The city of Edinburg (TX) has apparently grown tired of the late payments by the owners of the indy pro Edinburg Roadrunners (North American League/United League) for using Edinburg Baseball Stadium. While the Roadrunners have not been given the boot, the city is now trolling to see if there might be others out there interested in leasing the ballpark. Read more here.
Edinburg Stadium: Calling All Suitors
Filed under Lease & Contracts, Stadium Issues
ballparkbiz.wordpress.com 
As do I Ray, but everything needs to be done in a proper manor. B&P have some good markets & ballparks to work with, but they’ve never ran a stable league before. The United League needs Edinburg, but does Edinburg need the United League? I don’t think the city of Edinburg has any other option.
I hope it gets settled quickly.
Alan,
I understand what your saying. If you look at my previous posts on this topic I don’t condone anything these guys have done. But give credit where credit is due, if they’ve been playing in the independent baseball sandbox since 1994, that’s almost 20 years, longer then most people have lasted in the independent baseball business.
At the end of the day, I hate seeing cities, sponsors, vendors, fans, you name it getting screwed.
Look for Jose Canseco to be a Manager in the United League next summer. Fort Worth is the likely destination.
Paul,
Sorry. Not challenging you on anything. Just trying clarify that B&P circuits are not newby start ups.
Also, folks, let’s keep the “criminal” talk out of this unless someone has actually been charged with a crime.
Have a great weekend, all!
Best,
Alan
Would it be possible to make users link up their Facebook page to make these crazy comments like ballpark digest does? That may clean up some of these people taking pot shots at everyone. Would be interesting to see what people would say if they had to put their real name on their comments.
No different then another league that’s supposedly starting up,
Just Saying.
Paul,
Keep in mind Bryant and Pierce have been playing in the independent sandbox since 1994 when the Texas-Louisiana League was launched.
Alan
Very simple! The Byron Pierce/John Bryant/Doug Leary group are crimminals! A history of bad business. GM’s, managers and coaches buy into it. This is nothing close to a professional league!
Speaking of El Paso, as a team that had great attendance between 3,500 and 4,400 people per year, are they looking at any type of fee for the Triple A team coming into town?
$25,000 a month for rent – glaring indicator of bad business. My daughter could negotiate a better lease. Are there any ULB teams who are actually planning on coming back in 2013?
I recall the original lease for the ballpark when it opened 11 years ago was $50,000 per year, which was not unreasonable for a new stadium with 8 luxury suites.
http://www.themonitor.com/news/local/article_1f9e18aa-1590-11e2-9660-001a4bcf6878.html?mode=jqm_gal
Alan
The Atlantic League would have absolutely no interest in Edinburg.
The situation in Edinburg also affects the McAllen Thunder franchise. The Thunder are considered a travel team, but do play home games at Edinburg Stadium. If the United League wants to have a travel team why not base it out of Fort Worth? LaGrave is a much better stadium then Edinburg Stadium.
If the United League can keep it’s head above water this upcoming season they might have a few more teams in the fold come summer 2014. I can’t see El Paso having a team in the American Association along with a Triple-A team in 2014. If the other Texas teams (Grande Prairie, Amarillo, & Laredo), can’t handle increased travel with El Paso gone, maybe they join the current list of teams in the United League.
Things could get real interesting.
Would the Atlantic have interest at some point?
No way the Atlantic League would consider that market.
Not to mention this guy currently owns every single team in his revised United League, not that the NAL is done! This guy didn’t “buy” LaGrave, he picked up on debt the city did not want, it was a no cash exchange from what I have read/been told. But common sense wouldn’t Fort Worth check this guys finances?
Spend money to buy LaGrave in Fort Worth, but yet McAllen, & Abilene never finished out the season. Add in Edinburg, maybe not coming back in 2013, & the United League is down to three teams ( San Angelo, Rio Grande Valley, & Fort Worth).
The city of Edinburg is a little late on finding another tenant, the only other league possible would be the American Association but they have already released their 2013 schedule. I don’t know if the American Association would even want Edinburg, the city doesn’t have a very good history of supporting it’s professional baseball teams, and the American Association likes to expand into markets with a population greater than 100,000.
I guess anything can happen, it is Independent Baseball after all.
Got money to buy LaGrave, but cant pay the Abilene players or pay the stadium lease. Really, how does this group continue to operate year in and year out? Are there really that many suckers in the world?