With the World Series underway, hundreds of Tucson-area businesses are cheering for a miracle. They need the Pima County Sports and Tourism Authority (PCSTA) to hit a come-from-behind, game-winning grand slam.

Yes, it’s all about money. Specifically, profits for businesses. Wages for workers. Cash for charities. Tax revenues for governments. 

During 2007 Spring Training, the Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies and Chicago White Sox had a $31 million local economic impact.  That’s about $10 million per team flowing into local commerce and charities. 

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The Rockies alone have more than 80 local suppliers as official vendors, including Aaron Rents, Baum’s Sporting Goods, La Fuente, Rhodes Painting, Inglis Florists, Rincon Market, and Roh’s.     

Charitable beneficiaries include the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Dan Felix Memorial Fund.  

For them all, the game’s almost over.

After 63 years, next Spring will be Tucson’s last for Spring Training. The Diamondbacks and Rockies are moving to Scottsdale. Last year, the White Sox took their team to Glendale.       

To put it mildly, folks are “corked.” 

David Cohen, treasurer of the 15-member PCSTA, shared a little “inside baseball” about how it all happened.

“When a company, or in this case a team, leaves a community it is not necessarily because of one main reason but rather a series of small ones,” he explained. “That was the case for all three teams.”

White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf has a home in Paradise Valley so wanting his team in the Phoenix area had merit.  But the apathy from Pima County officials sent a bad signal to the Diamondbacks.  

“Pima County built TEP Park on a shoestring and maintains it on a shoestring,” said Cohen. “The teams wanted little things, like walls painted and carpets cleaned, but the county chose not to maintain it to Major League standards. Pima County is a lousy landlord.”

Diamondback executives told Cohen that county officials brushed aside their concerns and did not appreciate their business.    

“Definitely, after the poor treatment by Pima County, the Diamondbacks orchestrated the effort to leave and take the Rockies with them,” he said.

Hi Corbett Field, owned by the City of Tucson and home of the Rockies for Spring Training, is where the Cactus League got its start in 1947. Although the field is superb, the facilities are not up to date. For example, players do weight training in tents.     

The Tucson City Council expressed no interest in the situation until it was too late. The city “was absolutely quiet,” said Cohen.  A council member told Cohen they had decided baseball was not important because “no one was calling City Hall.”   

PCSTA is pitching an ambitious strategy for a miracle comeback. The game plan centers around a proposed sales tax to fund Spring Training and develop facilities and programs for youth and amateur sports.

The tax, primarily on tourism-related industries such as hotels and car rentals, would raise $15 million annually.  By 2014, the county must put it before voters.

For the hundreds of vendors, charities and businesses, this issue is not about baseball. 

“This was easy money,” Cohen said. “I’ll say it: the city and county don’t understand economic development and have a bad attitude toward business. That’s why the teams left. It’s a huge economic loss.”  

A Cactus League survey showed Spring Training was the primary reason for visiting Tucson for 56 percent of non-Arizonans attending games. While here, 36 percent visited regional attractions. 

Going, going, gone after next year is $20 million in tourism cash spent at places like the Reid Park Zoo, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson Museum of Art, and team support of Child and Family Resources.       

As the economic recession lingers, how will governments make up for lost revenue? How will the County pay the $24 million still owed on Tucson Electric Park?  

Baseball and February’s annual gem and mineral show share a parallel universe. Business executives have to look at the bottom line and make forward-looking decisions. Cohen said that’s what the Rockies did and what officials of the gem shows are doing now. 

They couldn’t afford to wait on the city council.

Colorado Rockies Baseball Club 2007-2008 Tucson Vendors

During Spring Training in 2007 and 2008, the Colorado Rockies $10 million local economic impact included direct ties to some 200 local organizations.  Businesses and non-profit groups that benefited were:

4 Core Financial

Aaron Rents & Sells Furniture

Abierta La Puerta Guest House   

Absolute Security

Academy Dermatologists Group

Access Communications Team

A-Clean Sweep

Aero Priority Propane Service

Allyn Haynes Catering

America Ice Company

America Red Cross - Southern Arizona

Andrew Stover

Anthony Sanders

Aramark

Arizona Community Physicians

Arizona Daily Star

Arizona Daily Wildcat

Arizona Health

Arizona Housing Solutions

Arizona Jet-Mail

Arizona Lithographers

Arizona Lotus Corporation

Arizona Repair & Maintenance

Arms on Premises Laundry

Automation Centre

Baum’s Sporting Goods

Bill Roemer

Bobby Lewis

C.M. Burris

California Tattoos

Card Solutions

Carlos Partida

Carolyn Figal

Carondelet Health Network

Carondelet Imaging Center

Carrabba’s Italian Grill

Cat Tracks

Cathey’s Vacuum & Sewing

Champion Sports Promotion

Child and Family Resources

Chuy’s Catering

Citadel Broadcasting

City of Tucson

Corey M. Candray

Creative Awards

Creative Printers

Dan Felix Memorial Fund

David G. Bell

DCS, Inc.

