The independent Atlantic League is still interested in a Loudoun County team despite the demise of VIP Sports & Entertainment and the Loudoun Hounds; meanwhile, the league’s 2016 and 2017 lineup could be in flux as New Britain enters the league.
With the return of a membership application fee from the Atlantic League to VIP Sports & Entertainment, the multiyear effort by that investment group to bring professional baseball and soccer to Loudoun County is officially done, at least where the Atlantic League is concerned. VIP still has some legal issues to resolve re: a One Loudoun lease and back pay, and you can read all about them here. The bigger news — the Atlantic League is still definitely interested in a Loudoun County team:
“We love the location and would love to have a club there,” [league president Rick] White said Tuesday, after confirming that the league was obligated by a court order to return the fee.
When asked if that means the league has the ability to move forward with another group, White said, “The door opened wider with the court decision. We are enthusiastic. The community has always been so supportive.”…
That will probably mean someone starting from scratch on an effort to bring in a ballpark and a team.
Meanwhile, it’s apparent that a move of the Camden Riversharks to New Britain Stadium next season is far from a done deal, with talk that another league team and not the Riversharks will be making the move. These talks are preliminary and apparently involve a slew of moving parts that would involve another Atlantic League team making the move to New Britain, with that team replaced by a NY-Penn League team in 2017. An MLB team would need to approve the move, and local investors would need to be identified. Camden and the Philadelphia Phillies are not involved in this effort, however, and we hear it’s increasingly unlikely that any NY-Penn League team will be playing out of Campbell’s Field any time soon.
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