Posted on Aug 25, 2003

The Class AA minor league baseball team from Orlando will make its Montgomery debut in April 2004, the team owners announced Tuesday. Calling it "the worst kept secret in the history of professional league baseball," Tom Dickson, co-owner of Professional Sports Marketing LLC, said his company has a binding purchase agreement to buy the Orlando Rays, currently owned by Orlando Rays Baseball Inc., which is owned by the major league team Tampa Bay Devil Rays. "The long wait for professional, affiliated baseball in Montgomery is rapidly coming to an end," Dickson said. Dickson and Sherrie Myers, his wife and business partner, made the announcement while flanked by city government officials. Three artist renderings of the stadium to be built at the corner of Coosa and Tallapoosa streets also were on display. The Southern League team's debut will coincide with the opening of the $26 million stadium. The Southern League of Professional Baseball on Friday approved the relocation of the Rays from Orlando to Montgomery. Final approval of Minor League Baseball and Major League Baseball still is required, Dickson said. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays also will be minority owners of the Montgomery franchise along with Professional Sports Marketing LLC and will help move the team to Montgomery, Dickson said. Demolition of buildings at the stadium site and marketing the team will begin soon, Dickson said. Groundbreaking on the stadium is expected in June. Dickson and Myers, who also own the Class A Lansing (Mich.) Lugnuts and the Charleston (W.Va.) Alley Cats, plan to involve the community in a name-the-team contest this spring. "It is important to us all (that) the people in the community contribute ideas," Dickson said. Dickson said the company will announce the team's name and reveal the uniforms, hat, logo and mascot in the summer. Season tickets will then go on sale. "This is a project I know a lot of people have waited on for a very long time, and we promise to do everything in our power to make it a huge success," Dickson said. "It's a new day in Montgomery, Alabama," Mayor Bobby Bright said during the announcement at Union Station. "We're making headway as far as developing and revitalizing our downtown area." The stadium and baseball operations has been tagged as the first major catalyst for revitalizing downtown Montgomery. "Developing the riverfront is what I'm all about," Bright said. "Revitalizing the downtown area is the focus of my administration as mayor." Bright signed a stadium lease agreement last month with Dickson and Myers. Major clauses in it are that the couple buy a team and lease the stadium for 20 years. "There is no escape clause," Dickson said. "We are here for 20 years." The stadium and land is expected to cost about $26 million, of which the Dickson-Myers duo are paying $1 million. The 2.5 cent lodging tax increase and stadium operation revenues are expected to pay off the loan the city will take out to buy the land and build the stadium. Dickson said he has no doubts the stadium will be ready for the 2004 season. The stadium in Lansing was built in 12 months. "It's not uncommon to build one of these things in a year," Dickson said. The Rays did not do well in Orlando he said, because of the competition from Disney World and other attractions. "Traditionally, minor league baseball does better in a small market," Dickson said. "My guess is minor league baseball got lost down there." The Montgomery Riverfront Development Foundation's Baseball Advisor Committee, headed by publisher and president of the Montgomery Advertiser Scott Brown, recommended the Dickson-Myers duo to Mayor Bright and the City Council. Brown said it was a 16-month process to select the Dickson-Myers team. "They have the credentials, and they have the credibility," Brown said. "I think they are a great fit for the City of Montgomery." Admission costs to the games will vary, Myers said, but they tend to be competitive with movie tickets in the same area. Tickets in Montgomery could average $7.50. The next major project downtown is expansion of the civic center into a convention center and construction of an adjoining hotel