This is I on the Ball with Steve Rovera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty powered by Nova Insurance Services. In sure your most prized possessionets.
Hey, good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to I on the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera and with me today is Blake Eager. Although he's not in yet. I have to make him run on some laps because he's a little late. If you're five minutes late, you're ten minutes late because you're late, no matter what. So actually I just got text he's on this way right now. Welcome everybody. It's a Wednesday show. We should be good. Blake is one of my better guests here, my co
hosts here on a Wednesday. Uh, we have some pretty good guests coming here in the next two hours. Again, if you'd like to call us, the open line is five two O four one six seven four four zero. I will take your call. Got to call us.
I'm ready for you.
I'm handling the board today, so who knows what will happen. But in the first hour we're gonna have Victor Quevas, he's the owner of the new team coming in from Mexico.
Tucson's baseball team.
And then at four seventeen, we're gonna have Oli Farhang, one of the another's radio guy in the mornings, and the co owner of the Sugars calls and an attorney blah blah blah, look at you, dapper up?
Where'd you go a wedding?
No?
I at the press conference court deposition, Anthony Jimino told me to tell you hi. Oh did he Yeah? I don't think he really meant it. I think he meant it in his own way.
Like my colleague got my one of my books. Yeah, well, well you're way over just for a baseball press conference. I don't think it's baseball. Yeah, I know, what are you trying to impress?
Listen? I I wore uniform long and if I can wear a suit col and wear ties in this town, I'd like to get right. We're Vince subs to go to Kings.
Uh.
Yeah. You how many people wore suits today?
Uh?
Probably eight to ten. I mean there's a lot of county officials there. You know, it's one hundred and ten. I did not know is it really outside? How much is in that suit? About one hundred? Yeah, there was pretty sweaty in there for a little while there. How did that go? It went great? It went great? Yeah, really well done. Well attended, really well attended. Yeah really? Was it bilingual?
Uh?
A portion of it was, but it was mostly in English. Okay, no, cool, We are two sons. We are two son Yeah, looking forward to talking to Vitoria. Yes, he is the main guy, right, he's the owner of the tu Song baseball team.
Okay, cool? Cool, And I'll just dive into it. How long did it last? And then how long did it last? And we're the questions about you know, Hawaii Tucson.
Oh was that not a lot? Yeah? It was a was pretty much discussed of why Tucson right the market here. I mean one of the things that I hit on. I don't think people realize. You know, you and I've had this conversation you and you know the history, but as a two soon and I think it gets lost.
You know, people laugh at me when I say Tucson was one of the greatest baseball cities in the world and at one point, and the reason the argument that I make is that we had Big League streme, you know, Major League spring training, had Triple A baseball, We had an Arizona Fall League team and the have a Lina's and we were the home for USA Baseball. There's not a lot of cities, you know, in the world that can say they have all for those things.
That's true, that's true. The thing about it, I don't want to poo poo.
No, go ahead, they all came and left. I mean, yeah, you can you obviously I've been.
Dating for supermodels. Guess what I'm not anymore.
Because they left me. Well maybe they can't cook, right, No, that's on my end. That's fun. But you know what I'm saying, not meaning that all women have to cook by I mean you mentioned learn how to cook with me, yes, yeah, but with you I was being specific. Yeah, so, but but getting to the point is that, yes they did leave, if you're absolutely right, But we have an opportunity. You've got to find that you got to find that magic.
We got to find that magic. Yeah, what is that? Right? Exactly? Yeah, exactly. So now we have a team in the Tucson Baseball team that plays in the Winner League, which is the third largest league in the world behind Major League Baseball, Knee Pon League, and then it's them, right, and we have the opportunity to support it during a time of year where it's not one hundred and ten degrees outside.
It's a great time of year, it's exciting. It goes along with all our other amazing professional sports during that time.
So you'll you'll help me with the questions, obviously, but let me ask you real quick.
I did.
I'm going to read of your story again, but what level is this? What level is this in the in the level that I would understand and anybody would understand.
I would say four A, right, So it's a step above Triple A maybe a step right? Yeah, I mean you've got big leaguers all over the place in Winner League.
Oh okay, So okay, so it's for a between Major League and Triple A.
Yeah? Oh really? Yeah. So it's good baseball. Oh, it's great baseball. Yeah okay. And you get the chance to play in the career in World Series, you know, okay.
Okay, and your hope having put on the World Baseball Council Classic, so the Classic, Yeah that's okay. You're hoping that survives, obviously, but.
I'm hoping it thrives. We don't want to talk about survival, okay, No, that's a better word. That's a better word.
