The Double-A Southern League Chattanooga Lookouts yesterday introduced a new ownership group led by Chattanooga native and Hardball Capital Chair & CEO Jason Freier, who will become the club’s Chair, CEO & co-Managing Member. Also running the club will be co-Managing Member John Woods. Freier and Woods introduced more than a dozen other members of ownership with local ties. Hardball Capital also owns and operates the Single-A Midwest League Ft. Wayne TinCaps and Single-A South Atlantic League Savannah Sand Gnats (Lookouts). Freier said of the local ownership ties, “I think this will give us a lot of instant credibility in town and a lot of instant relationships. We don't have any local investors in Fort Wayne, which was our first foray into this. We didn't know anybody in that market, and it took us a period of years to develop relationships and credibility." In Chattanooga, David Paschall writes one of Freier’s “biggest challenges in the months ahead will be determining where the Lookouts will reside.” Freier “spearheaded the construction of one new stadium” in Ft. Wayne, and he is “overseeing the building of another” in Columbia, S.C., where the Sand Gnats are expected to relocate. Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke said of a new stadium, “I don't know what the future holds. They let us know what their history has been as far as building new facilities, but right now we're standing in a beautiful ballpark that overlooks our city." Freier said that there “would be some changes coming to AT&T Field this season but declined to offer specifics” (CHATTANOOGA TIMES FREE PRESS, 3/5).
