PHOENIX (AP) -- Business leaders want to create a regional sports authority in Tucson that will generate money to refurbish ball fields and better compete with Maricopa County, where spring training is booming.

The Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce broached the idea this week with the Tucson City Council.

Tucson's authority might resemble the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority, created after Maricopa County voters in 2000 approved a tax on hotel and car rentals to support spring training and youth sports.

The exact funding mechanism for Tucson is still being explored, and the business group is expected to report back to council in the coming months.

In Maricopa County, the authority has paid for a spring training stadium in Surprise, will provide funding to open ballparks next year in Goodyear and Glendale and is scheduled to help pay for updates to the county's other ballparks.

As a result, the Cactus League is expected to grow from its current 12 teams to at least 14 teams in 2009.

The Chicago White Sox, who train at Tucson Electric Park, plan to join the Los Angeles Dodgers in Glendale as early as 2009 if they can find a replacement team for the Tucson facilities. If not, the Sox would head north when their lease expires in 2012.

The departure of the White Sox could leave Tucson with just two teams and trigger a domino effect.

The Colorado Rockies, who train in Tucson's other park - Hi Corbett Field - could then leave.

But if Tucson can keep the Rockies, the Arizona Diamondbacks have indicated they would stay and the city could then go on the hunt for a third team.

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Information from: The Arizona Republic, http://www.azcentral.com

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