Building a baseball stadium in downtown Fresno is one of the smartest things this city has ever done. Where before there was a rundown hotel and blighted buildings in a part of town few would ever go (and for the same cost of building a parking structure) we now have an outstanding minor league ballpark with a professional baseball team that only 30 cities in America can have.
Do the people of Fresno like this stadium and its professional baseball tenant? Five-hundred-thousand people come downtown every season to watch a game. In the 12 years since the Grizzlies have been in Fresno, more than 5 million people have seen the Grizzlies play.
The answer to that question is clearly yes.
Has there been a return on this investment? You bet there has. There has been significant economic growth in downtown, increases in property values (and tax revenues), hundreds of new jobs and family-oriented entertainment that is building special memories between parents and their children.
In 2000, the City Council showed some leadership and approved a lease that provided for the agreement needed to allow the stadium to go forward.
This lease agreement was unusual in several ways. Most unusual of all was that it called for an annual lease payment of $1.5 million by the tenant. This was far in excess of any other agreement in minor league baseball (the next highest rent is only about $375,000) but that is what was needed at the time to get the City Council to go along. One has to give the original Grizzlies owners credit for agreeing to those terms to try to make it work.
For a number of years, the team -- under new ownership since 2005 -- managed to get by, but because of this excessive rent and with a challenging economy, it has become unsustainable.
Like any business would do in tough times, they are looking for some relief from their landlord in the form of a reduced rent payment. When there are few alternatives, a smart landlord is generally willing to work with a tenant rather than lose them.
To its credit, the city is negotiating a new lease, looking for one that will allow its tenant to succeed for the long haul.
As to be expected during any process such as this, there are comments made by detractors that need to be addressed.
One of the most common is that a rent reduction is somehow a "taxpayer subsidy." Nonsense. In this case, a rent reduction is nothing more than an adjustment to charge the market rate for the property. If you are able to negotiate a reduced rent for your home, apartment or business, is that a subsidy? Charging rent at the market rate is not a subsidy.
Another issue is that there is another owner group or team that would take over the lease if the Grizzlies leave. Given that the current owners of the Grizzlies are considered one of the most efficiently run teams in baseball and the current rent is four times more than the next highest, do you really think anyone would be interested?
The most hilarious argument is that somehow if the Grizzlies ownership leaves, the city should take over operation of the team. How can anyone imagine that our city government can run a professional sports franchise well? I'd like to see them get good at fixing sidewalks first.
Some even say that the Grizzlies should just be allowed to fail and be done with it. An empty stadium would be a disaster financially for the city and would devastate downtown revitalization for decades.
Whether you like it or not the reality is pretty simple. The current owners of the Grizzlies are the only ones the city has to work with to find a new lease payment level that provides a reasonable level of rent while providing for a financially healthy tenant.
That is a win-win and will allow the hundreds of thousands of people throughout our Valley who come to downtown Fresno every year to continue to enjoy a quality of entertainment not found in too many places.
More importantly, it will provide for the continued economic development opportunity of our downtown area.
The leaders of our city should be commended for their efforts to resolve this and the Grizzlies owners should be applauded for their positive efforts to inform the public of the facts regarding their situation. That is teamwork.
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