As Turner Field shuts down, MLB ponders: Is 20 years new stadium life span?

As he exited Major League Baseball in 2014, former commissioner Bud Selig proudly pointed to the 20 new ballparks that opened during his 22-year tenure as a major part of his legacy.

He probably figured they would last quite a bit longer, though.

As one team bids farewell to a stadium only two decades old, another facility in the same age range is on the endangered list and a third one — younger than the other two — could be abandoned as well. At this rate, much of Selig’s ballpark legacy could be obliterated in a matter of years.

That raises concerns that major league cities — which in some cases might have recently finished paying for a stadium or have bond obligations decades into the future — could be faced with having to raise money for a new venue or risk seeing the occupants leave, or at least threaten to.

Though teams typically sign 30-year leases when they move into a ballpark, the increased revenue generated by amenities at state-of-the-art stadiums — plus the cachet of the new toy for the owners — has prompted sports franchises to push for modern facilities sooner than in the past.

“The 20-year time horizon is roughly the average now,” said Roger Noll, a professor emeritus at Stanford University who has studied public policy and sports economics. “Usually at around 20 years teams start threatening to move if they don’t get a new stadium. By the time a new one gets built, it’s usually more like 25 years, but nobody ever stays in the same stadium for the term of their lease anymore.”

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The Atlanta Braves on Tuesday began their final homestand at 20-year-old Turner Field, which opened as Centennial Olympic Stadium for the 1996 Games and was converted into a baseball facility the next year. The Braves are moving to SunTrust Park in suburban Cobb County next season.

The Texas Rangers will learn in November whether voters will approve a referendum to finance a retractable-roof stadium to replace their current home, now known as Globe Life Park, which first saw the light of day during Selig’s second full season as interim commissioner in 1994.

The Arizona Diamondbacks have demanded $187 million in repairs and renovations at Chase Field, which opened in 1998, and said they might look to move elsewhere if they can’t reach a deal with Maricopa County officials.

Commissioner Rob Manfred, who stopped by Arlington, Texas, last week to tout the new ballpark and an adjacent entertainment district that will cost $250 million and be known as Texas Live!, said he doesn’t expect a procession of teams looking to move out of perfectly serviceable facilities.

“Both Atlanta and Texas are unusual situations. I don’t see them as part of a longer trend,” said Manfred, who considers the situation in Phoenix more of a landlord-tenant dispute.

“Obviously, Atlanta was dealing with a retrofitted stadium that wasn’t a baseball facility from the get-go. And here (in Texas), the climate issues have been a problem for a very long time, and different than what you see in most places. I think, in general, baseball facilities will prove to be durable.”

Perhaps, but in an era when amenities and premium seating at modern ballparks can generate $25 million to $50 million a year in revenue, it’s easy for clubs to be lured by their appeal.

“Those are always things you expect to get with a new ballpark,” Rob Matwick, the Rangers’ executive vice president of business operations, said while the club played a night game last week in 94-degree heat. “But the weather is as big a factor here.”

The Rangers have eight years left on their lease at a ballpark that is highly regarded for its architectural style in addition to being the site of the franchise’s only World Series appearances in 2010 and 2011.

There was no indication the Rangers were interested in moving elsewhere, but when word got out that neighboring Dallas could be batting its eyes at them — Mayor Mike Rawlings acknowledged having exploratory talks with a Rangers minority owner — Arlington city officials got busy, fearful of losing the club.

In May, they and the Rangers announced plans for a $1 billion climate-controlled ballpark, with the cost to be split evenly between both parties pending the voters’ approval of using a half-cent sales tax plus hotel and car-rental taxes to pay the public share of construction costs.

Opponents such as Arlington lawyer and CPA Jim Runzheimer say the city is getting a bad deal, insisting the chances of the Rangers leaving their hometown of more than 40 years are negligible.

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“We’re attacking the claim that Dallas is trying to steal the Rangers,” said Runzheimer, who also opposed public funding for the Rangers’ current ballpark some 25 years ago and more recently nearby AT&T Stadium, home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys. “That’s not going to fly. That flew in 1990-91, but it’s not going to fly this time.”

Warren Norred, head of a group called Save our Stadium, calls proposals to repurpose Global Life Park into a retail and office space “a political ploy” to sell the yes vote in the referendum.

But they face an uphill battle considering how popular the Rangers have become as they’ve won the AL West crown four times this decade, including 2015 and this season.

Moreover, Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams says the threat of getting poached was real and he didn’t want to risk losing a team that helped put the city of 380,000 on the map.

“We’re one of only 30 cities that has Major League Baseball,” Williams told USA TODAY Sports. “Then you add being home to the Dallas Cowboys, and then you add Six Flags, a major amusement park. We’re the only one like it in the world, and we like that.

“The Rangers are the essence of our family entertainment. It would be devastating (if they left). As a mayor, I have no replacement for the Texas Rangers and the
21/2 million visitors they bring to our community every year.”

Still, many fans find the current, open-air park more than suitable and retain fond memories from the club's run of success here.

Dave Sheppard, 63, attended two World Series games at Globe Life and "numerous" playoff games. The Tarrant County resident does not live in Arlington but is certain how he'd vote on the stadium referendum.

"It's a beautiful stadium. It's a beautiful place," he said on a recent 91-degree Friday evening. "Kind of the joke in my house is that my wife is supposed to sneak my ashes in her pocket with a hole in it on a Sunday day game because you get to run the bases after the game, so she's supposed to shake the ashes out as she runs the bases.

"I'm definitely not for a new stadium. I wouldn't say I'm against it. But I'm dang sure not for it. I would vote against it if I lived in the city of Arlington. ... Ask me again in 20 years, I might have a different answer for you."

Starting next year, visitors to Braves games — fewer in number the last three seasons as the club tumbled in the standings — will have to redirect their GPS devices some 15 miles north to Cumberland, Ga.

That’s where the Braves are building not only a $675 million stadium but also a $400 million mixed-use development called The Battery Atlanta, which they hope will become a year-round destination and encourage fans to arrive early and stay after games.

The Braves have been gleefully counting down the games until they part ways with Turner Field, about which Atlanta native and outfielder Jeff Francoeur says, “There is no fan experience that sticks out in Turner Field.”

The move to the suburbs comes at a heavy cost to Cobb County taxpayers, who are on the hook for $392 million in funding approved by county commissioners without a public vote after holding secret negotiations with the team.

Noll regards that commitment and the $500 million Arlington might pony up as two of the worst stadium deals for cities in recent years, behind the $750 million Las Vegas is dangling to entice the NFL’s Oakland Raiders to move there.

Still, enthusiasm runs high in Cobb County. At a recent game, three Braves fans who hail from that area happily pondered the notion of having the team so close to home in a matter of months.

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“The new stadium is why I bought a season ticket,” said Steve Howell, a financial adviser.

Asked about the cost to taxpayers, he said with a shrug, “They are going to get you one way or another.”

The Rangers are sharing the cost of Texas Live! with the developer, the Cordish Companies, and see the project — which will include a 300-room hotel — and the new ballpark as a way to expand the use of their facilities. They have an example of such a business model next door in AT&T Stadium, which hosted more than 120 events last year.

A climate-controlled ballpark also would enhance the Rangers’ chances of hosting prime events such as the All-Star Game and the World Baseball Classic finals.

“It’s a game-changer for us. It makes us functional 365 days a year,” Matwick said. “The dynamics of our game have changed now, to where these venues are more than just a baseball stadium.”

And ideally would last longer than a couple decades.

Ortiz reported from Arlington, Texas. Glier reported from Atlanta. Contributing: Mike Coppinger in Arlington.

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