Arizona Tribe May Give Up on Spring Plans for Dodgers

The Fort McDowell Indian Community may decide to abandon its proposed $50-million spring training home for the Dodgers if the cost cannot be shared with the county, state or team.

“Without financial participation from other sources, this deal may not work,” tribal attorney Edward Roybal said Thursday.

The training complex would be built northeast of Phoenix, on the reservation of the Yavapai tribe. At a meeting Thursday, tribal council members learned no money had been secured from outside sources.

The tribe, which generates an estimated $150 million per year from its casino, had planned to finance the project with a combination of casino profits and bank loans, recovering some of the money with Maricopa County revenues reserved for the construction of spring training facilities. However, that money is not expected to be available until 2017 and is not guaranteed in any case.

With the majority of casino profits earmarked for housing, schools, health care and other fundamental needs of tribal members, the council may not wish to redirect large amounts of those revenues for construction of the training complex.

“There’s a misconception the tribe has an endless pot of gold,” Roybal said. “That’s not part of the reality.”

The Dodgers expect to learn within weeks whether Vero Beach, Fla., can assemble a $20-million package of city, county and state money to buy Dodgertown from the team and renovate that complex. The Dodgers have trained in Vero Beach for 51 years.