Could Diamondbacks be next to move from relatively new stadium?

It appears another ballpark from the great stadium boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s could be headed to retirement by the end of the decade.

Arizona Diamondbacks officials recently spoke to the media about the future of Chase Field as the team’s lease is set to expire in 2027. Arizona's retractable-roof stadium opened in downtown Phoenix in 1998 and has been the team’s home since.

“It’s a pretty complex issue for us because we’re county-owned, yet we try and work alongside the city, the state, it’s got to be a partnership,” team president and CEO Derrick Hall said, according to ArizonaSports. “If we’re gonna stay downtown, we’re willing to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in the ballpark."

Team officials, however, said they are exploring options inside and outside the Phoenix area. 

If the Diamondbacks leave Chase Field, they would join the Texas Rangers and Atlanta Braves in finding new homes although their previous stadiums were built in the 1990s.

Under Bud Selig, who served as MLB commissioner from 1998-2015, 20 new stadiums were built during a stadium building boom in the 1990s and 2000s. It was an effort to replace many of the older stadiums in MLB.

The oldest MLB stadiums are Fenway Park (built in 1912) and Wrigley Field (1914).

Taxpayers often foot huge bills to build stadiums. The Texas Rangers' Globe Life Field, MLB's newest stadium, cost $1.2 billion, with $500 million of that paid for by taxpayers, per Texas Monthly. 

But the economic payoff for sports stadiums apparently is negligible, if any.

Per a study by the Center for Public Policy & Administration at the University of Utah, "The academic literature on the economic benefits of sports stadiums concludes that there is no economic growth associated with professional sports franchises and stadiums."

As state and municipal budgets get stretched, perhaps rather than funding new stadiums, cities should sit the game out.