I don't want to say how or whatever, because you're you're you're on this capacity, you're not the owner. Give me two reasons why it can't or how it can.
That's a really good question. I think the easy answer is time of year. I think our history as a professional sports city is going to always be connected to baseball. Our history as athletes playing at the next level, at the highest level is always going to be baseball. Baseball is in our blood, it's in our DNA. We understand as a community what we lost, and as a community, I think we need to understand that we don't want to lose it again.
Yeah, okay, so we understand that. Now you have to sell that to the people who buy the tickets. Mm hm, Which, of course is that's the cell right, Yeah, it was at University of Roosevela's athletics has the same issue.
Yeah. I just we talked to Desire yesterday. I talked to yesterday really and what was that secret conversation?
Was that A?
Is that she presented A Yeah? She presented Uh no, I mean she was very open and honest about that. You know, we need to figure out a way to support the football team, right, whether they win or lose. And that's that. That from an international national standpoint, that means a lot, and I think it means the same thing for us. So you don't have to be a sports fan like this is. The Mexican winner League is a party. It's an environment. You want to go there.
It doesn't really matter what's going on the field. It's an experience that you want to go back to, and I think we lack that in traditional baseball at times. True. Uh, so we have something completely different.
Is it going to be like the Mexican Baseball League the Fiesta.
Yeah, it's it's going to be very much dance, Yeah, fun, not not to the extremes as a fiesta, but it's going to incorporate all those Oh okay, so yeah, no, come on. When I first saw this, I'm thinking they do this at baseball games. Yeah, you're gonna have a time. You're gonna have cheerleaders, you're gonna have concerts going on, you're gonna have mascots all over the place. Okay, yeah, I mean they're engaging in the community. The community is
gonna pick their name the following season. What it's gonna be for the long term. I saw that. I think it's a great way to start.
Okay, okay, So now you're in conversations with Deesree. You don't have to tell me yes or no. But I'm assuming that you're fighting for the same dollar kind of at the same time of year.
I know two different audiences. I know that. I know that.
But if I only have ten dollars in my pocket twenty dollars in my pocket.
You're gonna ask me which one I would choose.
As you're asking individuals like me, you say, well, you don't come to the game, the football game, you'll have a good time. And someone else is saying, come to the baseball games, you're gonna have a good time. I only have twenty bucks.
Yeah. You know what's great about that, Steve, is that we have a million and a half people in our county. We're fighting for a very low percentage of those people come to a game on a regular basis. And in our surrounding two counties and co chief Santa Cruz and even Panal, you're looking at another million people right or close to with Northern Mexico and Sonora involved. Uh So, let's say two million in an hour drive to to Keino Stadium. I'm fairly confident that we should be able
to average four to six thousand fans a game. What's for the Winter League. What's the schedule? Thirty four games? I believe home games. Okay, that's that's feasible. Oh yeah, it's not. It's a short season. It's great, you know, great time of year. It's essentially you know, October to December, knock it out. We get a chance. Yeah, you go January for playoffs. So it's not a hugely No, you're not hugely competing with our other like the road Runners.
You have a football You're you're not trying to compete against those You're trying to uplift them. And you're you're joining two communities, right. I think one community feels like they're not being seen by by another sports program, and maybe that community is not being seen by that sports care. We need to merge those two. It's it's a it's a Southern Arizona, it's a Tucson community. We want to have the efforts to be successful.
Well, today Arizona released a uh study, but there their plans.
On their plan. Yeah, they went over that yesterday.
Yeah, which is a very cool, extensive way to repaint the house.
Yeah, pretty much.
I mean you're reinventing the wheel, which, of course the wheel always works. You just got to make sure that wheel works. Yeah, And I mean you're gonna have to you know this better than anybody. Juve was in a position where they had to figure out how to pivot and pivot quickly and and not try to bleed out right, And I think what they've been able to accomplish in a short time frame is pretty impressive. You're talking about
the I am big, the big Nope, no question. I don't even know what to say, because it's yeah, no question. They're down to six billionpeeah done, yes, five or something like that, and hope to be even next year.
Yes. I don't know how many people can run in a two million, two two hundred and fifty million dollars death sent in three years break even.
Very impressive, and they've they found a way and they've done the congratulations. Uh, the new ad desreally has done a fantastic job. Now they have to move forward, and which is kind of that thing there. They've stopped this this bleeding. Now they're going to move forward with great expectations and this great plan. Everybody has one, right, everybody's every school. If you don't have one, shame on you because you're going to get left line. Yeah, we'll see what happens.
