Nashville Ballpark: Latest -- Sounds Sold; Focus for now is on Greer Stadium improvements

[CheezWizHed]

Do the Brewers have other options for AAA?

[JJHardy7]

I will be bummed if they leave Nashville, but not all that shocked. The stadium is a joke and attendance is poor because of the stadium and it's location. I hope something can get resolved, but this has been going on for awhile now and my guess is that they won't put money into the stadium.

[Diskono]

Nashville blaming the Sounds for Greer's condition seems very silly to me. I'm not sure what they could have done to prevent a badly-designed 1970s stadium from becoming anything but a 30 year old badly-designed 1970s stadium. Is it the Reds/Pirates fault that Riverfront/Three Rivers were considered to be bad facilities in 2000? Or the Twins fault that the Metrodome is a dump?

[TracyThom]

So, does this mean the Sounds have to play here the next season? Well, they did just add a new scoreboard.

 

 

How sad. Our AAA franchise without a home. Did it really have to get this ugly? In all seriousness, what is going to happen next season?

 

[davego]

Montreal!!!

[JohnBriggs12]

Why not just move them to Madison? Dane County is projected to have close to 500,000 people by the 2010 census. That's enough to support a AAA team. Heck their Northwoods team draws 200,000. I don't think it would negatively affect Brewer attendance. It would enhance interest in the Brewers.

 

Red Sox (Pawtucket), Astros (Round Rock), Mariners (Tacoma), Rockies (Colorado Springs) all have their AAA teams well within their big league clubs market area as do the Giants (Fresno) and the Royals (Omaha).

[dadofandrew]

Briggs, I've mentioned this possibility, but only if MA would do it, probably to provide cheap programming for a network.

 

There's no way they'd approve AAA ball for Warner Park, or anywhere else in Madison. It'd involve a new park or a complete remodel.

[NatureBoyMD]

Fellow local Sounds fans rejoice! It looks like the Sounds are on the verge of being sold to a New York-based ownership group that plans on buidling a new stadium with its own funds. YES!!! Read all about it in The City Paper: here.

[Diskono]

Briggs, I've mentioned this possibility, but only if MA would do it, probably to provide cheap programming for a network.

 

There's no way they'd approve AAA ball for Warner Park, or anywhere else in Madison. It'd involve a new park or a complete remodel.

Renovate Breese Stevens Field!

[Mass Haas]

Sounds Ownership Agrees To Sale Of Franchise

"We know we face many challenges," Ward said. "Assuming the city is agreeable to having us lease the stadium, we will begin renovations aimed at making it more user-friendly. We obviously would be interested at some point in reopening discussions of a downtown stadium site, but our priorities are to gain baseball regulatory approval and then upgrade Greer so that it is comfortable for Sounds fans next season."

[Mass Haas]

Link, text follows:

 

New Sounds owners begin pitch to earn fans' trust

Gail Kerr, The Tennessean

The new owners of the Nashville Sounds baseball club have a daunting task in front of them. They have to earn our trust.

 

Before they ask to use city land for a new stadium, before they ask for any incentives, before they even think about breaking ground, they have to convince a skeptical fan base that they intend to do us right.

 

Because the current absentee owner sure didn't. You can count the times he visited Nashville on half of one hand. In fact, when the Chicago-based Sounds owner Al Gordon came to see Mayor Karl Dean in February, icicles are said to have formed on Dean's desk.

 

And yet Gordon wanted the moon and the stars, presented on a silver platter, from the city.

 

The crying shame of the last few years is how much Nashville loves its AAA baseball team. Since Greer opened in 1978, going to a Sounds game has remained a summer ritual - as much a part of the landscape as feeding the Centennial Park ducks.

 

But even the most die-hard Sounds fans have had enough of Gordon. The mayor certainly has.

 

From all indications, the new owners intend to do it right. Steve Posner, Frank Ward and Masahiro Honzawa are wealthy developers who are paying cash for the team. On Friday, they walked around decrepit Greer Stadium with an engineer, listing what needs to be done.

 

The three men are asking for exactly the same lease the city has been trying to get the Sounds to sign. The changes the current owner resisted - making the stadium wheelchair-accessible, overhauling the disgusting bathrooms and updating the ancient concession stands - they will do immediately and pay for with cash.

