SAN DIEGO - Standard procedure for construction projects on the scale of Petco Park is to build a small-scale model first, then turn it into reality on a grand scale.

Since Baltimore's Camden Yards opened in 1992, it and the 14 imitators that followed have produced another model - a new business model for major-league baseball.

The bases remain 90 feet apart. The pitching rubber is constant at 60 feet, 6 inches from home plate. Little else about how the sport is operated at its elite level is static, however. Camden Yards touched off an era of creative thinking and change rarely seen in the sport. The business environment has been transformed.

"There is more diversity," said Larry Lucchino, the Boston Red Sox president who previously was instrumental in the planning of both Camden Yards and Petco Park.

Said Padres assistant general manager Fred Uhlman Jr.: "The stakes are a lot higher."

And the Padres are ready to ante up.

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Petco Park hosts its first official game today when the Padres play the San Francisco Giants. It has been 64 months since San Diego voters approved Proposition C, giving the green light for the project.

The lawsuits, construction delays, political maneuverings and $458 million spent since that November 1998 vote may have made the wait seem interminable, but the process took longer even than that. John Moores has had one eye on a new ballpark since even before he bought the Padres in December 1994.

Moores was a software entrepreneur who had recently moved to the San Diego area and was off the public radar. A lifelong sports fan who had season tickets to the Houston Astros and Houston Rockets in his native Texas, Moores started kicking around the idea of purchasing the ballclub in his new home.

The Padres were a moribund franchise in '94, drawing small crowds in a massive stadium in Mission Valley. Every star player but right fielder Tony Gwynn and pitcher Andy Benes had been moved because the Tom Werner ownership group was unwilling to operate at a loss, and revenue was limited.

So it was no coincidence that Moores came to know Lucchino during the summer of '94. Lucchino had a sterling reputation in the game, having served as the Orioles' president under owner Eli Jacobs during the development of Camden Yards. Lucchino was a free agent, however, because the Orioles had been sold to Peter Angelos, who had no interest in sharing headlines with the previous regime.

The pair came to the common conclusion that if they were to operate the Padres, they would not succeed unless they got a new ballpark built. They had no assurances they would succeed when they forged ahead. Moores brought Lucchino in as the team president and a minority owner.

"We had no idea whether this would work out," Moores said. "This was not a calculated decision, by any means. This was an emotional decision."

Said Lucchino: "It was more than a leap of faith. The political environment that existed at the time did not suggest a project of this magnitude would be supported. At the same time, we felt we had the facts on our side and that if we went about it the right way and educated the public to those facts, that it would happen."

So the Padres sat quietly as the city of San Diego approved a $78 million expansion of Qualcomm Stadium, which benefitted the football Chargers greatly and the Padres not at all. By not opposing the project and suffering the indignity of having their stadium offices shut down, the Padres strengthened their argument that they could not survive in a multipurpose stadium.

Conventional wisdom says that ploy, combined with the timely World Series visit in '98, resulted in the successful vote. The fact Moores bumped payroll up that year and approved the trade for pitcher Kevin Brown gives credence to that line of thinking.

"Actually," Moores said, "all the studies we did, all the polling, the support was fairly constant throughout, way before that (World Series). Sixty percent voted for this place, but I don't think you'll find anybody out there now who will say they were against it."

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Next year, the Padres will start a joint program with San Diego State in which students can work toward a masters degree in business by studying the Padres. Six students will receive six-month internships.

They will have plenty to absorb. Petco Park is an economy unto itself. The Padres will reap $60 million from naming rights over the next 22 years. They control every last penny of advertising, as opposed to the Chargers taking the lion's share at Qualcomm Stadium. They have 100 percent of the revenue from the 50 Founders Club luxury suites. More than 6,000 other seats are designated as premium, requiring an up-front payment just for the right to purchase those seats.

Then there's the overall hike in ticket and concession prices, and the revenue streams suddenly are flowing like Colorado River rapids.

Now, multiply that by 15. That's how many teams have made the switch to the modern-retro style ballpark first seen in Baltimore. Some teams (Indians, Giants, Mariners) have been swept to new levels of success. Some (Rangers, Rockies) got temporary bumps but were unable to maintain support because of poor on-field performance. And a few (Tigers, Pirates, Brewers) have wilted in the face of higher expectations.

The Padres, with their construction project taking longer than most, had ample time to study the successes and failures of other teams. And they have taken a conservative approach. Moores held general manager Kevin Towers to a $60 million player payroll this year, and Towers spent it judiciously.

He begged off on a multiyear commitment to pitcher Greg Maddux and instead brought in David Wells for a measly $1.25 million guarantee. He got such players as center fielder Jay Payton and catcher Ramon Hernandez without long-term investments. And Phil Nevin and Ryan Klesko are the only holdover contracts of significant length.