Part of the problem or solution is wins the game. It absolutely and I think she understands I think everybody understands it. Right. How are you going to go about that? How We've talked about that, you know, and Naseum on this on the show about how do you do that in the market. You're in competing against schools in the SEC or the Big ten. You're going to have to get creative to some appoint Yeah, but it was great to hear her say yesterday that they're not looking at
cutting corners from a cost standpoint. Right now that you have you know, the House bill passed. It's what twenty and a half million or twenty one million cap for all schools. There's no real true competitive badge to a degree, But they're going to spend it all. I mean that's what she said. She said, we're in it, we know this is what we're here for. That's funny. You're going to spend it all, But first you have to get it, Yeah, to get it first.
Right, to me, that's an unbelievable task because you don't just get it in a one time deal.
And so every year, every year, you're knocking phone calls.
Cold world. I don't know if you're you're a little in that world. I'm not in that world. But how would you come up with twenty one million every year?
Yeah? Every year from the people that you go to all the time. People much smarter than me are figuring that out, hopefully, because if it was me, i'd go little knocking selling candy bars. Yeah, yeah, we got we got somebody uh in the next band coming up? Though, Hey listen, I said this before, and I reached out to my buddy. Yeah, I think something fell on the floor because I'm gonna drop Gabe Sullivan, who's in Chicha and he's a lead guitarist right now for Modern English.
I talked to him about utilizing airson a football stadium for concerts, right. I mean that's yeah, you put that in the conversation. Used to be Yea. You had Rolling Stones I think played there, you had Fleetwood Mac played there. I mean jay Z, Kanye mind, I shouldn't say Kanye on there. But yeah, they all played in that stadium. Why, I mean, if we're looking for activation of funds as a community, I want to go. I don't want to.
We just drove to Phoenix on Monday night to see the Pixies, right, I don't want to make that drive if I don't have to. But why if it's in our backyard, I'm going to it. No, the coast perspective makes sense. Yeah, I know you're You're exactly right, which, of course I'm sure they thought of.
But oh, we don't want to know. Guess what you got to come up with money? You gotta figure it out. Hey, I'm selling blood after this.
And I you know, I had this conversation yesterday with Ali and I'll maybe I'll ask me to give mee on what do you think? How can I have word this in a you want me to ask you the question? I want you to answer this question. Okay, So we we have problems that arise all over the place. Right, who's the week our community? Okay, Right, let's let's talk
about ours. Let's just talk about Southern Arizona. I don't think we do the best job in the world of looking at other communities with similar problems that have better solutions. Why do you think that is good question? That's a great question. I mean if we step back and we say, okay, we have a problem. We have Google now, which is a great thing. You can look at who has a similar problem. What are they doing? And maybe it's not we're not copying them exactly because it's a different environment,
but it's going to be in though. That's a great, great question.
First, the first thing I'd say is ego, because you're not going to let that other places have smarter people than you. One two, Look at El Paso, just look at Albuquerque, Albuque. Let me tell you you're spot on. I'm from that area, right and every time I go home, I'm thinking, why can't Arizon, Tuston do this?
Why can't do that?
And people here are so provincial that they don't they we're better than Albuquerque, We're I got to know, like a like a full blown argument with a guy from l Pass one time, because he was telling me l Passes better than do something.
I was like, you're out of your mind. But then when you step back, like you're saying right now not doing I didn't mean to cut you ask to you, but you're right, what the hell? Yeah, you know, how did this work? How did this happen? Right right? Right?
Oh?
I with you.
They have a very good, well attended soccer program. Ye a triple A baseball That's that's constantly unbelievable, And I'm.
Thinking, why not touson and they've had it forever here.
Yeah, I'm sure the heat has a lot to play with it, but l pass on two center in the same conversations Heat, You are right, so we'll ask him to get some sit Yes, yeah, we got to go because we're going to talk to Victor Quevas. Yes, Victor where he is the owner of Tucson baseball team who sell baseball team which will have a name at some point in the.
Few following season. Yeah, okay, we'll come back.
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N notice Steve Rivera, he's got his eye on the ball on Tucson sports station, Fox Sports fourteen fIF day.
Hey, welcome back to you in the ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera. You're Blake Dieger. Now on the phone, we have Victor Aquamas with the new Tucson baseball team.
How are you, Victor?
Hi? How are you hose? Everybody?
Well?
Welcome, welcome, Hey. I think you're doing a great favorite to Tucson. I hope they do a great favor back and enjoy your baseball team here in the fall.
