Sarver is threatening to move the Suns to Seattle or Las Vegas

MigratingOsprey

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This is what pro sports teams asking for new stadiums want you to believe. They’re a piece of the puzzle, but the residential, employment, university, and transit development downtown is not contingent on the Suns and D’Backs—nor will it leave if they do.

I’m a lifelong fan and want them to stay as well. But there are much larger forces at play, and most people aren’t actually big pro sports fans.

I think downtown Phoenix is a huge example of this.

For many years the stadiums were the heart of downtown activity and downtown was a dead zone.

The investment in the University presence downtown and the light rail have been much more instrumental to downtown activity than the stadiums
 

Dback Jon

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This is what pro sports teams asking for new stadiums want you to believe. They’re a piece of the puzzle, but the residential, employment, university, and transit development downtown is not contingent on the Suns and D’Backs—nor will it leave if they do.

I’m a lifelong fan and want them to stay as well. But there are much larger forces at play, and most people aren’t actually big pro sports fans.


Note - City of Phoenix doesn't open Chase Field - Maricopa County does
 

AzStevenCal

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Correct me if I'm wrong here but aren't we talking about something Sarver said versus something someone said that someone said that Sarver said? Do I think he or someone in the organization mentioned other locations? Yes, they'd be complete idiots not to point it out. But I'd like to hear the context before judging.
 

MigratingOsprey

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It sounds like the different location talk was vague.

A member took it as an out of state threat, it was probably more of a different part of the valley threat.

I believe them when they say they weren't trying to leverage Seattle or Vegas at this point
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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It sounds like the different location talk was vague.

A member took it as an out of state threat, it was probably more of a different part of the valley threat.

I believe them when they say they weren't trying to leverage Seattle or Vegas at this point
I don’t.
 

JCSunsfan

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Damage control!
I don't trust Sarver, politicians, or reporters. Take your pick on who the problem is here.

Sarver could have threatened. But he could have also said something like "Listen, Seattle and Vegas has spent hundreds of millions and they don't even have a team. They would love to have a team. Why don't you want to get this done now? This should be a no-brainer!"

Then either the council person took it as a threat, or the reporter chose to report it as a threat to make a bigger story. I have no clue which, but like I said, there is no one in this whole process I trust to tell the unvarnished truth.
 

Dback Jon

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It is still the government. The greatest portion of Maricopa County residents live in the Valley.


The poster was critiquing the City of Phoenix for both Chase and TSRA. City of Phoenix has ZERO to do with Chase Field. Don't muddy the waters. Doesn't matter where the residents live, two separate entities.

City of Phoenix and Maricopa County have two vastly different governing body, from a political and governing perspective.
 

AzStevenCal

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I don’t.

I do. And, I don't. I don't believe that Sarver had just warned (threatened) that councilman that he would move the team to Las Vegas or Seattle if he didn't get the votes he wanted. No way would that councilman be scrambling to backtrack on his comments had that been an actual quote. But I do believe the councilman when he says that it was clear to him that Sarver was implying a move to one of those locations was possible because it had been discussed previously.
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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I do. And, I don't. I don't believe that Sarver had just warned (threatened) that councilman that he would move the team to Las Vegas or Seattle if he didn't get the votes he wanted. No way would that councilman be scrambling to backtrack on his comments had that been an actual quote. But I do believe the councilman when he says that it was clear to him that Sarver was implying a move to one of those locations was possible because it had been discussed previously.
Fech, an implication - which I’m sure was made - is just a weak threat.
 

AzStevenCal

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Fech, an implication - which I’m sure was made - is just a weak threat.

Sure but I don't really see the big deal. It's not like it needs to be stated or implied for most people to realize the possibility exists.

Context is everything here. If he said "give me my money or we're out of here", well then, he's as dumb and greedy as most people believe he is. And while it's still a threat, I wouldn't really have a problem if he said something like "the major investors are aware that there are other prime locations out there that would love to have the Suns and we're going to need a few things from the city to keep that conversation from happening".
 

Willie D

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On the bright side, the Suns, and especially Greta Rogers are ALL over ESPN this morning.

Rock on, Greta:computer:
 

BC867

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Different government though and independent of each other.

Dback Jon said:
The poster was critiquing the City of Phoenix for both Chase and TSRA. City of Phoenix has ZERO to do with Chase Field. Don't muddy the waters. Doesn't matter where the residents live, two separate entities.

City of Phoenix and Maricopa County have two vastly different governing body, from a political and governing perspective.

Please explain why that makes a difference to Phoenix fans. Aren't the concepts the same? Ball clubs in facilities owned by government bodies.
 

MigratingOsprey

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It would be like cursing out the DMV because you don't like your house assessment and the impact on property taxes, on the basis that I'm a Arizona homeowner with a car and government is government

The disputes are different, the teams/ownership are different and the responsible public entity is different

Combining them into a single issue just muddies up both issues with unneeded noise

A large part of the Diamondbacks issue stems from the ongoing maintenance requirement in their operating agreement, what that should consist of and who should pay what

The Suns is more of a situation of "I'll opt out of my lease unless you fund 2/3 of the improvements and betterments I want done"
 

JCSunsfan

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I'm pretty sure your chest-thumping on a message board counts as "simple declarations by a fan." You talk about replacing the carpet and refrigerator like that's the kind of renovation that is under discussion.
Hum. Never been accused of chest thumping before. I guess I am incredulous with opposition to the idea of renovation. To me it seems the need is so obvious.
 

Kel Varnsen

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Yeah, this seems like a guy deeply concerned about accuracy.

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Kel Varnsen

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This guy gets it.

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