County takes $5 million buyout from White Sox

TUCSON—While work continues to entice new MLB teams to train in Tucson, the Pima County Board of Supervisors Tuesday accepted a $5 million buyout from the Chicago White Sox organization, ending a decade-long relationship with the team.

Pima County Sports and Tourism Authority Chairman Tom Tracy asked the board to allocate $500,000 of the $5 million to the authority, to be used in its ongoing efforts to convince other MLB teams to spend their spring training month at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson.

“We feel confident that there are opportunities out there to replace the White Sox in the short-term and the long-term,” he said.

In a subsequent interview, Tracy said he could not offer any details as to which teams he has been talking to, but added that thus far he has received positive overtures. The $500,000 would be used for travel and marketing, as well as for administrative costs. The sports authority currently receives no public funding.

According to the White Sox organization’s contract with the county, they must provide an MLB replacement team before leaving for their new spring training facility being built in Glendale. That is not likely to happen as all of the teams currently playing in Florida and elsewhere have long-term leases in place.

As an alternative to a replacement team, and before the cash buyout was floated, the White Sox had offered to build a year-round youth and amateur sports tournament facility at the complex at a cost of about $3 million. While this and other proposals were being considered, the $5 million cash settlement was offered this week, according to county administrator Chuck Huckelberry.

Tracy and others told the board that “there is a desperate need for a youth and amateur sports facility in the county.”

“We found that a youth and amateur sports facility would probably generate enough economic impact to take care of the White Sox departure,” Tracy said.

In a memo to the board, the sports authority wrote that “a portion of the proceeds from the cash settlement should be used to develop a tournament-quality baseball facility at Kino Sports Complex,” adding that the $3 million cost suggested by the White Sox to upgrade the facility seems appropriate.

Amateur and youth baseball is big business, especially traveling and club teams which often involve whole families staying in hotels and eating at local restaurants. Marty Flack, with the Touch ‘Em All Youth Baseball Academy, told the board that a recent youth tournament in Phoneix drew some 140 teams from around the southwest.

A study by the Elliot Pollack Company found that Tucson’s year-round mild climate, combined with a state-of-the-art facility, would likely combine to outpace the economic impact of spring training.

Despite the $5 million cash settlement — which Supervisor Ray Carroll attributed to Huckelberry’s skillful “horse trading” — and despite the promise of an upgraded facility, the mood among the supervisors was one of sadness and resignation over the loss of the White Sox.

“This is a really sad day for baseball in Tucson,” said board chairman Richard Elias.

Tim Hull is a freelance writer for the Green Valley News.