Asheville Tourists’ team President Brad DeWine fielded nearly nonstop questions for almost 20 minutes, following his presentation earlier to the Council of Independent Business Owners on Feb. 3 at UNC Asheville’s Sherrill Center.

His address had noted that the Minor League baseball team will leave Asheville after the 2023 season, if, by April 1, a firm commitment to funding of $30 million-plus in stadium improvements is not reached.

 The question-and-answer session was opened by an unidentified woman who asked, “How much is it (the estimate for the stadium improvements) going to cost?

“It’s a $30 million-plus project,” DeWine replied. “We need to do it (at that level) so that it lasts at least the next 30 years... If we spend less, we worry the fans will say it was a waste.”

An unidentified man asked, “Assuming that’s financed over 30 or 40 years, how much” will it cost the City of Asheville?

“We’ve never once asked the city to write a $30 million check,” DeWine answered. “As you know, the city, the county (Buncombe), the TDA (the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority) and the state could (all) pay to cover the $30 million-plus total needed.”

An unidentified man asked, “Just to scale it for the group, how much do you think it will be per year” for the City of Ashevlle?

“I don’t know, specifically,” DeWine replied. After a pause, he then said that the amount would be “under a million (dollars) per year that the city would have to pick up.”

Another unidentified man asked, “How long would it take to do the project?”

“Our goal is it’d take two off-seasons,” DeWine answered.

“What needs to be in place to make this project go?” an unidentified man asked.

“By April 1, we need to have it figured out,” DeWine replied. “The commitments are there to finance the project.”

An unidentified man said, “My presumption is if Asheville doesn’t come through, there are other stadiums out there for the Tourists to move to” — is that correct?

“Yes,” DeWine answered. “Last year, 43 cities lost their Minor League teams” — and many of the aforementioned cities would greatly like to lure another team.

An unidentified woman asked, “What can we do to help” the team in its efforts to stay in Asheville? 

“Email your legislator — that’s the biggest help” that the team’s supporters could provide, DeWine said.

An unidentified man asked if he is correct in his understanding that “Major League Baseball recently took over Minor League Baseball and said your ballpaks ‘need to look like ‘this.’”

In response, DeWine said, “We’re in the bottom 10 percent” of Minor League Baseball market size, alluding to Asheville. “It’ll cost $30 million-plus (to upgrade the stadium)... Forty-three cities lost their teams” recently.

After another pause, he pointed out that there are a number of alluring options for relocation, if necessary, for the team.

Among the 43 cities that recently lost their teams, DeWine noted — in particular — that “Lexington, Kentucky, would love to get another team ... along with Frederick, Maryland.

Answering a question regarding specifics on the stadium improvements, DeWine said, “Right now, there are no female ‘facilities.’” Further, he said, the improvements will “go from third base and into centerfield.”

An unidentified woman asked, “What increase in revenue do you project?”

DeWine answered, “We think it will increase our attendance by 10 perent” per home game “Obviously, increasing our rent by about $450,000,” the Tourists’ organization will need to boost its income. “With more attendance, that will help us pay our rent.”

An unidentified man asked, “Will you increase actual capacity?”

DeWine replied, “It will not increase capacity. We actually will lose some seats.” Then, correcting himself, the team president said of the stadium’s seating capacity, “It’ll stay about the same. Actually, our capacity is about right for this market. We sell out about 10 games per year. We have 4,000 seats.”

An unidentified man queried, “Can you give us a summary… Are you optimistic?”

DeWine answered, “I am optimistic right now. I think the community has really come together and I’m optimistic....”

Again touting Asheville’s baseball team, he said, “We host 66 games” each year. “If we’re sold out (for one game), we tell them to come back tomorrow,” as the next game will likely have seating availability.

A unidentified man said, “Obviously, parking is not involved in this....”

“No, it’s not,” DeWine answered. “We have a shuttle running” from a nearby remote parking lot. “This new generation doesn’t like to drive anyway, so they take an Uber,” or whatever. (McCormick Field, at 30 Buchanan Place, is off Biltmore Avenue, at the edge of downtown Asheville).

An unidentified man said, “The TDA is involved in this, but they can’t do this on their own. They need the city and county to be involved. In this past year, they’ve been asked to help on various projects — none of which are much different from this. These are things that the city and county also are contributing money to... So it doesn’t seem like it (the $30 million-plus financing) should be such a big deal.”

DeWine expressed his agreement with the man’s assessent.

Another unidentified man asked, “What about floating a bond to pay for this?”

DeWine replied, “I appreciate those words,” but there is not time to get approval of a bond before the April 1 deadline. “I feel confident we can get this done... We’re against the clock, We’re all about April 1. We’re almost there. We can see the finish line at this point. We’ve got to continue with the current plan because we’re less than 60 days” from the April 1 deadline.

An unidentified man asked if any other North Carolina baseball teams are seeking money from the state.

“Yes, but most are for a million (dollars) or so —  and we’re the most at $30 million-plus,” DeWine said.

An unidentified man asked, “How does Asheville Tourists’ attendance look, compared” to other Minor League teams?

DeWine answered, “We’re in the bottom third... We’re higher than Hickory... It’s fair to say that Asheville is one of the smallest markets in Minor League baseball.” 

“What is your current lease payment to the city?” another unidentified man asked, 

“It’s one dollar (per year),” DeWine replied, to the final CIBO question for him. “We (the Tourists) catch a lot of flak on that. I was nervous about that, as the city proposed, ‘Pay $1 and then take over service responsibilities.’ It’s one dollar because of the stadium’s lack of ‘revenue-generators.’ As part of the $30 million-plus project, we would pay our share of the debt service through lease payments of $9.5 million over the next 20 years —  $450,000 yearly for the next 20 years.”