Brunswick County, North Carolina (WWAY) — Minor League Baseball could be coming to Northern Brunswick County.
REV Entertainment and the Texas Rangers have reached out to the town of Leland regarding the possibility of bringing a professional sports team, ballpark and entertainment facility to the area.
While this is still preliminary, members of the Rangers organization and REV Entertainment have already visited Brunswick County, toured the area and met with potential partners.
Following that visit, community leaders and private stakeholders from our area traveled to Arlington, Texas to visit Grove Life Field, Choctaw Stadium and the Texas Live Entertainment Complex.
According to an email to the town of Leland requested by WWAY earlier this week, REV Entertainment has a stake in more than 1,400 acres of land along Highway 17 adjacent to the Brunswick Forest that is part of the planned Jackies Creek development. We propose to build a smaller version of Arlington.
REV Entertainment and the Rangers were in Leland the week before Christmas to hold information sessions with elected leaders and staff from Leland, County Brunswick, and surrounding municipalities.
The proposed stadium capacity is 4,000, with just over 1,700 available parking spaces, according to a PowerPoint presentation from the briefing. An additional 400 spaces are available for ambient mixed-use development.
The group is proposing a smaller version of the development in Arlington, Texas. It hosts a variety of events and concerts, as well as minor league baseball teams. Arlington has bars, restaurants and venues have music.
According to an email from a town official, the stadium will be a privately operated public facility under a lease agreement. That means countywide municipal bonds may be needed to fund the stadium.
If approved by the Brunswick County Commissioner, the bond referendum could be put to a vote in November 2023.
REV Entertainment’s proposed timeline indicates that if the bond is approved, groundbreaking will take place in the spring of 2024, with an opening date of March 2026.
WWAY has reached out to the Town of Leland, the Town Council and County of Brunswick for comment. The town of Leland emailed the following statement:
“We are delighted to have REV Entertainment’s interest in working with both the County of Brunswick and the town of Leland to develop a world-class development concept anchored in sports and entertainment. We look forward to learning more about their interests and developing potential partnerships in the coming months.”
Baseball groups will invest up to $100 million in entertainment, restaurant and hotel venues adjacent to the stadium. The community will also have the opportunity to provide information on facilities related to the stadium, which will also help brand the team, Leland Town manager David Hollis wrote in an email to staff. .
The same email addressed increased traffic around the stadium. Hollis said it will be mitigated by road improvements as the development builds over time. This includes interconnections with existing roads in neighborhoods and commercial areas, additional connections to Highway 17 and Highway 133, and other improvements required from traffic engineering research.
Hollis is also isolated from untapped and growing markets and other similar venues throughout northern Brunswick and New Hanover counties, making this location at the northern end of the county a favorite with baseball groups. I am writing.
REV Entertainment already has a foothold in North Carolina. The company manages Kinston’s Down East Wood Ducks and Hickory Crowdad.
WWAY has reached out to REV Entertainment about the proposed plans. The group issued the following statement:
“REV Entertainment is excited to work with both the County of Brunswick and the town of Leland to develop a world-class development concept anchored by sports and entertainment. , we are delighted to officially launch our partnership.”
This isn’t the first time minor league baseball has been discussed at Cape Fear.
In 2001, the Los Angeles Dodgers brought a minor league team to Wilmington. The Wilmington Waves were a low A team that played his game home at Brooksfield on UNCW’s campus. The franchise lasted only one year.
A decade later, another group tried to get a contract to build a baseball stadium in downtown Wilmington. In 2012, the Atlanta Braves and Mandalay Baseball came to Wilmington, where the Braves he discussed proposals involving a taxpayer-funded stadium for the MiLB team.
The developers then worked on a private funding scheme that included an offer from the Trask Land Company to help finance the project, but it never materialized. The stadium would have been built along the Cape Fear River, where the Live Oak Pavilion is now located.
Regarding this latest proposal, REV Entertainment, County Brunswick and the town of Leland are planning a press conference in late February or early March to share details about the project.
This is a developing story. We will continue to bring you the latest information.
