Steve Ellman build a home for the Coyotes on the corner, along with other commercial ventures.
But three years ago, as the City Council tried to make sense of his numbers, Ellman pulled the biggest disappearing act in Scottsdale history. He yanked his plan off the table and headed up to Glendale, whose officials offered him a free ride on a tax-paid gravy train.
Glendale Arena opened in December 2003 to glowing reviews. People liked the architecture and the view of the ice, although the french fries were deemed a bit on the pricey side at four bucks per order.
Home-team victories in the new building were a bit on the pricey side, too.
Given the arena’s $220 million cost, Glendale taxpayers shelled out $44 million for each of the team’s five home wins after the arena opened. But hey, why build a school or hospital when you can win hockey games instead?
Over time, of course, we can take heart in knowing the per-victory cost of the arena will go down. At the blistering pace they set this year, it will take the Coyotes only two more decades to reduce the taxpayer’s cost for home victories to a million bucks apiece.
Next season might not count, though, because there might not be a next season. Labor problems could result in a lockout that might keep Glendale Arena dark until the fall of 2005. Some wonder whether the NHL will survive at all.
And just think, this potential white elephant could have been Scottsdale’s.
It’s enough to make one rethink the now-dead idea of putting a Cardinals stadium in Mesa. For the sake of civic pride, it would have been cool.
But Mesa didn’t suffer the worst fate in the universe when the Cardinals, too, fell for Glendale’s come-hither. If the Cardinals stadium costs $330 million and the team wins four home games a year, it will take 82 seasons to get the per-victory cost down to a million bucks. No football stadium on the planet — not even Green Bay’s vaunted Lambeau Field — has lasted that long.
True, we wouldn’t have those beloved memories of the 2001 World Series if taxpayers hadn’t forked over to build Bank One Ballpark.
But that was a rare thing. For a better picture of what taxpayers usually get for subsidizing jillionaire sports owners, think about what Scottsdale could have had, but fortunately doesn’t.
By Gary Nelson, Tribune Columnist
Contact Gary Nelson at [email protected] or phone (480) 898-6541
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I read in the paper the other day that the Coyotes’ hockey season is over. This came as news to me because I rank hockey right up there with Botswana’s soccer team as something worth following.
The end of hockey season does, however, bring Los Arcos to mind.
The former home of Scottsdale’s first big shopping mall is nothing more now than a fenced-off, windblown patch of dirt and concrete at Scottsdale and McDowell roads. It’s a big, ugly mess.
But it could be worse. There could be a hockey arena there now.
Scottsdale was headed in that direction after two public votes approved having developer Steve Ellman build a home for the Coyotes on the corner, along with other commercial ventures.
But three years ago, as the City Council tried to make sense of his numbers, Ellman pulled the biggest disappearing act in Scottsdale history. He yanked his plan off the table and headed up to Glendale, whose officials offered him a free ride on a tax-paid gravy train.
Glendale Arena opened in December 2003 to glowing reviews. People liked the architecture and the view of the ice, although the french fries were deemed a bit on the pricey side at four bucks per order.
Home-team victories in the new building were a bit on the pricey side, too.
Given the arena’s $220 million cost, Glendale taxpayers shelled out $44 million for each of the team’s five home wins after the arena opened. But hey, why build a school or hospital when you can win hockey games instead?
Over time, of course, we can take heart in knowing the per-victory cost of the arena will go down. At the blistering pace they set this year, it will take the Coyotes only two more decades to reduce the taxpayer’s cost for home victories to a million bucks apiece.
Next season might not count, though, because there might not be a next season. Labor problems could result in a lockout that might keep Glendale Arena dark until the fall of 2005. Some wonder whether the NHL will survive at all.
And just think, this potential white elephant could have been Scottsdale’s.
It’s enough to make one rethink the now-dead idea of putting a Cardinals stadium in Mesa. For the sake of civic pride, it would have been cool.
But Mesa didn’t suffer the worst fate in the universe when the Cardinals, too, fell for Glendale’s come-hither. If the Cardinals stadium costs $330 million and the team wins four home games a year, it will take 82 seasons to get the per-victory cost down to a million bucks. No football stadium on the planet — not even Green Bay’s vaunted Lambeau Field — has lasted that long.
True, we wouldn’t have those beloved memories of the 2001 World Series if taxpayers hadn’t forked over to build Bank One Ballpark.
But that was a rare thing. For a better picture of what taxpayers usually get for subsidizing jillionaire sports owners, think about what Scottsdale could have had, but fortunately doesn’t.
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