Welcome Back, D-backs Fans: Chase Field Is Both the Best and Worst in Baseball

The future of Chase Field is shakier than the rattler on the tail end of a diamondback snake.

The downtown Phoenix superstructure has become a landmark over the past 25 years. Now it's playing host to another Major League Baseball season — the Arizona Diamondbacks are playing rival the Los Angeles Dodgers over the weekend in their first homestand — while also offering blockbuster concerts by music legends throughout year.

But even with a booked calendar, the future of the building is uncertain as it comes under fire for being one of pro baseball's lousiest venues. And with the D-backs’ lease on Chase Field ending in 2027, there’s talk of setting up new digs elsewhere.

Let’s cut to the chase — the Diamondbacks’ home has some flaws. As the fourth-oldest ballpark in the league, it routinely ranks among the five worst of 30 MLB venues.

Rattled Snakes

For fans who remember the stadium's glory days, the attitude has gone from, "Take me out to the ballgame!" to "Put me out of my misery!"

Chase Field had a promising start. It was the first MLB stadium with a retractable roof in the U.S. and saw the fastest new expansion team to ever win a World Series when the D-backs won in 2001 in just their fourth season.

But since then, things have gone downhill. That retractable roof is in need of repairs and can only be opened or shut when the stadium is empty due to a broken pulley. The roof leaks, a phenomenon that soaked some fans at the World Baseball Classic in March.

"We have continued with our routine roof inspections with plans to address the roof issues in the off-season," Jaci Brown, the D-backs senior vice president of communications, told Phoenix New Times. "When there is wind blowing in a certain angle with heavy rain, it can push the rain into the ballpark through the spacing between the panels. This is part of the roof design and is not necessarily a repair issue."

Still, there have been grease fires in the kitchen, burst pipes, faulty scoreboard lights, and other problems at Chase Field in recent years. In 2019, the franchise swapped the field's parched natural grass playing surface for synthetic turf.

Recent rankings from USA Today and Sportsnaut place Chase Field at No. 27, or fourth worst, in pro baseball. Sports Illustrated ranked it a little higher at No. 25, noting that “the stadium just ends up feeling empty.” Despite being one of the largest stadiums in MLB, Chase Field was among the bottom 10 in attendance last season, according to ESPN.

The atmosphere for fans isn't helped by the lack of natural light in the stadium when the roof is closed. It can feel like a yawning airplane hangar.

‘Pretty Major Renovations’

A quarter-century ago, the Diamondbacks and Maricopa County spent $364 million to build the cavernous 48,519-seat stadium downtown. But the D-backs’ relationship with the county has become, well, complicated.

In 2016, Diamondbacks leaders threatened to sue the county after it refused to collect $187 million from taxpayers to bankroll renovations at Chase Field. Since then, Arizona passed a law allowing for a 9 percent sales tax surcharge to help with stadium upgrades, but team executives are still mulling the tax option.

At a press conference in February, Diamondbacks CEO Derrick Hall said it would now take as much as $500 million to renovate the stadium — more than it cost to build. But a new venue elsewhere in Maricopa County would cost $1 billion to build, he said. Hall indicated he was prepared to pony up the paper for upgrades if the team decided to stay put.

Fans are hopeful that the stadium undergoes renovations.

“I fully believe the team is going to invest in some pretty major renovations at Chase Field,” Phoenix resident and D-backs fanatic Todd Williams told New Times. “They’re pulling in massive concerts. Hall has referenced the Wrigley Field renovations in several interviews.”

Between 2014 and 2019, Chicago Cubs owners invested $500 million in renovations at Wrigley Field. It was the most expensive MLB renovation to date. Will the D-backs do the same? Fans hope so.

“Downtown Phoenix has drastically improved, too, so Chase Field’s location is prime now,” Williams said.

The team will decide in the next two months whether to stay at Chase Field or search for a new home. Next door to the field sits the two-story Caesars Sportsbook. A spokesperson for Caesars Entertainment declined to discuss the venue's future if the team relocates.

Bargain Baseball

Despite the uncertain future of Chase Field, there are some new things to look forward to in 2023. The stadium built additional premium seating during the offseason and rolled out new specialty foods, including footlong Sonoran hot dogs — a cherished local favorite — and a baseball helmet full of carnitas nachos.

This season, the D-backs offer the cheapest fan experience in all of Major League Baseball, according to NBC Sports. Its fan cost index — the total cost of taking a family of four to a sporting event — is $152.30. This means that fans in Phoenix will save more than $100 per game compared with the league average and more than $200 compared with fans in Chicago, Boston, and Houston.

Chase Field grills the cheapest frank — just $2 per hot dog — in any major league ballpark. And ticket prices are the lowest in the land at $22 a pop, according to a recent study by the sports gambling clearinghouse Play MA.

Oh, and if you want to watch a baseball game in the glittering swimming pool and spa in right-centerfield, that suite can accommodate up to 35 people. Despite its cost — suites at Chase Field range in price from $2,500 to $8,000 — it's often a sellout.

The D-backs are projected to finish third in the National League West with a losing record and have less than a 1 percent chance to win the World Series this year, according to oddsmakers in Las Vegas.

But hey, anything is possible. At least we have a swimming pool.