"Certainly, a new ballpark helps with the revenue," Towers said. "From a GM's standpoint, you have to like that. Certainly, it also raises expectations. In most cases, taxpayer money goes into these ballparks and fans expect to see some return.

"You hope your timing is right with a move like this. As attractive as the venue is, you have to have the timing to have the carryover effect. That's what I'm excited about here. People are talking about how beautiful the ballpark is, but they're also excited about the team."

Given that the Padres fell short of .500 every season since their the ballpark vote, any hope of competition is reason for optimism. But the Padres hardly are a sure thing. They have an unproven player at the key position of shortstop, they are crossing their fingers that Nevin and Klesko can rebound from injuries and return to previous levels of productions, and they are banking on a 40-year-old pitcher fresh from back surgery as their ace.

It goes to show that even as revenue rise, teams can't just walk to the vault and make withdrawals on a whim. The new ballparks bring a different set of pressures - raises the stakes, as Uhlman said.

"We are working on the model to sustain (success)," Moores said. "The teams that have been able to do that are the teams that have been very deliberate, very wise in the decisions they make.

"I can say our financial goals for this year are very modest. All I want is that this is the first year we don't have to put any cash into the franchise. I hope we're on the other side of revenue sharing. I hope we have to pay a dollar on the other end."

Moores could point to such clubs as the Mariners, Giants and Braves as the "sustain" model. Although those clubs rank fourth, fifth and sixth in revenue, according to a Forbes magazine analysis, they have kept one eye on the bottom line. All three have maintained a high level of performance on the field while keeping costs down. They let some big names leave - Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez, Rich Aurilia, Javy Lopez, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine - while making savvy decisions on which ones to retain.

Forbes ranked the Padres 20th among major-league teams in 2002 with a total revenue of $98 million. Moores said he expects the Petco windfalls to boost them to "no better than middle of the pack."

That means the Padres aren't likely to alter the way they operate in baseball operations. They will be able to expand their scouting coverage, and they will be better equipped to cover holes on the team that appear in the course of the season. If there is a major injury, for instance, Towers might be able to trade for a fill-in rather than promote a player who isn't ready.

"It gives you more options," Towers said.

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The Padres aren't the only team with more options. The new ballparks and ensuing streams of revenue have pushed competition to new levels. The Yankees, who always have held an advantage because of their enormous local broadcasting talents, have responded with unprecedented spending to maintain their status at the top.

Other teams, knowing they can't match the Yankees dollar for dollar, have found creative ways to compete. The Mariners and Dodgers tapped the Asian talent market before most other teams. When the Dominican Republic became oversaturated, the Braves found players in such unlikely places as Curacao. The Astros made a push in Venezuela.

And there have been changes in thinking. The Oakland Athletics, notably, have none of the advantages the Padres will enjoy in Petco Park. The A's play in a football stadium, and they are a distant No. 2 in their own media market. Yet they have been to the playoffs the past four years.

Why? General manager Billy Beane and his front office committed to a new way of evaluating players. The type of statistical analysis previously left only to Bill James disciples became part of their player evaluations. As other clubs continued to focus on raw ability, Beane and his underlings demanded measured performance.

It was a different way of thinking that has allowed the A's to find many productive players cheaply when they couldn't afford to keep home-grown stars such as Jason Giambi. Oakland's approach has gone mainstream, with Toronto and the Red Sox among the clubs who have adopted some of the philosophies.

"The game did become bigger and more sophisticated in a number of ways," Lucchino said. "I'm not sure if the ballparks were the reason for that, but there certainly is a creative dynamic in place. There's a greater sophistication, and those who grasp that have greater opportunities."

Said Gwynn, the retired Padres star: "It still all comes down to who performs between the white lines. Yes, the business has gotten bigger but the game is the same. I never felt any team had an unfair advantage because they still have to do it on the field."

Gwynn said he is most excited for the Padres' employees behind the scenes, the ones who never get credit but contribute mightily to the overall health of an organization.

"They finally have a place to call home," Gwynn said.

That is a sentiment Uhlman can relate to. He has seen both ends of the spectrum, having worked in the Orioles' scouting department in the early 1990s before following Lucchino to San Diego in 1995. He remembers the thrill of working at Camden Yards, and he has similar feelings about his office at Petco Park.

"There's an excitement, a buzz when everything is new," Uhlman said. "You're happy to go to work. It's fun. And when good things happen (on the field), that just adds to it."

And that just might be the true bottom line.

Contact staff writer Shaun O'Neill at (760) 740-3586 or soneill@nctimes.com.