The Winnipeg Goldeyes and the city are still playing ball over the new lease agreement for Shaw Park.
The two sides have been trying to negotiate the terms to a new lease for the stadium since before 2016.
The ballpark sits on city-owned land and currently the rent is $1 per year. That lease expires July 2023.
Goldeyes owner and former Winnipeg mayor Sam Katz says a new deal needs to be reached early to obtain financing to pay for planned improvements to the ball park including extending the netting and a new scoreboard.
On Monday at City Hall, the agreement was sent back to the negotiating table to examine what a new deal would look like.
Right now there are a few sticking points on the deal including a reasonable rent rate, parking, amateur access and taxes.
“Now you want to take away our naming rights, our sponsorship … and tax our parking. If you want us out of business, fine. That does it. Just tell us that, I’m a big boy,” said Katz.
“For the short term I think the best deal for the city is to try to retain the Goldeyes, they’ll put some money in and get investments to upgrade the product,” councillor Brian Mayes said.
“If the team leaves, we don’t get that revenue and the rental income. As I’ve said before, they need a ball park and we need a ball team.”
Councillor Kevin Klein proposed a $50,000 yearly rent rate, with the city also receiving 10 per cent of the parking revenue.
Katz said the Goldeyes sometimes don’t profit in a season and that it might be difficult to manage.
“If you can guarantee me we will have no rain outs, that we will make the playoffs we have a shot, without that it’s going to be tough. Those are two things that I don’t have the answer to. We will do some number crunching to find out what it all means,” he said.
The matter is coming back to city hall within the next 120 days as the lease negotiations continue.
Katz is the former mayor of Winnipeg and won his first election mostly on the strength of building Shaw Park during an era where the council of the time was against it.
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