The Fresno Grizzlies and the city rewrite the lease for Chukchansi Park — a move that should save Fresno Baseball Club a half-million dollars annually. But the deal carries its own risk for the city, who will assume management of the ballpark in the offseason and are contracting SMG to promote events there.
When the original lease for Chukchansi Park was drawn up, it called for the original owners of the Fresno Grizzlies (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) to pay about $1.5 million annually in rent — the kind of deal that led the original owners to bail out after significant financial losses.
So it’s no surprise that the current owners of the Grizzlies asked for some rent relief, and late last month came to an agreement on a lease revision that should save the team $500,000 or so annually. Some of that will come from a $1-per-ticket surcharge, while some will come from the designation of the team as a part-time tenant, with the city taking over the ballpark in the offseason.
The plan, according to the city, is to use SMG to promote concerts and other events in the ballpark — something the Grizzlies could not perform adequately. But that exposes the city to some risk, especially when Fresno was unable to fill the dates it had available under the old lease.
More from the Fresno Bee.
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