BASEBALL MAY BE BIG BOON

By LIZ WOLGEMUTH

Cary-based real-estate agent Mary McDonald regularly fields the question from clients considering moving to McHenry County: “What are the recreational activities available to different age groups?”

And if McDonald could answer that the county has its own minor league baseball team, “it improves the ability I have to market the area,” she said. “We sell homes, but we’re also selling a lifestyle.”

McDonald is one of many who believe that a bid by McHenry County College and a group of private investors to bring a Frontier League team to Crystal Lake could prove a boon to the overall economy.

F Peter Heitman, who is heading up the team’s investor group, McHenry/Lake County Professional Baseball Group LLC, said the estimated economic impact would be about $4 million, measured directly and indirectly.

Investors estimate that the team would generate $1.6 million directly – in the team’s payroll, visiting teams’ expenses, and the salaries of front office and game-day personnel.

Studies suggest that minor league game attendees generate $34 each – including indirect money spent at local stores, restaurants and gas stations – and the investors anticipate an annual attendance of 120,000, he said.

Andy Andresky, owner of 1776 Restaurant along Route 14 in Crystal Lake, said other event destinations, such as the Raue Center for the Arts in the city’s downtown, help drive business.

“Bringing people into town is a real positive,” Andresky said. “I think [the Raue] is one of the best opportunities the city has given to merchants.”

Heitman noted that some people have no regard for economic impact projections, but said the county’s demographics were strong in terms of entertainment spending.

OTHER LEAGUE TEAMS

A minor league baseball economic impact study performed for Florence, Ky., by the University of Cincinnati’s Center for Economic Education, however, did not include the dollars spent by Florence residents.

“It is assumed that this money would have been spent elsewhere in Florence on some alternate activity if the baseball team did not exist,” the authors of the study said.

Matt Frank, the economic development coordinator for the village of Schaumburg, said the Schaumburg Flyers team generated about $4 million in overall economic impact with an annual attendance of about 200,000.

Frank said the ownership of the team, which includes both the village and park district, was focused on community pride as opposed to profitability.

“We’re fortunate that we do get fairly decent attendance,” Frank said.

Construction of a new stadium for the Rockford Riverhawks, also in the Frontier League, spurred the building of a $10 million YMCA facility, and an orthopedic sports-medicine center is on its way, Riverhawks chairman Kurt Carlson said.

“The ballpark really was the synergy that got everything going,” Carlson said. “For us it was a big investment, close to $12 million in private money …. [But] when you do something like that, it creates good economic development.”

OPPORTUNITIES TO INVEST

So far, Heitman’s investors haven’t spent a dime. Heitman covered a down payment on the franchise, which ultimately will cost about $1 million.

The group will be opened up to other investors with the hopes of eventually raising about $2.5 million, he said.

In recent years, the value of minor league baseball franchises has appreciated in step with other professional sports teams. Plus, the McHenry County ballpark would offer plenty of opportunities for corporate sponsorship and partnerships.

While prices haven’t yet been figured, large corporations could buy naming rights or scoreboard spots, while smaller companies can set up as vendors or pay for an outfield billboard, Heitman said.