Is it time for Coachella Valley to build a 30,000-seat domed stadium for baseball?
OK, let’s build a stadium now.
Yep, right here in the Coachella Valley!
How about a sparkling, beautiful 30,000-seat domed stadium?
Why not?
We built a world-class hospital back in ’68, a beautiful performing Arts Center in ’88 and a highly successful indoor Acrisure Arena just a few years ago.
Think of the possibilities.
A professional minor league baseball team that would play 70-75 home games a year.
Three game in-season series with the Angels, Padres and/or Dodgers.
Spring training games.
NCAA college baseball playoffs.
CIF high school playoffs.
Conventions.
And, of course, concerts. More concerts. Bigger than Acrisure Arena (11,000 capacity) and much bigger than the McCallum (1,200).
It would have a nice economic impact, offer hundreds of part-time jobs for our retired folks and give us another team (besides the Firebirds) to root for.
We’ll need a steering committee headed by powerful charitable men and women who make their home here in the Valley.
Then we’ll need money. Gobs of money. But if we can build the Eisenhower Medical Center, the McCallum Center for the Performing Arts and Acrisure Arena, surely we can build a to-be-named Stadium.
Who’s in?
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At a time when prominent coaches of a certain age – let’s say 70+ – are leaving their jobs, voluntarily or not, our beloved Angels are bucking the trend by hiring 71-year-old Ron Washington to manage their team that is flooded with young players. He will be the oldest manager in the majors this season.
So while Nick Saban (72), Pete Carroll (72) and Bill Belichick (71) play golf or go deep sea fishing – Ron Washington will be running sliding drills in Arizona.
This makes sense to somebody I guess.
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College football has become the ultimate free-agent market. With coaches freely moving from one job to another, players are following.
Part of the reason Saban is walking away from Alabama (where he has won six national titles) is the changing landscape of college football.
Because of the transfer portal which allows a player to leave at any time for any reason, coaches not only have to recruit a player to come to their school, but they have to recruit them to STAY. Annually.
To further complicate the recruitment process, the NIL (Names, Images, Likeness) allows players to receive (outside) compensation from a company that happens to be owned by a big fan of the school.
Example: A highly recruited quarterback we’ll call him Joe Smith, commits to Tech, but after awhile Joe realizes he’s not going to be the starter. He considers other schools. State U has an opening at quarterback. State U also has a booster who owns Company ABC and offers to hire Joe to endorse ABC. Joe says bye to Tech, hello to State U…and ABC.
Now, back to that new stadium…
Pete Donovan is a Palm Desert resident and former Los Angeles Times sports reporter. He can be reached at pwdonovan22@yahoo.com
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Is it time for Coachella Valley to build a 30,000-seat domed stadium for baseball?
