Baseball in Downtown Dallas

[eastsider]

A group of investors is looking at sites in downtown Dallas for a possible minor league baseball stadium. There have been two proposals, but the frontrunner seems to be from Southern Indepentent Baseball who would place the team in the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball who has teams in cities such as Fort Worth, Shreveport, and El Paso. The possible locations for the stadium are believed to be behind the Convention Center, on the edge of the Arts District, and between City Hall and the Farmers Market. It is unclear at this point how the stadium would be financed.

Dallas Morning News: Minor league hopes to bring team to Dallas

[eastsider]

Scott Berry, president of Southern Independent Baseball, has not given up on plans to bring minor league baseball to downtown Dallas. They are planning to present a new plan to the city in about a month. There preferred site is still downtown near the Farmers Market, but are looking at other areas as well, including the Fashion Mart area and the Cedars neighborhood near the DART light rail station.

Other groups are showing interest too. A group from United League Baseball will also present a plan next month and Schlegel Sports is looking into bringing an affiliated team to the city.

Company president Mike McCall said Schlegel Sports wants to determine just what the city wants, and if it makes financial sense for the company.

He said the group is not considering moving the Tacoma Rainiers to Dallas, and confirmed that owning the Rainiers could create insurmountable issues with Major League Baseball and Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks, who would essentially have veto power over any major league-affiliated teams in taking root in the area.

[dgreco]

i wonder how supported it would be in downtown dallas.

[eastsider]

I think it would do fairly well, affordable entertainment that is easily accessible.

[dgreco]

thats true minor league baseball is much more affordable than going to a rangers game. The only problem I see is that it isn't a MiLB affiliate team it would be independent the way I read it. I think it would do ok, but if it could get in a league like the Texas league, or even become a Rookie/A/AA/AAA affiliate for MiLB it would be great I think.

[eastsider]

That would be ideal, but very unlikely to happen. The Rangers own the rights to the market so they would have to give permission for an affiliated team to play there. They likely do not want additional competition for their team or their AA team, the Roughriders in the northern suburb of Frisco. They have already spoken out against another independent league team that recently announced plans to play in Grand Prairie.

Also, from what I understand, the independent Fort Worth Cats seem to draw pretty well.

[bw87a]

i think this is a rather dumb idea. dallas already has a major league baseball team in arlington. fort worth has a minor league team and there is one in frisco. what more do you need?

[Dale]

I can tell you that minor league baseball is exploding.