 

The intention is to ask for the lease to be signed contingent on the baseball league's approval of the sale at its winter meeting in early December, which shouldn't be a problem.

 

New stadium will have to wait

 

Sounds fans will be asked to lunch. The new owners also intend to make the rounds of Rotary Clubs, editorial boards and grip-and-grins with community leaders.

 

And, most important, the new guys do not intend to even talk about a new stadium for two or three years. This is smart, because now is not the time to ask any government for anything. Taxpayers will have no tolerance right now for another pro sports deal, even if it doesn't raise their property taxes. It just seems frivolous when the city and state are cutting to the bone.

 

It's also smart because it gives the new owners enough time to show us, not promise us. Show us you will fix Greer so it's a decent family destination again. Show us you'll be there during the seventh- inning stretch. Show us that there are no scary surprises.

 

Show us. Because we really do want to believe.

[Mass Haas]

Greer lease extension deal nearly complete

Metro Finance Director Richard Riebeling told the executive committee that negotiations to extend the Greer Stadium lease agreement with the prospective new Nashville Sounds ownership group are progressing and a deal could be complete as early as today.

 

According to Riebeling, the deal includes the new ownership group's commitment to put up to $2 million into renovations at Greer.

[Mass Haas]

Prospective Sounds owners reach deal with Metro

Nashville Business Journal

 

The prospective owners of the Nashville Sounds have reached an agreement with the mayor's office for the lease of Greer Stadium.

 

The amended lease, which was agreed upon Wednesday, has been filed with the Metropolitan Clerk's Office and will be considered at a specially called meeting of Metro Council at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Council Chamber of the Metropolitan Courthouse.

 

The amended lease includes a five-year term with a five-year option and a minimum $1.75 million investment into Greer Stadium by MFP, the firm buying the Sounds. The deal is contingent on approval by the league and MFP closing the sale of the team.

 

MFP is comprised of partners Frank Ward, Masahiro Honzawa and Steve Posner. The three managed U.S. operations of Tokyo-based Hiro Real Estate Co., owned by the Honzawa family, before forming their own firm earlier this year.

 

MFP announced plans to buy the Sounds in October after the Nashville Sounds Baseball Club and its general partner, Amerisports Companies, failed to reach agreement with Metro Government on a number of issues, including the lease and upgrades to Greer Stadium and plans to build a new stadium downtown.

 

With the Sounds' lease on Greer Stadium set to expire at the end of the month, Mayor Karl Dean called the special meeting of council to ensure MFP has time to make improvements to the stadium before the start of baseball season in April.

 

"Through this lease agreement, the prospective new owners have demonstrated their commitment to improving the stadium and providing an experience at Greer worthy of Nashville's baseball fans," Dean says in a press release. "The lease changes represent no additional financial commitment from the city while ensuring the longevity of baseball in Nashville."

 

The resolution must also be considered by the Budget and Finance Committee and the Parks Committee ahead of Tuesday's council's meeting.

[Mass Haas]

Council to hear Greer improvement plan

(Video via link is outdated -- from last spring)

Buyers say fixes to be noticeable

By Michael Cass

THE TENNESSEAN

 

If all goes as planned, Greer Stadium will feature renovated bathrooms and concession stands, more parking and a better sound system when the Nashville Sounds open the 2009 baseball season in April, the team's buyers said Monday.

 

"We'll try to make enough of a change so fans notice it," said Frank Ward, one of the three principals at New York-based MFP Real Estate and MFP Baseball.

 

A proposed new lease for the Sounds at the city-owned stadium sailed through a key Metro Council committee Monday, paving the way for final approval tonight.

 

Ward and one of his two business partners, Steve Posner, said they were thankful for the city's support.

 

"It ensures the continuity of Pacific Coast League baseball in Nashville for the foreseeable future," Posner said. "And it gives us the opportunity to improve the condition of the stadium to a hopefully more enjoyable fan experience in the near future."

 

Council Budget and Finance Committee members asked no questions about the deal, which Mayor Karl Dean's administration hammered out with MFP after the firm announced its plans to acquire the team in late October.

 

The lease at the 30-year-old ballpark would be good for five years, with an option to extend it for another five. MFP would invest at least $1.75 million but no more than $2 million in Greer upgrades and repairs by Dec. 31, 2009.

