Mesa OKs spring training deal with Cubs

[January 26, 2010]  MESA, Ariz. (AP) -- City officials in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa have approved an agreement that would help keep the Chicago Cubs' spring training home in Arizona.

Under the agreement approved Monday, Mesa will build an $84 million stadium and training facility for the Cubs, and the team will stay in Arizona for at least another 25 years. State lawmakers still need to approve legislation to finance and build the stadium, and Mesa voters will need to OK it in November, but city officials see those as minor hurdles.

Mesa City Manager Chris Brady says the Cubs also must decide to give the city exclusive negotiating rights by the end of the week for the deal to move forward.

City officials in Naples, Fla., are trying to lure the Cubs away from Mesa, where the team first trained in 1952 and has played almost every spring since.

[Associated Press]

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