With city funding of a new Charlotte Knights (Class AAA; International League) ballpark assured, the team has one more huge hurdle: finalizing a financing plan before the end of the month.
That’s quite a deadline, but one that team VP Dan Rajkowski has been preparing for since Mecklenburg County first approved its funding contribution to the $54-million project. Between the county and the city $16 million will be spent on the project, leaving the team to finance the rest of the cost of the new ballpark. That’s a tall order, but the Knights ownership does have collateral: naming rights and sponsorship deals have been presold, so those sources are revenue are on the books.
If the June 30 deadline is met, we could see a fall groundbreaking and a 2014 opening.
Rendering courtesy of the Charlotte Knights.
RELATED STORIES: Charlotte approves $8 million for new Knights ballpark; Reese to try once again to torpedo new Charlotte ballpark; Majority of Charlotte council members supports Knights ballpark funding; Knights notch another major sponsor; Knights sign BB&T for new-ballpark naming rights; City OK’s Knights funding request, at lower level; Charlotte outlines ballpark funding plan; Knights: We’ve met big condition for new ballpark; Reese returns with another anti-Knights lawsuit; Economics of new Charlotte ballpark iffy: Mayor; Economic of new Charlotte ballpark questioned; Knights make economic case for city funding of new ballpark; Charlotte may help fund new Knights ballpark;More legal silliness in Charlotte; Back from the dead! Mecklenburg Co. moves forward with Knights ballpark; Rising from the ashes: A new Knights ballpark
—-
Share your news with the baseball community. Send it to us at editors@augustpublications.com.
Are you a subscriber to the weekly Ballpark Digest newsletter? You can sign up for a free subscription at the Newsletter Signup Page.
Join Ballpark Digest on Facebook and on Twitter!
Follow Ballpark Digest on Google + and add us to your circles!