The Boise Hawks (short season A; Northwest League) are now officially under Agon Sports & Entertainment ownership, with additions made to the front office.
Agon Sports and Entertainment is headed by longtime MiLB exec Jeff Eiseman and Chris Schoen. They officially acquired the team from Neil Leibman and his ownership group, Minor League Holdings, LLC.
Eiseman and Schoen, through Agon, own the Augusta GreenJackets (Low Class A; Sally League).
As Agon’s president, Jeff Eiseman will oversee the team and serve as league director. The organization has retained the existing staff, including President Todd Rahr. The team hired Bob Flannery as the new General Manager of the team. Flannery, a native of South Hadley, Massachusetts, was most recently the General Manager of Learfield Sports’ University of Massachusetts athletics property. Flannery has over 15 years of experience in Minor League Baseball, most recently as the general ,anager of Agon’s Augusta GreenJackets franchise from 2012-2013 with stints in Hagerstown, Maryland and Midland, Texas.
“We have been looking forward to this day since our discussions began with Neil late last winter. Today begins a new era of baseball in Boise. There is much work ahead. We do not plan to sit idle until the season. We will immediately be active in the community and making investments into Memorial Stadium and the game day experience for our fans this season and beyond,” Eiseman said. “We not only have a vision, we have a plan to make Boise one of the premier baseball markets in the country. It won’t be overnight, but it will be transformative and the work starts today.”
Making investments in Memorial Stadium is a short-term fix; the bigger challenge will be a new ballpark solution. With Boise’s economy in very good health, a downtown ballpark shared with Boise State University certainly would be a logical next step in terms of challenges.
”Our first step is to speak to our fans and sponsors and see what’s working and what isn’t. We are going to be more active this off-season than I imagine the club has in a long time and our fans will notice that difference instantly. I promise we’ll make you proud of your Hawks and see a renewed spirit and commitment. 2015 is just the first step,” Eiseman said.
It will be a season of change for the Hawks, as the team’s affiliation will shift to the Colorado Rockies, giving the Hawks their first regional affiliation in franchise history.
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