New Britain took another step forward Monday toward getting a professional baseball team to replace the outgoing Rock Cats.
Mayor Erin Stewart agreed this week to lease terms that would bring an Atlantic League of Professional Baseball Clubs team to New Britain Stadium for up to 15 years, her chief of staff John Healy said.
The Atlantic League granted conditional approval to New Britain earlier this month to join the league.
Under the lease agreement, which will be reviewed Wednesday night by the city’s Common Council, an Atlantic League team would pay the city $2.4 million in rent over 15 years, Healy said.
Differing from New Britain’s arrangement with the Rock Cats— who will start their 2016 season at Hartford’s new Downtown North stadium as the Yard Goats — New Britain would cede stadium parking operations to the Atlantic League team, which would also be allowed to shop naming rights.
New Britain would receive 10 percent of net parking revenue and 10 percent of gross naming-rights revenue, under the new deal.
“For them, parking was a really key thing to make this whole deal happen,” Healy said. “It’s part of their business model.”
One of the league’s eight existing teams — which include the Bridgeport Bluefish — would move to New Britain. It’s not yet clear who that team will be.
Healy said the city expects the league to announce the team by mid-October.
Philly.com reported earlier this month that the Riversharks of Camden, N.J., may be leaving their stadium, because the team’s county government landlord wants to bring in a team affiliated with a Major League Baseball club.
