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Disney may open new world to Indians
The theme park is interested in luring Cleveland to join Atlanta for spring training.
Alan Schmadtke | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted June 24, 2006
When baseball teams report for spring training next year, the Atlanta Braves could find themselves with a new roommate at The Ballpark at Disney's Wide World of Sports.
That, at least, is Osceola County's hope.
And the county has a batter willing to field a pitch: the Cleveland Indians.
The Indians have examined several potential replacements for Winter Haven as their spring-training headquarters, and the club soon could get an official offer from Osceola County and Disney.
Osceola County Commission Chairman Paul Owen said county officials will meet with Disney executives next week about a plan to add a second team to the company's spring-training roster. County and corporate officials have yet to hash out logistics of a second team -- for example, how many extra practice fields and whether another stadium is needed.
"We don't know what we want to do yet -- build a new stadium, put in more fields, expand [the existing stadium]," Owen said. "We don't know all the costs yet. We'll find out and go from there."
Disney has hosted the Braves since 1998, and in March, the club logged record attendance.
Wide World of Sports officials have had informal discussions with Indians executives about a potential relocation, "But it's all really early in the process," Disney spokesman Darrell Fry said.
The Indians told Winter Haven that they want an upgraded facility and have been up front with the city about exploring other markets. Chain of Lakes Park, the club's spring home, was built in 1966.
Owen said Osceola County has talked off and on with Indians executives for a year. Asked whether the Indians would look favorably on an offer to come to Disney, Bob DiBiasio, Indians vice president for public relations, said, "Sure. Absolutely we'd look at that."
Unclear is how hard Winter Haven would fight to keep a team it has hosted every spring since 1993. The city no longer has a minor-league team generating revenue and loses between $750,000 and $1 million annually on the stadium.
Without baseball, Winter Haven could consider converting 62 acres of prime real estate on which Chain of Lakes Park sits into revenue-generating commercial property. The property currently is zoned for recreation use, said Michael Stavres, Winter Haven's director of leisure and environmental services.
The Indians moved to Winter Haven after Boston moved out and after Cleveland's new training facility in Homestead was wiped out by Hurricane Andrew in August 1992.
The city and the club are in the third year of a five-year agreement for Chain of Lakes Park. There are three additional five-year deals, and all four contracts have options that belong to the Indians. There is no monetary buyout for an early exit, Stavres said.
Stavres said the city is considering its options if and when the Indians have an offer to leave. He said Winter Haven would consider building a new ballpark only with a four-way partnership that includes financial stakes from the city, Polk County, the state of Florida and a major-league club.
The city could qualify for $15 million from the state, thanks to a bill signed into law this week by Gov. Jeb Bush. But it could apply for the state funding only if it has a 15-year (or longer) contract in place with a team. Applications are due by Oct. 1.
"I haven't spoken to them, but I would expect a decision [by the Indians] about their plans fairly soon," Stavres said.
Said DiBiasio: "We're exploring other opportunities, and that's about it at this time. We've been doing that, really, the last five or six years."
Team officials took site visits to Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Port Charlotte and several cities in Arizona, a state that in recent years has lured Texas and Kansas City from Florida and has designs on adding at least two more clubs. The Indians trained in Tucson, Ariz., for 46 years before moving to Florida in 1993.
The club also made a call to Florida Atlantic about the possibility of a partnership for a new facility in Boca Raton, but the idea did not have much traction, DiBiasio said.
The theme park is interested in luring Cleveland to join Atlanta for spring training.
Alan Schmadtke | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted June 24, 2006
When baseball teams report for spring training next year, the Atlanta Braves could find themselves with a new roommate at The Ballpark at Disney's Wide World of Sports.
That, at least, is Osceola County's hope.
And the county has a batter willing to field a pitch: the Cleveland Indians.
The Indians have examined several potential replacements for Winter Haven as their spring-training headquarters, and the club soon could get an official offer from Osceola County and Disney.
Osceola County Commission Chairman Paul Owen said county officials will meet with Disney executives next week about a plan to add a second team to the company's spring-training roster. County and corporate officials have yet to hash out logistics of a second team -- for example, how many extra practice fields and whether another stadium is needed.
"We don't know what we want to do yet -- build a new stadium, put in more fields, expand [the existing stadium]," Owen said. "We don't know all the costs yet. We'll find out and go from there."
Disney has hosted the Braves since 1998, and in March, the club logged record attendance.
Wide World of Sports officials have had informal discussions with Indians executives about a potential relocation, "But it's all really early in the process," Disney spokesman Darrell Fry said.
The Indians told Winter Haven that they want an upgraded facility and have been up front with the city about exploring other markets. Chain of Lakes Park, the club's spring home, was built in 1966.
Owen said Osceola County has talked off and on with Indians executives for a year. Asked whether the Indians would look favorably on an offer to come to Disney, Bob DiBiasio, Indians vice president for public relations, said, "Sure. Absolutely we'd look at that."
Unclear is how hard Winter Haven would fight to keep a team it has hosted every spring since 1993. The city no longer has a minor-league team generating revenue and loses between $750,000 and $1 million annually on the stadium.
Without baseball, Winter Haven could consider converting 62 acres of prime real estate on which Chain of Lakes Park sits into revenue-generating commercial property. The property currently is zoned for recreation use, said Michael Stavres, Winter Haven's director of leisure and environmental services.
The Indians moved to Winter Haven after Boston moved out and after Cleveland's new training facility in Homestead was wiped out by Hurricane Andrew in August 1992.
The city and the club are in the third year of a five-year agreement for Chain of Lakes Park. There are three additional five-year deals, and all four contracts have options that belong to the Indians. There is no monetary buyout for an early exit, Stavres said.
Stavres said the city is considering its options if and when the Indians have an offer to leave. He said Winter Haven would consider building a new ballpark only with a four-way partnership that includes financial stakes from the city, Polk County, the state of Florida and a major-league club.
The city could qualify for $15 million from the state, thanks to a bill signed into law this week by Gov. Jeb Bush. But it could apply for the state funding only if it has a 15-year (or longer) contract in place with a team. Applications are due by Oct. 1.
"I haven't spoken to them, but I would expect a decision [by the Indians] about their plans fairly soon," Stavres said.
Said DiBiasio: "We're exploring other opportunities, and that's about it at this time. We've been doing that, really, the last five or six years."
Team officials took site visits to Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Port Charlotte and several cities in Arizona, a state that in recent years has lured Texas and Kansas City from Florida and has designs on adding at least two more clubs. The Indians trained in Tucson, Ariz., for 46 years before moving to Florida in 1993.
The club also made a call to Florida Atlantic about the possibility of a partnership for a new facility in Boca Raton, but the idea did not have much traction, DiBiasio said.
