If Major League Baseball implements a plan to host all 30 teams playing in empty Arizona ballparks, Tucson officials say they’re willing to host a division’s worth of teams. (more…)
Tag Archives | kino stadium
Freedom Baseball League pitches Pima County on Kino Stadium lease
Pima County and the independent Freedom Baseball League are at loggerheads over a potential lease for Kino Stadium, which now sits empty after the move of the Tucson Padres (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League). Joe Sperle, president and partner in the Freedom Baseball League, has pitched county officials on a lease at $1,300 per game. […]
Chihuahuas move home opener to April 28, shift series to Tucson
Uncertainty about the new-ballpark status is leading the El Paso Chihuahuas (Class AAA: Pacific Coast League) to move the home opener to April 28, instead of the originally scheduled April 11. The Chihuahuas will play their April 11th–14th games against the Reno Aces in Tucson. The decision comes after meeting with the City of El […]
United League Baseball: We’re interested in Tucson
The independent United League Baseball circuit is interested in placing a team in Tucson’s Kino Stadium this season, as John Bryant makes an offer to Pima County for a lease. The offer calls for a team playing at Kino Stadium as well as control of the ballpark’s concessions. From the Arizona Daily Star: “We wish […]
MountainStar Sports Group extends Kino Stadium lease
Calling it insurance if a new El Paso ballpark is not completed in 2014, MountainStar Sports Group has extended the lease for Kino Stadium with Tucson for next season. MountainStar Sports Group purchased the Tucson Padres (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) and plans to move the team to El Paso next season. Now, no one […]
Final home game tonight for Tucson Padres
Tucson’s latest run at Triple-A baseball ends tonight, as the Tucson Padres (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) play their final game at Kino Stadium before a departure to El Paso. This time the departure is a little different; the T-Padres were always a short-term plant at Kino Stadium, so while there was hope the team […]
Latest run at Tucson pro baseball winding down
Maybe there are some cities unsuited for pro baseball. That would include Tucson, where the Tucson Padres (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) are 26 home games from a move to El Paso. Granted, the Tucson Padres were never slated to spend more than three or four seasons at Kino Stadium after the franchise was relocated […]
MountainStar Sports buys Tucson Padres
MountainStar Sports Group, which has a deal to bring affiliated baseball to a new downtown El Paso ballpark, says it has signed a Franchise Purchase Agreement for the Tucson Padres (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League). It’s been a hectic few weeks for the four investors comprising MountainStar: the El Paso City Council narrowly passed a downtown-ballpark […]
For Tucson, El Paso ballpark deal is bad news
While ballpark developments this week have pleased El Paso baseball fans, they represent bad news for Tucson Padres (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) fans, who once again must deal with the loss of affiliated ball. It’s been no secret that the T-Padres were a short-term play at Kino Stadium; Jeff Moorad and crew were working […]
Tucson Padres battle lame-duck status, indifferent community
Though there was little chance the Tucson Padres (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) would be a long-term tenant at Kino Stadium, the city’s lack of support for the team is still troubling. The team should end up drawing around 200,000 fans this season, good for last in the Pacific Coast League. With it being an […]
T-Padres back in Kino Stadium in 2013
The Tucson Padres (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) will be back in Kino Stadium for 2013, as the team signs a one-year lease for next season. With no ballpark developing in Escondido — the presumed ultimate destination when Jeff Moorad bought the Portland Beavers from Merritt Paulson — and no new ballpark opening in El […]
Pima County: Three spring games add $500K to Tucson bottom line
Three spring-training games at Kino Stadium, a former spring-training base in Tucson, will add a half-million dollars to the local economy, according to Pima County officials. Of course, that’s predicated on the three games doing well at the box office. One of the three games will divert part of the proceeds to charity, but the […]
How best to use old spring-training facilities: Soccer
Spring training may be totally gone from Tucson, but it looks like the city found a great use for former MLB training facilities: professional MLS soccer will bring six teams to the Kino Stadium complex. Six MLS teams will be training in Tucson this spring, with four of them set to participate in the Desert Diamond […]