Take Me Out To The Ball Game > Under Armour Pre-Season All-American Tournament

That happened over the weekend at Sloan Park, home base for Chicago Cubs Spring Training here in Mesa.
The official season at that sports complex starts in March. That's a big thing - a big investment of public money from borrowing millions in a municipal bond issue by the City of Mesa. That subject - and leveraging the debt service owed by taxpayers in the city [$3,260 per capita] - was addressed by City Manager Chris Brady in a divided discussion about land-speculation being considered by the Mesa City Council at a recent city council meeting.

Let's put discussion in the warm-up bullpen about the city's big debt service costs      for now to look at one pre-season happening in the big major league business of baseball that was here at Sloan Park.
Most people think of baseball as a spectator sport - they watch the players either in-person by paying to attend [one-day or overnight-stays at local lodging where the city makes money on hotel occupancy taxes and sales taxes from spending in retail and restaurants]. Team owners make billions in broadcast rights sold to networks to show the games, networks make millions selling on-air ads during the games and sponsors pay millions to get attached to sports and athletes. What the City of Mesa might gain is unclear - an analysis of ROI return -on-investment would show that but figures are sketchy.

Seeing a report in Idaho's Standard Journal 12 hours ago showed there was another industry in the sport of baseball - pre-season evaluation and training with an attention-getting bait: Your Path to Greatness Starts Here
Only one event gives you the chance to make your mark on the field as an Under Armour Pre-Season All-American. Players will be put onto teams based on their region and teams will then compete in two days of intense competition. Last year, all 30 MLB teams had a scouting representative along with the MLB Scouting Bureau.
Here's a link >> https://www.baseballfactory.com/ua-baseball/ua-pre-season-tournament/

The Standard Journal staff did a great job reporting on one aspiring baseball player
Madison baseball player Hayden Leatham competes at prestigious baseball tournament
Father Matt Latham is shown in a courtesy photo accompanying the article with his son Hayden at the Chicago Cubs spring training facility here at Sloan Park, formerly Wrigley Field.
Six teams of 12 players competed at the event, in front of several scouts. Morales said representatives of every Major League Baseball team were in attendance, as well as college scouts.
Since the The All-America Baseball Game’s inception in 2008, 217 of the 255 draft eligible players from the Under Armour All-America Game were selected in the MLB Amateur Draft including 60 first round picks.

Sloan Park is one of ten locations all over the country for the 2016 Under Armour Tournament Schedule - complete schedule and locations in this link >> http://www.teamonebaseball.com/tournaments/