Fringe Posted May 19, 2010 Share Posted May 19, 2010 Sugar Land inks deal for minor league baseballSugar Land city council approved an agreement with Opening Day Partners, LLC to bring minor league baseball to Sugar Land.ODP Chairman Peter Kirk and partner, Brooks Robinson, a major league baseball hall of famer, traveled to Sugar Land for the historic agreement.A letter of intent approved on May 18 outlined a public-private partnership to fund the construction of a professional minor league baseball stadium in Sugar Land. The LOI identifies ODP as the owner of an Atlantic League expansion team that is committed to play long term in Sugar Land with a 20-year lease and a renewal option for an additional 10 years.Potential stadium sites are still being evaluated to ensure the greatest benefit for the community.One site that continues to be explored is at U.S. Highway 59 and University Boulevard where the city leases land from the University of Houston System at Sugar Land.The facility – built to MLB’s Triple A standards, with family oriented amenities – will be designed as a flexible multi-use facility supporting year-round community events, college and high school baseball tournaments, concerts and other uses.The agreement outlines a process expected to result in Sugar Land’s new baseball team taking the field in April 2012.“This is an historic day for our community. Our partnership with Opening Day Partners is the product of years of community leadership and vision and gets us one step closer to our goal of establishing a destination activity center in Sugar Land. This project will energize our economy for years to come.The long-term economic benefits will not only benefit Sugar Land, but also the surrounding area,” City Manager Allen Bogard said.A cost benefit analysis shows the project will provide an annual benefit to the community of $7.7 million or a return of $169 million over 30 years.The stadium has the potential of attracting more than 300,000 annually, tourism that will also benefit hotels, restaurants and other retail establishments.The $30 million stadium will be funded with a portion of sales tax revenues that may only be used for economic development purposes; hotel occupancy taxes; venue-specific taxes, including ticket and parking revenues; and $5 million from ODP.Voters approved the funding tools during a special election on Nov. 4, 2008.ODP will contribute another $5 million for team franchise and startup costs.A “name-the-team” contest will be announced soon with the winner to be awarded lifetime season tickets, according to Jon Danos, ODP’s president.<BR clear="all"> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porTENT Posted May 19, 2010 Share Posted May 19, 2010 Who are they a farm club for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTAWACS Posted May 19, 2010 Share Posted May 19, 2010 hehe... they might just do better than the astros. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fringe Posted May 19, 2010 Author Share Posted May 19, 2010 Who are they a farm club for?Yet to be decided. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowboybud Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 Atlantic LeagueThey're an independent league, with players that were passed up by major league organizations. Unless they're adding more teams in this part of the country, it's not going to work travel-wise (current teams are all in the northeast). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
20thStDad Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 Will beer be less than 8 bucks? If so I'll easily stop going to astros games. Hell, they'll probably be better than the 'stros. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmat Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 Will beer be less than 8 bucks? If so I'll easily stop going to astros games. Hell, they'll probably be better than the 'stros.Minor league teams do tend to have awesome deals like 50 cent hot dog nights etc. I heard on the radio once that the Astros, a long time ago, had something like dollar beer nights. Of course, that could not and should not fly these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marmer Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 It might not be too widely known, but we had an independent minor league team in the area for the past coupla years: the Bay Area Toros, based at the Texas City High School stadium. They played teams from other Texas cities, and some neighboring states. Most of the players were young and living with local families. I saw one game and it was good, cheap, no-nonsense baseball; the stadium was just a municipal park ball field; you'd see better for any of the local college teams. There were maybe a hundred fans there, cheering pretty enthusiastically. I saw a couple of good fielding plays but no impressive hitting. I think they're on hiatus this season, citing (surprise!) travel costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdog08 Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 Great news for the Sugar Land area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fringe Posted June 23, 2010 Author Share Posted June 23, 2010 Holy crap Batman! They just announced where the new stadium was going to be built and it's by the Imperial Sugar factory. This is going to be a boom for this area and especially for me since i live close by (Venetian Estates). This is incredible. I thought it was going to go up by Sugar Land U of H off University. This is exactly what "Old Sugar Land" needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeebus Posted June 24, 2010 Share Posted June 24, 2010 Source for the new location? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted June 24, 2010 Share Posted June 24, 2010 Source for the new location?Source for the new location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fringe Posted June 24, 2010 Author Share Posted June 24, 2010 Source for the new location?Sorry. I saw it on the 5 pm news on channel 2. KPRC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeebus Posted June 24, 2010 Share Posted June 24, 2010 Thanks to both for the source! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProHouston Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 I agree that this is a good location, probably better than the other, as long as they can upgrade the nearby infrastructure. I know they completed the bridge and exits from Hwy 6 to Hwy 90, but I think they need better on/off access from Hwy 90 to Hwy 59 if they want people from Houston to have easy access to the new ballpark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeebus Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 I agree that this is a far better location. Hopefully this would spur the Imperial Sugar mixed-use development as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fringe Posted July 20, 2010 Author Share Posted July 20, 2010 To bad Round Rock already has the name Express. Name Sugar Lands team Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UrbaNerd Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 How about the "Midnight Special"? IIRC, that song was written about the former(or still operating?) prison in Sugar Land, which is awfully close to where the new stadium shall be constructed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fringe Posted July 21, 2010 Author Share Posted July 21, 2010 I voted for the Imperial Storm Troopers since the stadium will be next to the old Imperial Sugar factory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fringe Posted November 17, 2010 Author Share Posted November 17, 2010 Drawings really look nice. Drawings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marmer Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 Want. Really want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livincinco Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 That looks great. I hope the finished product looks that good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTAWACS Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 Minor league teams do tend to have awesome deals like 50 cent hot dog nights etc. I heard on the radio once that the Astros, a long time ago, had something like dollar beer nights. Of course, that could not and should not fly these days.Why not? It sounds like fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmat Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 Not bad. Actually, really good considering this won't even be MLB related.The photos at the Sugar Land website are much bigger and show a lot more detail.It reminds me of the Boy Scouts headquarters.Stupid idea to put a playground in left-center field, haha. I like the berm in right field though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fringe Posted November 17, 2010 Author Share Posted November 17, 2010 Not bad. Actually, really good considering this won't even be MLB related.The photos at the Sugar Land website are much bigger and show a lot more detail.It reminds me of the Boy Scouts headquarters.Stupid idea to put a playground in left-center field, haha. I like the berm in right field though.Your right the SL web site is much better:Sugar LandAnd I agree with you about the playground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChannelTwoNews Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 Some updates on this thread...The team will be named the Sugar Land "Skeeters"The 'Skeeters' official website can be found here.Meanwhile, the ballpark will be known as StarTex Power Field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fringe Posted December 16, 2010 Author Share Posted December 16, 2010 Cool. Named after my power provider. I have heard Santa is bringing me some Skeeters gear for x-mas. Heck they are even selling season tickets already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
20thStDad Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 Skeeters, are those the blood sucking little annoying insects? We do have a lot of those. Oh damn, that is what they mean. I can't decide if I like that or not. I guess it's better than the Gnats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmat Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 Minor league names are usually cute and fun. Pros are normally cultural/local meaning, frightening or intimidating. Skeeters is cool, I like it. It reflects Houston and it's cutsy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lotus Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 Minor league names are usually cute and fun. Pros are normally cultural/local meaning, frightening or intimidating. Skeeters is cool, I like it. It reflects Houston and it's cutsy. I submitted "Sugar Daddies" as a contest entry....guess it wasn't pesky enough or possibly seen as chauvinist?.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.