Amended bill to help fund Chase Field repairs advances through the legislature
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — The Arizona Diamondbacks are back at Chase Field, on the quest for the franchise’s second-ever World Series title. As the team took to the field for a spring training game against the Cleveland Guardians on Monday, the battle over a bill to fund stadium repairs continued a few miles away at the state capital.
HB 2704 passed the house last month and was in front of the Senate Finance Committee on Monday where it narrowly passed.
“We don’t want to go anywhere. I don’t see why the city would want us to go anywhere. We make a huge impact throughout the city and state. It benefits everyone to have the team here,” said Diamondbacks Legend Luis Gonzalez.
Four amendments were voted on during Monday’s hearing, one of which passed. The amendment, introduced by Sen. J.D. Mesnard, would set a cap on public contributions at $500 million, increase the county share of contributions to equal the city of Phoenix, remove the diversion of income tax to the stadium district, and further define adjacent building so that the D-Backs can only move their team shop outside the stadium, but still within the footprint of the stadium.
“We want the Diamondbacks to stay,” says Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego. “We can find a fiscally responsible way to do this.”
The mayor’s office says there are still concerns over the bill, which at this point does not include an annual cap and no enforceable way to make sure the Diamondbacks put $250 million into renovations, which the team has publicly pledged to do.
“This bill will cost the taxpayers $1 billion even as amended. And the D-Backs won’t be paying half. In fact, they’re not required to pay a single dollar, and that, my friends, is a boondoggle,” she said during the hearing.
Lauren Lundbeck came to Monday’s spring training game and said the stadium does need repair work but would hate to see the team leave Arizona because of that.
“I think it could be divided up pretty differently, it could go to different places, but I think supporting the Diamondbacks would be good for the city,” she said.
The bill now moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee before going to the full Senate and back to the House with amendments. The Diamondbacks' current lease runs through the 2027 season.
See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.
Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.
Copyright 2025 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.