 

Metro would reimburse the buyers as much as $250,000 for capital improvements each year, in line with the city's annual stadium maintenance obligation under the current lease, if the buyers invested at least $500,000 a year through 2013.

 

Jon Cooper, the council's attorney, said in a written analysis that the lease would be more favorable to Metro than the current agreement and would lead to significant improvements to the city's facility.

 

The deal would require the Sounds to play baseball in Davidson County, whether at the current stadium on Chestnut Street or a new stadium, for the next five years. If they were to leave town before then, the Sounds would have to reimburse Metro.

 

Construction of a new ballpark - which the buyers plan to pursue at some point - would require a new lease with a significantly longer term.

MFP is trying to buy the Sounds from Al Gordon, who has owned the franchise for about 12 years. The transaction still must be approved by the Pacific Coast League and Major League Baseball, which could take another six weeks.

 

Ward said he hopes renovations can start around Feb. 1. The Sounds start the new season on April 9.

[Mass Haas]

Sounds extend Greer lease through 2013; millions in upgrades promised

[Mass Haas]

Latest on the Nashville GM hiring, official ownership news -- no player-related news here, naturally. The Brewers are tied to Nashville through 2010.

 

MiLB.com

The Tennessean

The Tennessean II

Link includes this:

 

"But we heard one other thing from the Milwaukee Brewers - that Greer Stadium is not a long-term solution. It is not the type of facility they want to see their future major league players go through."

[JJHardy7]

"But we heard one other thing from the Milwaukee Brewers - that Greer Stadium is not a long-term solution. It is not the type of facility they want to see their future major league players go through."

 

I still have the feeling that afer 2010 the Brewers will be looking for a new AAA home. That stinks for me (for very selfish reasons). I'm still hoping they build something south of Nashville in the Franklin area. I still hear whispers from people in the area that Nissan may build a ballpark close to their headquarters. Not sure how legit that is...especially with the auto industry suffering. A year or two ago I'd have more confidence in that happening.

[SoundsFan17]

Greer Stadium is a dump, but it kind of has a charm to it. It has this old toilet trough...the same trough I used when I started going to games when I was like 5 years old. I hope they fix the bathrooms. There are super old pictures of Magglio Ordonez, Aramis Ramirez, and Don Mattingly around the Concessions. I really hope we get a new stadium and that the Brewers will always be linked to Nashville. I would definetly buy season tickets.

 

In case anyone was going to come down here to catch a game, Thursday, July 9th is Ryan Braun bobblehead night and the Sounds play Round Rock Express, an affiliate for Houston Astros.

[go sounds]

The bathrooms are being upgraded as well as the concession stands. One of the screens on the scoreboard is being replaced, several seats are being replaced and a new sound system was/is being added. The exterior of the place has also been painted and looks MUCH better. As a season ticket holder, I'm very excited about all the changes being made. The 2 best are the new seats (I know mine will be new) so I'm no longer pinched everytime I lean back and Judge Bean's BBQ is gone and Sluggers will be back in its place. 37 days til opening night!

[SoundsFan17]

The bathrooms are being upgraded as well as the concession stands. One of the screens on the scoreboard is being replaced, several seats are being replaced and a new sound system was/is being added. The exterior of the place has also been painted and looks MUCH better. As a season ticket holder, I'm very excited about all the changes being made. The 2 best are the new seats (I know mine will be new) so I'm no longer pinched everytime I lean back and Judge Bean's BBQ is gone and Sluggers will be back in its place. 37 days til opening night!

Alright, thanks for the info. I'm going down thursday to buy my ticket package. I can't wait!

[John Brew]

In case anyone was going to come down here to catch a game, Thursday, July 9th is Ryan Braun bobblehead night and the Sounds play Round Rock Express, an affiliate for Houston Astros.

Thanks for the heads up, I hope this is the year I can finally make a road trip happen. Huntsville is home earlier that week so that might work.

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Greer Stadium Improvements Photo Gallery

[SoundsFan17]

Thanks for the pics haas, I didn't even know they had posted them. I'm going down Monday to pick up my season tickets.

[ekutchery]

Any idea what Braun Bobblehead is being given away?

[Mass Haas]

Latest on what the $2.5 million of improvements at Greer went towards