Lee County Approves New 30-Year Red Sox Spring Training Lease
 |
Red Sox Will Pay $500,000 Annually
In Rent, To Jump 3% Every Five Years |
Lee County (FL) Commissioners Tuesday by a 3-2 vote agreed to a 30-year lease with the Red Sox to keep the team's Spring Training home in Ft. Myers, marking the "next step in the county's decision to build the franchise a complex," according to Ryan Lengerich of the Ft. Myers NEWS-PRESS. The lease does "not outline the project cost, which had been estimated" around $80M. The project will be funded in part by the Tourist Development Council, and Lee County will spend up to $0.01 of the $0.05 "tourist bed tax on baseball projects." The lease does not include a buy-out clause for the Red Sox, who now will pay $500,000 per year in rent, compared with the $300,000 the team pays at City of Palms Park. The rent will increase 3% every five years, as opposed to the current agreement, which includes no price escalation. The county also will "match the money the Red Sox agree to put into a capital improvement fund." Red Sox COO Mike Dee said that he and county officials will "turn toward interviewing construction managers and hope to have one chosen" by the end of January. Lengerich noted the team and county will have a "specific site identified by June" (Ft. Myers NEWS-PRESS, 12/10). In Florida, Drew Winchester noted the new lease also offers an option for "two separate renewals of 10 years each after the initial 30-year period expires." Lee County officials "likened the new lease to the one" the county has with the Twins, who host their Spring Training at nearby Lee County Sports Complex (Cape Coral DAILY BREEZE, 12/10).
|
Related Stories By Company
|
Related Stories By Sport
|
Red Sox Raise Some Ticket Prices
November 17, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
Red Sox, Bruins To Rent Out Rink At Fenway
November 2, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
Padres Name Jed Hoyer Exec VP & GM
October 27, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
Towers' Firing Changes Mood Around Padres
October 6, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
Red Sox Launch Program For War Vets
September 17, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
|
Boras, Manfred Talk About Finances Escalate
November 20, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
Selig: Concerns Around Economy Still Exist
November 20, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
MasterCard Present At WS DVD Premiere
November 20, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
Hicks Hopes To Remain Rangers Majority Owner
November 19, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
Selig Committed To Condensing Playoffs
November 19, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
|
|