We're looking forward to it and like you say, aspecting to get the favorite back. We're excited. We're excited. We're excited not to be back fable to Tucson and not just say it both, but just up caliber baseball. So I think I think the city is hungry for it, and I think will go real good.
So I was telling Victor, I was telling Steve earlier about the event last night that you guys put on at the carriage House. How unbelievable was the turnout that you guys had and then the unbelievable press conference this morning that you put on and all the people that came out, and I think you hit the nail on the head. Tucson is excited, Southern Arizona's excited for this,
We are hungry for this. What are your you know, you answered this question this morning, but I want everybody to hear at what are your expectations the first year, well my first year.
The friger of the team could be that the city embraced it. I mean, we have a good and really good h impact in the Latin Latin community because they know our baseball and uh they've been to add Kinot to see what we have every September. But the real goal is to have all tu soon getting get behind it. You know, all the whole community get behind it. And I think the level of uh the level of show that we're gonna present it to help. I'm just asking everybody just to show up to the sport by the
season tickets. We need to get behind this because in the past, uh, it's been tried. You know, baseball in Tucson has been tried and failed for whatever reason. But the difference this time around is that This team is for Tucson, people of Tucson. We're not moving, We're probing to say, uh, forever here. If the people embrace it, will be here. So I think I think, uh, the timing EXPERI sect right now that that's that's that's why
the league got behind this project. And all the owners and all the teams are excited and and shoin their support, and I think it will be a good thing to do.
Well, you're talking fifteen years, right, we haven't had a baseball at this level since then, and you're hungry for it, right, no doubt about that. How did how did the WBC that the Bleak was a big part of, and then the Mexican Baseball League, how did the Fiesta? I'm sorry, how did that play a part?
Well, we've been coming to the Fiesta for all those you know, thirteen fourteen years in the past, and and we've seen how that event has grown and the target you know, the target market that it caters to. And uh, well I was starting to move from our city because you know, I mean, the the Legion just got too big for us. We needed to make a move, and to Song was always on the map.
Uh.
We were looking for a million plus uh you know, population city and tuision, you know, scratch that box. We were we were looking, uh for a city that knows baseball and no one knows, uh what's all about. And you know, again took some scratch that box. Uh and uh we played, I mean we played writing that zone. I mean, uh, more than half of the teams didn't. I didn't ride the bus to do so, you know, they're not that far away, and so I mean it was like, uh, you know, it was like almost like
the perfect mark. The way I see it, it's that I had, I had a franchise to move and there was a baseball town without a franchise, So that's like a match made in heaven. And then uh, I had the fortune of medium play and a bunch of people, you know, Sala and Edgar and Felipe Asia for visit Tucson,
and then I pitched the Pride to them. They loved it, and then we took it to the next level and then they we sat down with the county people, so everybody got excited, everybody got behind it, and we've been working lass off for the last ten months and finally finally we're here.
Fantastic Yeah, a big difference to Victor. You know this obviously because it's you. But Victor and his family are in Tucson, right They're not in another community that owns a team here or they're commuting. They live here. They're here for the long haul. They care not only that the team is successful, but what happens to Tucson. And I think that's really important because that's a true twoson in right. We we care about our communities. You have a big stake in it. Victor is a huge stake
in it of everything that's happening right now. So Victor, will you talk to everybody right now listening and uh, and line us what if we want to buy season tickets? Where do we go?
Well, we have also we have our social mineral right now, you go into into the I mean it's it's to some maid who team and if directly, it will directly exactly to where you need to buy those online. And one thing that I don't I don't want to forget, and I need to say this lake is important.
Uh.
People need to know that this team it's it's not an expansion team, it's a real team. We have history that's been really successful so we're in it. Uh, the first year we'll be contending for a championship. That is important to people to know. It's not apployee for three, three, four, five years. You know, we're we're not rebuilding, not anything. We are a really contender. So you know, that's that's important import for people to know.
So, So, Victor, we're in mid June right now, you have a four or five months before you start the season. What's the next step to get to that point?
Well, me and my team we're we're working on selling sponsorships. You know, we're working activity here right now through the league because all the games in one hundred percent of the games will be seen in Mexico. So we want the same the same kind of response that when the team travels to Mexico that everybody to so can be able to watch it on TV. We're working that deal right now. But sports wise, the first week of September, I think it was Depleber of fifth, we open our
training camp. We we usually do that for six weeks and we get the team here. Uh, we start you know, our working program and then asses starts our first game in here in Tuton. It will be October sixteen, So we open it in a region game against Ermoso and then we have a series hit at Hometool that weekend against Cremasia too, So that's the next step.
