Rising from the ashes of the failed start-up East Coast Baseball League, the first-year North Country Baseball League managed to finish the 2015 regular season with playoffs starting Wednesday. Watch news report here. As we said, it would take subsidy from Cheeseburger Cheeseburger founder Bruce Zicari for the circuit to survive. Read about the NCBL season saga here. Thanks to John Cerone for the second link.
Start-Up NCBL Survives Season on Back of Cheeseburger Cheeseburger Founder
Filed under League & Franchise, Market & Location, Money & Financials
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There are two sides to every story. Check out the link below for the other side of the Newburgh saga. I’m not that familiar with stadium leases, but I’m pretty sure that $500/game is not “ridiculous” as Mr. Guinn indicated. http://www.recordonline.com/article/20150725/SPORTS/150729579
Thats interesting. Just another trail of disasters by an independant league with no plan, substance, players, etc. My sympathy has waned some for the cheeburger guy. A man that is as successful as he is in private business did not see this coming? Time for the dumpster fire to be put out. If Mr. Cheeburg wants to stay in the game, and let’s hope he does, he should hook up with an AFFILIATED pro team or one of the successful collegiate teams in NY. Those markets that ole Mr. Cummings suckered are gone for a while now.
Thanks, Brian. No, $500 is not “ridiculous.” That’s no more than $15k for a summer collegiate club. In any case, these blurbs from the article paint a nice picture:
“[former GM Phil] Casey said the ECBL, under Cummins, had given the Newts a check for their first month’s rent to use Delano-Hitch Stadium. The check bounced.”
“If Cummins ever had financial backing, it never helped the Newts. ‘This guy pretty much lied about all his finances,’ said Casey, who left the Newts around the time they left Delano-Hitch.”
“The ECBL founder had a convincing façade, Casey said. Cummins owned five teams. The only other owner was Zicari with Watertown.”
“League employees had a conference call with Cummins before the season. Cummins said he had a financial backer in the room with him and put him on the phone, he said. The supposed financial backer said he had enough money to run the league and make it until the season’s end in September, Casey said.”
“Those on the call put the pieces together, finding out three days later that that backer was just Cummins, Casey said. Cummins was alone on the call.”
Alan
WOW! And now it is left to people who don’t have any operations experience in the two remaining markets. Makes the Pecos league seem like the National League East!
Poor guy, figured he lost at least $750000 on this but could be less because some guys haven’t been paid. Notice Stinnett didn’t finish the year with his hometown team. What a disaster.