The sale of the Regina Red Sox to the Regina-based Queen City Sports and Entertainment Group, which also owns the WHL's Pats, was officially approved by the WBCL's board of governors on Sunday. The sale was initially announced June 13 in a press conference pictured here.--PHOTO COURTESY WCBL
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No need to search the dryer, the Regina Red Sox have found a new business partner.
The Western Canadian Baseball League announced approval for the sale of the Red Sox to the Regina-based, Queen City Sports and Entertainment Group on Sunday after a unanimous vote by the league’s board of governors.
“We are very excited to have the strength and experience in sports that the new ownership group of the Red Sox brings to the WCBL,” WCBL president Kevin Kvame said in a statement.
“The board is extremely grateful to the existing Red Sox operators, led by Gary Brotzel. After Gary and Bernie Eiswirth, who pitched the expansion team for Regina 20 years ago. The Red Sox have been exemplary and loyal league supporters ever since. This Red Sox succession guarantees their legacy and the fact that baseball is in a good place in Regina.”
QCSEG is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Brandt Group of Companies. The company has owned the Western Hockey League’s Regina Pats since 2014.
“We’re really excited to put the two teams together. Both of these teams, when combined, are over 230 years of combined experience in sport in Regina. I can tell you that there’s not too many cities in Canada or across North America that can really say that,” QCSEG owner Shaun Semple said at a June 13 sale announcement.
“This is more than a transaction. It’s really about the fulfillment of a dream, a unification of two great teams and storied franchises here in Regina, the Regina Pats and the Red Sox. When Queen City Sports and Entertainment was originally founded … we wanted to revitalize Regina’s historic franchises and to invest in their success, to deliver world-class sports and entertainment for the citizens of Regina and throughout the province.”
The QCSEG deal to acquire 100 per cent of the Regina Red Sox is expected to close Oct. 1.
Al Simpson, governor with the Regina Red Sox, agreed that a change was necessary.
“It’s become slowly but increasingly clear to Gary and I, and to some of the others who were involved with the club, that to continue to operate this club as a non-profit business model was just being presented with challenges that the club was finding increasingly more difficult to overcome,” Simpson said.
“That model is no longer really sustainable in the Western Canadian Baseball League. It’s becoming a much more competitive league, and the resources required to compete and provide the citizens of Regina the entertainment that they expect, it just makes it very, very difficult for the club to sustain itself and, more importantly, to be a good representative of the City of Regina when we host teams and when we travel to play teams in a 56-game Western Canadian Baseball League schedule.
“So, Gary and I and our fellow board members arrived at what I think would be described as a quiet but shared understanding that for the Red Sox to thrive long term, things had to change, transition had to happen, a new ownership model had to come about.
“And that wasn’t, I would say, inevitable, it was absolutely essential to secure the future of the Red Sox as a representative in the Western Canadian Baseball League.”
Red Sox president Gary Brotzel shared the same sentiment as Simpson in a statement, =saying the move ensures the long-term viability of the WCBL club.
“We’ve enjoyed a lot of success on the field. We’ve only missed the playoffs the first year we were a franchise,” said Brotzel.
“Every other year we’ve made the playoffs. We won the East division too many times to count, won the league twice, so we’ve been very successful on the field. Off the field, I would say we’ve been successful. We’ve been good community stewards. I think we have good standing in the community and we’ve had a good run at 20 years.”
Both Brotzel and Simpson will stay on with the club after the acquisition, with Brotzel in charge of baseball operations, and Simpson as minority preferred shareholder and team governor.
A top priority for the Red Sox and QCSEG will be the planning and building of a new stadium to replace the outdated Currie Field.
The East division team released a feasibility study report prepared for Living Sky Sports and Entertainment and the City of Regina, recommending the building of a baseball stadium in the downtown warehouse district.
“The envisioned $30-million facility would be developed in three phases, beginning with a $15-million investment in core amenities such as the field, seating and essential infrastructure. Future phases would expand the facility to include enhanced training areas, concessions and community gathering spaces,” reads the executive summary of the report.
The study identified $600,000 in philanthropic or sponsorship interest in a new baseball facility, along with the potential for over $5 million in private investment.