Okay, so you got four months now, you know, six months here, ten months, yes, so you're going to be up against this, So a lot of real busy work and I'm sure you've already started the plans up until this point to get it done.
Okay, No, it sounds good, Victor.
We have a lot of work ahead, Victor.
And one thing that's really important I think for the community to know too, is that you guys are going to do a lot of the youth to the kids outreach, put on clinics, have the players go around so there's meet and greets all over southern Arizona, and continually build that so you build a fan base kind of like what the Roadrunners are doing in the hockey world. You guys are going to do the same thing in the baseball community. When do you plan on starting to do that?
Are you gonna plan on doing that this fall or are you planning on after the season.
No, no, no, we're plan doing it this I mean right away. We need to embrace our kids. Uh, with the players. We need to take advantage of that player's been here and we're gonna we're gonna do the outreach, you know, to the all of the little leagues that are active right now in Tucson. We're gonna talk to everybody. We're gonna work out a schedule, and we're gonna work out a program, and we want to start right now. We value we really value uh, the kids. I mean
that's the first for us. We needed, we really need to get involved with that, and we'll do it for this fall.
Yeah, no question.
Let let me ask you from the beginning, So where were you sitting? Were you in Tucson since Blake says you're here, or were you in Mexico sitting somewhere in your in your office and hm hmm, how can I make this work?
Or what did this first idea come up?
Well, we were we were a team playing in the Mexican Pacific League and in so we started we started, you know, we started struggling. We're getting fans in in the stadium. Uh. It was uh, we have the smallest league in the city, I mean with the smallest city in the league. Sorry, and then uh, so I had to do something. We had to move to Fine Chat and it was growing, growing, growing exponentially. We couldn't keep up with it in in our town. Uh, so we
had to move. And me having a lot of connection with two sons, and I've been coming here back and forths when I was a kid, you know, with my dad and my family and and so I had a really connection with two sons. I loved to and growing up, I saw the toros and I saw the sidewiners, and me being a baseball guy, my family is in baseball. You know, my dad now me now my son helped me a lot. So I mean to me, to me, it was natural. I mean it was we was a
no brainer. Uh, there's there were some challenges of course, you know it's another country. There's a border between us. So uh, when we when we figure out and then we I mean the Mexican babel fists helped because we did that every year. So you know, one thing that to another one and then here we are.
So so you're still fresh right today is the press conmers. But people have known for a while a month or two, because you know, started to leak out and some media people have already talked to you, So do you already have some people who have bought season tickets? Has the progress or the thing already started?
We started today and the response was being unbelievable. And yes, we started, we started, but I mean.
Me, I'm pointing to Blake because yeah, everything's going on today. So today is the first official day, first official day for Victor. Okay, yeah, okay, So how did today go? You must have been with seeing some people in the room having to answer the questions. I'm sure people have more questions than answers. How was that?
Well? I think I told you the truth. I thought there were going to be more questions of the Actually where I think, I think the Best Conference went really well. We explained really well everything, and after that we had one on one with media and you know, more than more than just questions, you know that, So we had one on one that went well too. And after that, I mean, the commissioner of our league is here, he
was a president of the Best Conference. So I mean we just left, had a quick lunch and actually we're together right now because we have a lot of things on on our schedule and you know, we're working the agenda.
So let me say this because I've been in the media for almost forty years now a lot of things, and I think Blake could agree with me. You can, you don't have to Blake. But Tucson has a very friendly media. They want you to succeed. They're dying for you to succeed because we get to cover things right.
Uh. And it's if it's gonna be good baseball, they're gonna be there. Okay, So that's good thing.
It's a positive thing you'll have. You'll have a big alley in the media in Tucson because they do the same thing for Arizona, do the things for other people.
Yeah, I mean, and and the media it's crucial. I mean it's crocial that media gets behind these because well will be known through them. So so the media will have h I mean, we respected a lot and we will always attend to them because I know that Valuo, we know that video when they can bring to the table exactly. You know you're right.
Okay, So we got to go. But let me ask you.
Okay, so now you're today's first official day, You're you're gonna be busy.
For a while.
Now, what's the first and most important thing you need to get done here.
Dog heading sponsors. That's the first we need to We need to hit that casulation and st start ringing. You know, money just been going out and I would need money.
To be coming in.
And where can they find if Steve Rivera wants to buy a ticket season ticket?
Where do I go? How do I find it?
There's some Bathe team dot net. Okay, there's some Bathel team dot net. And you'll be elected right there.
Yeah, okay, okay, no, fantastic, Victor, appreciate you, good luck. We'll see you soon, probably have you on again sometime soon.
