The Rangers' deal with Globe Life Insurance to call the Ballpark "Globe Life Park" is for ten years -- the same amount of time the Rangers have left on their lease with the City of Arlington to use the Ballpark.

When the lease runs out, might the Rangers be moving to a new stadium?

Evan Grant has a piece in the DMN today that looks at the stadium issue, and what the future holds for TBiA. Ownership has invested in upgrades to the stadium the past few years, and Ranger EVP Rob Matwick is quoted as saying that the stadium has "good bones" and is structurally "in very good shape."

That being said, the Atlanta Braves bailed on Turner Field after just 20 years, and TBiA, for all its good qualities, doesn't have a retractable roof, something you'd assume would be a given if a new park were built now.

Back when TBiA was being built, retractable roofs were expensive and rare. If it had been built five years later, you'd think it likely would have included a retractable roof, making the Ballpark more comfortable to watch a game in during the hot summer months. But it wasn't, and the cost of retro-fitting the Ballpark to put a roof on it (and, more importantly, to put air conditioning in, since a roofed ballpark without air conditions is basically an oven) is prohibitive.

We're a few years away from this really becoming an issue, but it is something to keep an eye on, as, at some point in the not too distant future, the Ranger organization is going to have to decide if it is going to commit to staying in TBiA for another decade or two, or if they want to start looking at getting a new retractable-roof stadium built.