Grant proposed to help minor league teams
Blumenthal announces $500M plan
Minor league baseball has not been played in Connecticut since August 2019.
No fans filled the seats at Dunkin’ Donuts Park, home of the Hartford Yard Goats, last summer, as the pandemic forced the league to cancel the 2020 season.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal announced his plan to propose an approximately $500 million grant to help minor league teams across the country this season as the league looks to rebuild after a year without revenue.
“Yes, it will be normal when America goes back to baseball, minor league baseball, which is a critical part of the American pastime, but it is in danger,” Blumenthal said Monday at a news conference at Dunkin’ Donuts Park.
Blumenthal said the grant amount is a “rough ballpark figure” to help cover financial aid for all of the 120 teams. He said the grant would be similar to the nationwide $28.6 billion Restaurant Revitalization Program, which compensates restaurants for their reduced or lost revenue over the course of the pandemic.
“Which is a lot less money than what we spend on other industries and sectors of our economy. It is a
fraction of what we spent on other less vital sectors of our economy,” Blumenthal said.
“... We’ve got to come together and make a special effort to sustain these fields of dreams because they not only unite us across party lines, but they unite us a country.”
Blumenthal said the grant will have to be flexible and allow qualified applicants to spend the money wherever they need it most, whether that is inventory, payroll or other such costs.
“These teams ought to be able to use the money any way they want,” he said. “There ought to be a lot of flexibility in this program.”
The senator said he believes the grant will have support from both Democrats and Republicans.
“We cannot afford to lose minor league baseball in the United States of America,” he said. “Something in our core will be lost if we lose minor league baseball and Hartford, certainly, can’t afford to lose the Yard Goats. We love them just as many loved the Whalers 24 years ago when we lost them. We can’t afford to lose this team because the people of Connecticut love the Yard Goats.”
In February 2020, Blumenthal introduced a resolution against Major League Baseball’s plan to cut minor league teams as part of its proposed league realignment. The resolution did not hold and the MILB cut 40 teams, including the Norwich Sea Unicorns, who played at Dodd Stadium in Norwich.
“There is nothing minor about minor league baseball,” Blumenthal said. “There is nothing minor about what it does for kids. There is nothing minor about what it does for downtown Hartford or countless cities and towns where restaurants and shops thrive because of minor league baseball . ...
“We need to come to their aid. That’s why I am leading a congressional effort. Much as we did for restaurants, theater, live music, baseball deserves it as much and we are going to come to baseball’s assistance.”
The Yard Goats open their season Tuesday at the Richmond Flying Squirrels in Virginia. Hartford’s home opener is scheduled for May 11 against the Portland Sea Dogs.
“It’s a relief that comes as we get ready for opening day, to get back to the new normal, and it’s a great thing,” said Yard Goats president Tim Restall.