Thanks Victor, Tell Tell Salvador, Tell, Victer Junior and Frank I said.
Hi, okay, of course, thank you by Victor.
Victor quiver the new the owner of the to some baseball team. Good a lot of optimism, right, How does it?
How does it.
Help you and your capacity at your job? And it's an I questioned, but no, no, yeah, I mean that's a good question. So I mean, our our goal for SASA, when you're talking about Southerners on the Sports, Tourism and Film Authority is to support or bring things that are
going to create economic impact. This creates economic impact, Okay, it furthers along our perspective and our our mission of bringing back professional baseball in a manner and then creating international appeal, but also strengthening our bond in our partnership with Major League Baseball and hopefully furthering along future elements. Yeah, when you've known about this for a while, right, obviously, Uh.
None about what this This today was the first I've been trying to pull some stuff out. Yeah.
But but besides that, you've known about this, and when you first found out about it before we go to break, are you thinking fantastic?
Are you thinking? What are you thinking? I'm thinking that this is the start of something great? Right, And I know you don't blow smoking the way. I don't know, I'm sure, I'm pretty I'm pretty open book about stuff.
You know.
In the press conference today before I spoke, such a little blurb that I promised some people in the room that we're in curse. And that was kind of the honest truth because I just say things, right. I don't want to I want to be honest with everybody. But it would have been used in context for enthusiasm, I hope, So, yeah, and I hope it comes to recross that way, it's Steve.
Think about what we have coming, right, I mean you think about we were talking about to try and do a sports summit for you know, all our local sporting agencies. But you look at what we currently have comparative to twelve, fifteen, ten years ago. It's it's pretty impressive. It's exciting. Yeah, and the changes, the changes. This is not just a University of Arizona Town. It is a University of Arizona Town. It's also professional sports. So let's take a break here.
I'm interested about this summit. Yeah, we'll talk more about it. Yeah, this is the first first I heard of it. It's a good idea.
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Waiting Streamy live on the iHeartRadio AB. This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty eight.
Hey, welcome back to I'm the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty I'm Steve Rivera. You're Blake Eager from Southern Arizona Sports Tourism and Film Authority.
Yeah that's how long has that been existing? A little over two years? Okay, so I want was going to go there, good to talk to Victor. We'll have them on again.
Yeah, because Tucson, I've been here a long time, needs that needs that, not just sports wise, but it needs that. Back twenty years ago, maybe twenty five thirty, I don't know, the numbers now had the Sports Authority, County Sports and Tours, which of course tried to do some great things with the baseball. They almost said, we almost had five teams here or spring training.
Yeah, but you didn't. Yeah, you gotta have Edgar tell you that story. Yeah.
So okay, So so now you have this and now you're talking about a summit, which I think I kind of picked up right there.
Yeah, perked up. So tell me that sounds interesting and very doable, I think so. Yeah. It was kind of a brain child of Ali Farhang and Ray Flores. They had brought it up and talked about you know, and the thing is, you we talked about this calend Let's talk about this calendar year, right, You've got the World Baseball Classic reintroduction of Major League Baseball back to Tucson a success very much, Okay, yeah, not financially for us,
but overall absolutely Okay. So I mean, now we're having conversations with Arizon a Fall League about potentially having games. We just we just sent in our presentation for spring training next year and having exhibition games. And I didn't want to destruct you, but so go ahead, No, you're fine. And and then so you're moving on from that, and you're now we're you know, Garments their first time they've ever put on their own marathons and identified they're going
to be here in November. So these huge, these huge monumental events. Now you still have Mexican Baseball three that's continually expand. Now when you look at just currently, you've got the University of Arizona, you've got Pemic Community College, and then set aside that you get into the pro teams, You've got FC Tucson, you've got the Sugar Skulls, you've got the road Runners, now you have the Tucson Baseball team.
I just think we're at the point that we all need to sit down and have some conversations about how are we doing this, How are we doing it together. How can we do it better? Maybe there's some shared communication, Maybe we create co op programs between PEMA Community College and University of Arizona. And then the biggest one out of all of them, I mean, there's two biggest ones
on all of them. Are you know you're not even talking about the color Guard, You're not talking about tour, You're not talking about the Arizona Roll or the rodeo. I mean, we have so many things going on, you know, and that's well, here's you just need to communicate.
No, you're executive, right, And in fact, I say this all the time, and I'm not blowing smoke either, because I do. This is a new time. Had I said this twenty years ago, I know I'd be lying through one. But there's there's guys like you forties, fifties, young thirties, whatever through the fifties out there. Well no, no, no, So people like that have this vision because they've lived it. You can throw these ideas at you and there's some bite to it. You can get some bite to it.
