PHOENIX - The Cleveland Indians have agreed to move their spring training home from Florida to the Phoenix suburb of Goodyear.
The Indians trained in Tucson until 1993 and had been considering relocating their spring training operations from Winter Haven, Fla., to the Orlando area.
Goodyear leaders and team representatives spent Thursday ironing out details that would commit the Indians to become the Cactus League's 13th team.
The next step is to apply for public funding from the sports authority to help pay for the proposed $77.5 million spring training facility.
A financial plan from the city shows the deal relies on sports authority money for about $60 million of the project, which envisions a 10,000-seat stadium to be ready for spring training in 2009.
Goodyear and the Indians still have to sign a memorandum of understanding to cement the deal and officials said that may happen next week.
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"We enthusiastically support the application of the city of Goodyear to the Sports and Tourism Authority of Arizona as part of the process of bringing Cleveland Indians baseball and its fans to Arizona," according to a Sept. 2 letter to the tourism authority signed by Cleveland Indians President Paul Dolan. "We eagerly look forward to developing a long-term relationship with the city of Goodyear and the state of Arizona."
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