SAFECO FIELD INSURANCE TRIPLES

While the Seattle Mariners made a huge leap on the baseball diamond this past season, the cost to insure Safeco Field tripled. According to a report in The Seattle Times, over a three-year period, the annual premium on a $100 million earthquake policy went from $71,000 in 1999 to $241,000 in 2001, and the deductible went from $100,000 to $11 million. Experts attribute the increases to a combination of the Nisqually earthquake on Feb. 28 and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. As defined in the lease between the Mariners and the Public Facilities District (PFD), the stadium’s owner, the ballclub must allocate around $60,000 to buy earthquake insurance. With the recent jump in rates, Mariners executives and the PFD started discussing ways to split the bill.