Stadium lease talks continue

Lake Erie Crushers, Blue Dog Baseball owners hope to stay at Sprenger Stadium through 2029

An Avon City Council Finance Committee continued discussions with Blue Dog

Baseball, LLC to keep the Lake Erie Crushers through 2029 at Sprenger Stadium in Avon.

Crushers co-owner Tom Kramig previously said as part of the process he hoped to restructure payments to the city.

He came to the finance committee with three proposals of his own before the committee deliberated in executive session.

Under the current lease which expires in 2024, Blue Dog Baseball pays $250,000 annually to the city.

The finance committee presented three counter-proposals to Blue Dog on Feb. 10.

The first option would see Blue Dog continuing to pay $250,000 annually through 2023 with 2024 being the option year for re-negotiating an extension of the contract.

All three options would see the city pay for the upgrade of the Sprenger Stadium marquee on Interstate 90.

Option two would see Blue Dog paying $250,000 through the 2020 season with decreases of $60,000 to $190,000 for the remaining nine years of the contract. The $60,000 would be based on current capital improvements put into Sprenger Stadium. If the contract were defaulted, the remaining pro-rated dollars would be due with the city asking Blue Dog to put up a

personal guarantee to back that lease.

Option three would have Blue Dog paying $250,000 annually through 2021 with rent decreasing to $225,00 in 2022 and $200,000 in 2023.

Finance Committee member Bob Butkowski said the city would formally present the counter-offers in writing on Feb. 11.

Kramig called his initial proposals a win-win for both sides.

“We are open to all of those proposals as far as a long-term lease extension.

I think they present a winwin scenario for both sides. They are a win for the city in that it assures that the team will be at the ball park for the next 10 years,” Kramig said. “There are proposals in there that allow the city to meet its short-term debt obligations, which was requested in our meeting on last Thursday. And it also could provide for a substantial capital improvement for the city.

“They’re a win for the team because they ensure the long-term viability of the team with the potential

to recover some losses we’ve encountered over the past few years and put us on a path to financial feasibility. So I hope you will give them some strong consideration.”

The discussions between the two sides have been ongoing since August of 2019.

Kramig previously said as part of the process he hoped to restructure payments to the city. Under the current lease which expires in 2024, Blue Dog pays $250,000 annually to the city.