Delwest, Inc.

Destination & Conference, Inc.

Diamond Foothills Properties

Dictograph Secutiry Patrol

Dorado Pest Control

Double T Signs

Doubletree Hotel

Dr. Andre Tedesco

Dr. David Pedersen

Dr. David Petersen

Dr. Gilbert Shapiro

Dr. Whitney Lynch

Eduardo Villacis

El Charro Restaurant

El Cubanito

El Imparcial Publishing

El Molinito Restaurant

Elizabeth Swanson

Embroidme

Emergency Room Associates

EMS Realty

Enterprise Car Rental

Ernest Zayac

Event Management, Inc.

Explorer Newspapers

F&S Distributors

Finley Distributing

Foothills Properties

FPGI

Fred Ocasio

Freeze Frame Fotography

Gail Marcelle Kranz, M. Ed.

Good News Broadcasting

Grimm Eye Clinic

Hacienda del Sol

Health N Home Support Center

Healy Newspapers

Hilton Tucson East

Inglis Florists

Insty-Prints

Jan-Co Janitorial

Jason’s Deli

Jennifer Payne

Jerry Bass

Jerry Reeves

Jerry Schultze

Jim Souter

Jim Stone

Joan Layton

John Ostrowski

Jonathan Schultz

Journal Broadcast Group

JRB Enterprises

Kenneth Keller, Ph. D.

Kevin Keating

KFMA Radio

KLPX Radio

Kola’s Screen Graphics

Kris Saracco

La Fuente Restaurant

Leslie Morato

Leukemia Lymphoma Society

Luke’s Chicago Style Sandwiches

Madden Media

Madden Preprint

Marcos Almada

Matt Silvers

Mesquite Pit Catering

Metro Restaurants

Metropolitan Tucson Convention & Visitors Bureau

Mexico Norte Publicaciones

Miami Tropical Café

Mike Paul

New Pueblo Communications

Nordstrom Group

Northern Trust Bank

Northwestern Alumni Club

Osco Drug

Our Town Family Center

Outback Steakhouse

Oxford Realty

P.J. Carey

Papa John’s Pizza

Parties Plus

Pima County Sheriff’s Dept.

Pima County Treasurer

Pima Pathologists

Pizza Hut

Pizza Venture

Plunkett’s Office Products

Pro Orthopedic Devices

Pro Sports Chiropractic

Prudential Overall Supply

Radisson Suites Tucson

Rainbow Signs

Randolph Park Hotel

Reed’s Compounding Pharmacy

Residence Inn Marriott

Rhodes Painting

RHS/USH Baseball Support Group

Rincon Market

Roh’s

Ron’s Produce

Rosa’s Magic Want

Ross Barnes

Rubio’s Fresh Mexican Grill

Sabino Baseball Boosters

SER Jobs for Progress

Seven Pipers Society

Sheraton Tucson Hotel

Shipping Depot

Sign Magic

Southern Arizona Ear, Nose

Southwest Shoulder, Elbow

Spectrum Printing

St. Andrews Presbyterian

St. Mary’s Imaging Center

Stanley Steemer of Tucson

Steve LeClair

Super Soak Cleaning Services

Tecate Grill

Technical Data Systems

Territorial Signs

TFFA - 479

Thrifty Car Rental

Toby Martinez

Tohono O’Odham

Tony Diaz

Tony’s New York Deli

TR Medical by Design

Tucson Conquistadores

Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

Tucson Invitational Games

Tucson Media Monitoring

Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce

Tucson Parks Foundation

Tucson Shopper

Tucson Sport Magazine

Tucson/Valley Moving & Storage

Tuller Trophy

UA Foundation

UA Visitor Guide

US Postal Service

Ventana Canyon Golf Club

Walter Query

Westin La Paloma

Yokohama Rice Bowl

Youth Opportunity Movement

Youth Works, Inc.

Contact Roger Yohem at ryohem@azbiz.com. Yohem’s marketing, PR and communications work has won several national awards. His Business Notebook column weighing in on local political, social and business issues appears biweekly.