Before it was like I don't like that ideot, We're not gonna do it. You know what I'm saying. Well, I think I respect to those who I'm talking about. Yeah, think about this right now. And I've and Nazim said this to Ray Flores and all Lee Farnhang and Edmond Marquez. You have guys that are in an age and their prime that are trying to change the narrative and create a different culture here with the surrounding pieces that we
never had together. Right, Like you just said, you ten years ago, twenty years ago, you didn't have all these pieces, right. You look at the Arizona Bowl went from Nova Home Loans, which is phenomenal, Right, that helped, yeah, to Snoop Dogg Airs Snoop Dogg. Right, you have garment now in our backyard major League Baseballs. Like, there's so many things that are working in our favor.
We only get so many chances in this life, right, I think we're in a really good place that if we could bring everybody together, create the same narrative and work forward and get everybody involved with So let me.
We're going to have all of you here in a little half hour, so I'll ask them the same thing. Okay, So you're part of this group either it's ten to twenty people right with all the organizations, and they all have the equal share into the because they're all equal.
I don't care if it's the Arizona Ball Tour or WBC.
Yeah, there's no total, there's no there's no right, I'll have a what's the first order of business?
I think everybody has to come together. That's a really good question, Steve, And you're catching me off, got it a little bit, but I like it. Where are our failures? Where are our successes? And why aren't we doing all this together? Why haven't you or aren't you? Why aren't we aren't you? Now correct? Okay, this is a question I asked you. We have no source of a direct
source of marketing in southern Arizona. Right, we talked because we talked about it's really hard, so like you know, and I was, you know, I am, I am at fault for this as well. Where you go get off your butt and go attend these games and you're like, I didn't even know we had these games, you know. I talked to Bob Hoffman about this. They had when
they were having an NHL preseason game. I mean, you're you're you were able to see the Coyotes play the Ducks at the TCC a week before the season started with all their starting line up on the ice and we said at the glass for forty dollars, like, you can't do that anywhere. But we don't have a direct line of communication or winning. It's so funny.
Because you and I, you know, you know, we do the show together now every now and again, and I send you some stuff and you send them back to me. And isn't this a good idea? It doesn't become a good idea until we do something with it. Yeah, we're sitting on our hands. I have a cousin and I have two cousins or brothers. One's a doer and the other's a teacher. And you know who the successful one is, the doer, the doer because he doesn't give a crap if he fails. But you know he has a lot
of money because he does a great job. So Steve, what's the worst thing that happens if we do this?
We fail? We fail? Guess where we're at now?
Would say, well, that's why we talk about this like this this uh summit or whatever. But you have a marketing division that pushes everybody.
Yeah, I mean, I've thrown this out there and I don't know if I'm but I mean, we just talked about it. It's it's time. That's Tucson Southern Arizona had a sports commission. I mean, Phoenix just got theirs, and they've got their sports commissions to go after Super Bowls and Final fours, and we're you know, we're not going after that. It's a city. Let's treat us like a minor league city. Let's be the best damn minor league city in the freaking world, right, and not be ashamed
of it, and not be ashamed of it. Not be ashamed of Why you ever been to Oklahoma City? Yeah, that's the Triple A Stadium down like it's that whole brick town was built because of that stadium. Think about all the things that we could have.
It's funny because you know, I go out and I play, and you know my age and I know your age.
No one's called me a boomer.
I don't think a boomer yet, and I'd be very pissed because you know, because but but there's no shame in being one. I've lived this long, right, But you can think out of the box. Yeah, And I think we're gonna have a guy who does that often in Ali, But I'm sure there's more Ali's out there.
He's just more visible. Does that make any sense?
And you have you listed off maybe ten different organizations that have some seat at the table, a seat at the table. So very very doable and very presentable and very marketable.
And you know, the thing about us is a little bit different because you people are able us at college town. We've talked about this. Who's yes, Tucson, OK. Yeah, right, southern Arizona. People label this area or toos On specifically a college town because the University of Arizona. So it's in our fabric. But the thing that is different is that we're a million and a half people county wide, right with all these other entities that are in the same place. I don't really care who's a lead or
who's a you know, head seat at the table. Somebody has to be there where they're gonna when they get an invite from that person, they go, well, we have to be there, right, Sure, and it's probably the University of Arizona.
Sure, but guess what they but no one has an equal or a bigger seat than anybody. Yeah, it's the same because you're you're you're you need to get your stuff settled too, Yeah, you know, because they they have issues.
