TUCSON, Arizona — With Major League Baseball postponed due to COVID-19, one reported proposal has teams playing regular season games in Arizona spring training ballparks with no fans. We spoke to Ali Farhang who brought the Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl to Tucson, and is the event's chairman.
Jason Barr: How likely is it that Tucson could host Major League Baseball games?
Ali Farhang: I think there are a lot of things in the developmental stage right now, so I don't want to comment on that. But, I do think that including Tucson is a better choice, not just for Tucson, but all of Arizona. A lot of those fields that they would be using in Tucson would be displacing other teams. We could still use Hi Corbett Field and Kino Stadium without displacing anybody.
Jason Barr: You brought an NCAA Football Bowl game (Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl) back to Tucson. Other ideas like Tucson being a temporary home for the NFL's Raiders were a little more of a longshot. Where does this idea fit in?
Ali Farhang: One thing that times like these illustrate is that it unifies people like never before. What you are seeing is a unified effort from the public sector or from the private sector talking to people at all levels of Major League Baseball. Right now, I think that there is a general plan in place. I think they are cogently waiting for the right opportunity for when it's safe to have this come to Arizona. Our desire to have Major League Baseball in Tucson is well known.
