A Richmond group has reached an agreement to buy an Eastern League team — reportedly the Connecticut Defenders — and will operate the team before moving it to The Diamond in 2010.
A Richmond group has reached an agreement to buy an Eastern League team — reportedly the Connecticut Defenders — and will operate the team before moving it to The Diamond in 2010.
We’re told the final sale price is less than the $18 million reportedly paid for the Altoona Curve, the most recent full purchase of a franchise.
A group led by Richmond resident Brian Bostic has applied to MiLB and MLB for permission to buy the team. The current game plan is to close on the purchase of the team before the 2009 season and run it in Norwich before a move to The Diamond for the 2010 season.
After that, it’s anyone guess where the team will end up. A developer originally proposed building a new ballpark in Richmond’s Shockoe Bottom area, but over time that proposal morphed into a plan for tax-increment financing to fund a new ballpark overseen by a traditional stadium authority. Bills approving the tax-increment financing have passed the state House and Senate, but in a telling detail the legislation would allow for either a new ballpark or the renovation of The Diamond.
RELATED STORIES: New Richmond ballpark would rely on sales-tax rebates; Richmond group says it’s close to buying team
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