The Tempe Diablos’ Story

48th Street & Broadway looked very different way back when. The Buttes Resort and other area hotels, fast food restaurants and industrial buildings weren’t even a glimmer in any developer’s eye.

But it was the perfect spot for a new, modest baseball stadium. The big dream then? That it could become the spring training home of a Major League Baseball Team.

Those big league dreams came true through the shared vision of a handful of Tempe entrepreneurs and the Tempe Chamber of Commerce, who joined forces to woo the Seattle Pilots to become part of the fast-growing Cactus League.

The Seattle Pilots agreed to come to Tempe, but with a single stipulation: They requested a special events committee be formed that would do the work of coordinating, managing and hosting all Cactus League activities within the stadium.

The Tempe Diablos formed to serve that purpose, and our founding group of 12 quickly amassed 30. Soon our scope grew from overseeing stadium activities to include community involvement and fundraising.

In 1971, the Diablos were instrumental in putting Tempe on the map as a sports destination, making the Fiesta Bowl the bowl game with the country’s best hospitality hosts for more than 40 years.