Pacific Coast League President Branch Rickey Jr. said
that the league has given its "official endorsement" to a
West Sacramento group's attempt to land a minor league
baseball team, according to Tony Bizjak of the SACRAMENTO
BEE. Rickey said that the PCL is "partnering exclusively"
with a group attempting to secure the money to build a
ballpark overlooking the Sacramento River and the Sacramento
skyline. The local partnership, led by Bay Area sports exec
Art Savage and two West Sacramento business execs, has
agreed to buy the Vancouver Canadians from its owners for an
estimated $7.5M. Savage said that his partnership group,
the River City Baseball Investment Group, "has enough cash
in the bank to pay for the team outright." Savage's group
must now come up with funds to buy a 14-acre site in West
Sacramento, worth an estimated $5M, and build a 10,000-seat
ballpark, "which could cost up to" $25M. Raley's
supermarket CEO Michael Teel said that his company has
purchased naming rights to the facility, to be called Thomas
P. Raley Field, after his grandfather. A source put the
naming rights deal in the $3M-$6M range (SAC. BEE, 8/15).