PRESS RELEASE – In a month long fan vote that began with 25 suggested team names, fans overwhelmingly chose the Neptunes to be the name of Virginia Beach’s first professional minor league baseball franchise.
“We had our own March Madness of four rounds where we narrowed the team names each round, and the fans chose the Neptunes first place every round,” said Joe Pinto, the VP and GM of Virginia Beach Professional Baseball.
Thousands of fans flooded the VBPB website and Facebook page to enter suggestions and vote. A $1,000 prize awaited a randomly selected fan who participated.
The winner selected is Ms. Brook Ratliff of Virginia Beach. She won the $1,000 and four tickets to the Inaugural season.
VBPB Chairman Jas Short is excited by the fan interest and investor interest that began when the City Council unanimously approved the 150-acre complex with a 5-6,000 seat stadium and a total of 13 tournament fields next to the stadium and another 12 tournament fields across the street.
“The business community, the Hotel-Motel Association, the Central Business District Association and so many others are revved up to make professional and amateur tournament baseball happen in Virginia Beach,” said Short. “Our stadium financing is going as planned and there has been increased equity partnership interest (both in-town and out of town) as we get closer to the finalization of the ground lease”.
The next steps are securing a naming rights partner for the stadium and/or the tournament complex, and create the marketing materials for the Virginia Beach Neptunes.
“We really want logos that are fun, family-friendly and promotes a positive experience,” said Pinto. “The Virginia Beach Neptunes will really belong to everyone in Virginia Beach.”
While that work is being done, VBPB anticipates beginning to break ground over the next few months and be playing Neptunes baseball for the 2015 Season.
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WVEC.com
WAVY.com
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