Yeah, but you just said this right now, So you create a summit that gives a media access to this whole market in one place. You have a marketing you have a marketing piece. What what's successful? What's not successful? Why are we doing this? Why aren't we doing this? Other areas, other cities, other places are doing these. Let's try to replicate it as a whole right. My thing? I kicked Ali, and Ali brought this up a long time ago because he's a huge Pittsburgh Steelers fan. What
color is every single team in Pittsburgh? Yellow and gold, black and gold, black and gold, right, black and gold. He's like, why won't we do something similar to something? At first, I was like, that would never happen, But it's true, Like maybe that's our identity that we're We're one, We're one unit moving forward, right, We're not these islands all over the place because we're not a big enough city to survive here.
I'll give you one right now, because we've never done it. Yeah, we never done that'll be your pushback. Yeah, well now's the time to do that. Yeah, absolutely, now's the time to do it in part because you have the younger generation, younger than me. Young I mean, who have this foresight or you'd assume that they do. And there's not just one or two or three four. There's a lot at steak, a lot of a lot of figures at steak. Yeah,
you know that one. And I've said this before. And you you've been in the room and not in the room where everybody's pulling the rope, the noble holoans, the the golf. It's everyone's there buying tickets to help each other out. Yeah, I'm not sure if that was a case before. I don't know.
It's the same. Listen. I The one thing I've seen right now is that line is completely blurred. So you just said that, I see two sons at the table to try to help two son baseball team last week, right, Uh, Sugar schools are trying to help the road run. Like everybody wants people to be successful. We just need to come together and do it. I mean, and it should be. It should be a cohesive movement, right, it should be.
It should be for the community because the better those teams do, the better opportunities come to the city, the better opportunities we have as as as as residents.
We talk about this a lot time. You know, i'ming New Mexico. Obviously the first thing I would do well bring people from some other place. You want to go to Tucson. Yeah, it's gonna be eighty two to eighty five degrees whatever. We have a chance to watch some pro baseball, pro baseball. You can do this, enjoy the enjoy the weather. Go to a UA basketball, UA football game. If it's in November, we can go to a basketball game. There's more to do than just this. Yeah, there's more things to do.
Well, I'm gonna I'm I just got a text from my buddy Sam Segual Right, and you fell in love with Tucson when he visited out here, right, took him to you a basketball game. It's it's just getting involved in the community.
Let me tell you another thing that would benefit the most realtors. Yeah, because then you're showing up your city.
Yeah. And a guy who is he in town or is he out of town? No, they're in California right now.
Well, I know this for a fact because I've done the story for Biz Tussan. People who come to cycle here, cycle over the city. Yeah, God, this is a nice place to maybe own a second home or or condo or whatever, or.
Open a second location of my business, or you know, create economic impact by doing this or hiring hiring local employees. Like, it's just there's so many things that could drastically change. I had this conversation the other day in one of these peer group meetings, right, because we were talking about venture capitalists and all these other things that I have
no idea about. I'm by far the dumbest person at the table there, and I brought up the idea of, you know, like, we're never going to be Austin, but what changed in Austin, right, because now you have all these venture capitalists, and now it's it's kind of overblown, right, it's not the cool city, weird city anymore. It's just a city. But what changed was industries and moving there. They started creating better jobs, they started creating better likelihoods.
We have to make sure that we're not gentrifying our you know, barrios in our extreme locations that we want to continue to keep, but we definitely want to have better opportunities for our youth.
No, you talk about that all the time. Since I've met you, You've talked about that. It's the ability to keep the wands from leaving.
Yeah, why we don't want to want to leave? I never, I don't I didn't want to leave. I don't want to have to leave an extra a city of talent, right, right? And then what do I tell a lot and you tell one you got to leave to come back? Yeah, you got to leave established shelf and then come back because we don't have a middle ground, you know, you it's just it's it's mild. That's why you graduate Scho to Phoenix because they has more opportunity. Absolutely, my I
mean my wife talks about it. We talk about all the time. She works for into it. Right, if something changed, there's not a there's not a lot of those that will fall back. Yeah, there's not a lot of comparable places that she can move to. Right. It's it's wild to me. So you know, you're retaining thirty percent of your college graduates because we don't have the job market to retain them. But you know what we have, and this is knock. We have a lot of car washes,
we have a lot of smoke shops. Right, what how do we change that? Narrative for kids like me that grew up in the neighborhood that I grew up and like we should be able to say, you don't have to go to college, but there's still quality jobs here there. You should still have a quality of life without having to leave to go to a different side. With that, we'll come back and talk more