New Baseball Team Coming in August
By Robin Vinci | Editor at July 2, 2024 | 6:00 pm | Print
Although we still don’t know what team and what league will come to New Britain, Mayor Erin Stewart said a decision should be made in August.
“There are three independent leagues that are interested in the stadium,” said Stewart. “There is one option I like the best and I am pursuing it and meeting about that, but they have not made a final decision yet.”
In May of 2014 the Rock Cats announced that the team planned to move to Hartford in 2016. Hartford is developing a $350-million, 6,000-seat stadium with a little league park, brewery and supermarket. The brand new stadium in Hartford will be built on two parcels of land near Capital Preparatory Magnet School and near Radisson Hotel at 1214 Main St. The stadium will be over 220,000 square feet.
The AA Rock Cats represented the Minnesota Twins in New Britain for 30 years until this year when it became affiliated with the Colorado Rockies.
On July 12, 2008, the Rock Cats established a franchise record for single game attendance. The crowd of 8,115 marked the first time the 8,000 mark was surpassed for a game at New Britain Stadium. This record was broken on June 27, 2009, with a crowd of 8,212. On July 10, 2013, the Rock Cats hosted the Eastern League All-Star Game at New Britain Stadium. The event drew 8,633 fans, shattering the previous single game attendance record. The Rock Cats reached the 8,000 mark once again on May 31, 2024 with a crowd of 8,079.
“I’m hoping to find out in August what the decision is on a new team, because if not I can go to option number two,” said Stewart. “The nice thing is we have options. We are just pursing one and it is intense. We are exchanging contracts and seeing what is going on in other cities and towns across the country.”
Stewart said the team is in the independent league, so it is different in value compared to the Rock Cats.
“Asking them to pay an astronomical amount of rent may not cut it, but we want to maintain the baseball experience in New Britain,” Stewart said. “I don’t doubt people will come. The whole central Connecticut area will come. Did anyone really care if it was the Colorado Rockies or the Minnesota Twins?”
Stewart said fans just want something fun to do where they can bring the family, have a hot dog and a beer, watch the game and maybe some fireworks.
“This is a place where you can go and know you will find your car at the end of the night,” she sadded.
The Rock Cats have not said a word to the City concerning if they would need to stay an extra year if their stadium was not done on time. They are set to leave on Dec. 31.
The City is planning to do some changes to the stadium and recently approved a few items at a bonding meeting.
“The Rock Cats bought a lot of equipment that they will take with them like the rain tarp,” said Stewart. “We would have to buy that for the new team.”
Other items include office equipment and food vending equipment.
“We will also paint the skyboxes in different colors. We want to be good landlords,” said Stewart. “We will be grateful to have someone else in there and we will invest to make them feel right at home.”
Stewart said although the City is shooting for August it is a complicated process as the league needs to consider if they want to add new teams to the league or transfer other teams.
“That is the $3 million dollar question right now,” Stewart said. “We also have to discuss if we want a community owned team where the city could buy a piece of the team or not. Some cities are doing this so what happened with the Rock Cats does not happen.”
Stewart said she is showcasing the stadium to other teams and one benefit is that the team already has a built-in fan base that will not want to travel to Hartford.
