Chris Cargill: Indians baseball trying to throw taxpayers a curveball?

By Chris Cargill

If you’ve attended a Spokane Indians baseball game, you’ve no doubt heard the public address announcer call Avista Stadium the “best baseball stadium in the Northwest.”

Originally built in the 1950s, the ballpark at the Spokane County Fairgrounds has proved useful at minimal cost to taxpayers. The original construction cost was less than $600,000.

But more than 60 years later, things are changing. Prodded by Major League Baseball, the Spokane Indians Baseball Club wants all Spokane County taxpayers, whether baseball fans or not, to pay for an upgrade. The price tag? At least $23 million.

The Indians owners say they have no choice – their minor league baseball affiliation could be lost unless the stadium is renovated. It’s an argument we often hear from sports franchises.

Remember when the Seattle Mariners threatened to move to Tampa Bay in the 1990s? They got a half-billion-dollar stadium out of the deal, the majority of which was paid for by taxpayers.

The Seattle Seahawks got their new stadium years later after threatening a move to Los Angeles. It only cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

While not nearly as much money is at stake, the latest attempt by the Spokane Indians and MLB follows the same formula.

When the club presented its $23 million renovation plan to Spokane County commissioners, they offered to pitch-in just 13%. A good deal for them, but a strikeout for taxpayers.

Avista Stadium has been renovated and upgraded many times. In fact, the stadium received nine different improvements in the 1990s, four upgrades in the 2000s, and two more in 2014. Based on records obtained from Spokane County, many of those came at the expense of taxpayers.

In 2007, when bleachers needed repair, state taxpayers covered the $3.6 million cost.

In 2014, when new concessions were added, an office space was remodeled and the concourse was repaired, county taxpayers covered 75% of the cost – another $2.9 million.

In 2021, county taxpayers again shelled out cash for the stadium’s tunnel repairs to the tune of $309,000.

This year, the stadium is getting an estimated $585,000 worth of weatherization upgrades – again covered by Spokane County taxpayers.

For this latest round, Spokane County taxpayers don’t just have an extra $23 million sitting around, so the county would likely have to issue bonds, which adds interest and other costs that push the price tag up to $30 million. That makes the deal for the baseball club look even better as the Indians’ share would drop to 10% while increasing public debt.

The ballclub is already getting a sweetheart lease from the county for Avista Stadium. It pays less for its monthly lease – a little more than $2,000 – than many Spokane homeowners pay for their mortgage.

The Indians say they’d be willing to increase their rent, but at the expense of any down payment for a renovated stadium.

Because of the restructuring of minor league baseball, the Indians now host more than 60 games each year. Before 2020, the number of home games was fewer than 40. Every additional home game brings in additional revenue for the ballclub. If the team has more money, why not pay for the cost of its own stadium renovation?

When team leaders were recently asked whether the Colorado Rockies – the Indians MLB parent – would be willing to pay for any of the costs that would benefit their players, the answer was “we don’t know.”

Spokane County also confirms that the team – and not the taxpayers – get any profits associated with naming rights. While the taxpayers own the stadium, the team keeps the cash associated with naming the facility.

As they have learned from other sports franchises, the easiest answer for the Indians seems to be just come to taxpayers with hat in hand. The demand is not only out of left field, but it also hurts a community’s love and support of a sports team.

Spokane County commissioners should call the ballclub’s bluff. At the very most, the commissioners should put the issue to a public vote this fall. Baseball is not a core function of government and should not be placed above other priorities.

Chris Cargill is the Eastern Washington director for Washington Policy Center, an independent research organization with offices in Spokane, Seattle, Olympia and Tri-Cities. Online at washingtonpolicy.org. Members of the Cowles family, owners of The Spokesman-Review, have previously hosted fundraisers for the Washington Policy Center, and sit on the organization’s board.