A new Amarillo ballpark is temporarily on hold after Elmore Sports Group passes on signing a letter of intent on the new facility, pending resolution of a funding plan for a new San Antonio ballpark.
The plan is for the San Antonio Missions (Class AA; Texas League) to move to Amarillo and the Colorado Springs Sky Sox (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) to a new San Antonio ballpark. Both teams are owned by Elmore Sports Group. Now, pulling off one new ballpark is a feat; pulling off the opening of two new ballparks and two franchise shifts at the same time by a single owner is a Herculean feat, so it’s no surprise that there are some hiccups along the way.
In this case, Elmore Sports Group declined to put pen to paper because the deal is San Antonio is not done and will require some work from city officials there to finalize a ballpark location, though apparently a funding plan has been identified (and is awaiting announcement by San Antonio officials). And while it does cut things close in Amarillo, it certainly doesn’t kill the deal. From Amarillo.com:
The plan instead is to move toward completing a long-term formal agreement this fall, hopefully with Elmore Sports Group….
A new AA team in Amarillo could begin play in a downtown multi-purpose event venue, which is projected to open in spring 2018.
“It’s still doable,” Deputy City Manager Bob Cowell said. “There’s just less breathing room.”
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