The Rockford Riverhawks announced their shift from the Frontier League to the Northern League during a Monday press conference.
The Rockford Riverhawks announced their shift from the Frontier League to the Northern League during a Monday press conference.
The shift, which was largely engineered by Gary-SouthShore Railcats owner Pat Salvi, has the Riverhawks playing in the Northern League beginning in the 2010 season, joining the new Lake County Fielders to expand the circuit to eight teams. We're told our original reporting of the terms of transfer — $250,000 from Northern League teams, a waiver of transfer fees, an agreement that the Riverhawks be limited to only one western trip to Winnipeg per season and an agreement the team would not need to share in travel costs should a new ballpark for the Fielders not be completed — were accurate. We're also told Frontier League Commissioner Bill Lee did not heavily oppose the move.
Why the move? For starters, we're told Riverhawks owners chafed under the Frontier League eligibility rules: the league is set up as a lower-cost developmental league. By contrast, the Northern League features many older players who pop in and out of the league between stints in affiliated leagues. The appeal of some local rivalries with the other Chicago-area teams is also a plus and should cut down on the team's travel costs.
Here's the raw audio from the press conference.
RELATED STORIES: Rockford looks at shift to Northern League
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