Will baseball stay in Myrtle Beach? With deadline looming, local leaders debate Pelicans' future. (2024)

MYRTLE BEACH—With baseball season winding down, local leaders and the Myrtle Beach Pelicans face a deadline to finalize a deal for millions of dollars in stadium upgrades or potentially see professional baseball leave the beach.

The three parties are mired in satisfying a mandate from Major League Baseball to make improvements to Pelicans Ballpark. The negotiations focus on how much each party would pay.If upgrades aren’t made by the beginning of the 2025 season in April, the Chicago Cubs' minor league affiliate may not play here.

"We owe it to the taxpayers and to the Pelicans to exhaust all efforts to keep them in their current location," Myrtle Beach Mayor Brenda Bethune said. "But it has to make sound financial sense. The stadium is 25 years old and does need some upgrades. There has not been any other development around the stadium to add value to the community and support economic development since the stadium has been occupied. I don’t think that the total cost of upgrades should be solely on the city and county. I have always believed that the stadium should be activated year round vs. the 62 days a year that the team plays."

Decades of baseball at the beach

Myrtle Beach owns 70 percent of the park, while Horry County has the remaining 30 percent. The cost of maintaining the facility follows the same split. So, Myrtle Beach covers 70 percent of a maintenance bill, while the county pays the balance.

Chuck Greenberg, one of the former owners of the Texas Rangers, owns the affiliate and is responsible for the operational costs and paying the staff. The players are paid through Major League Baseball (MLB) under their contracts with the Chicago Cubs.

MLB took over the minor league system and cut the number of teams from 160 to 120 as it set standards for player development such as increased pay and numerous requirements at each ballpark.

In 2020, MLB cited 210 deficiencies at Pelicans Ballpark, including in the visitors and home clubhouse, locker rooms for female officials, on-site weight and training rooms, expanding the hitting and pitching tunnels, improved lighting and higher walls around the field.

Myrtle Beach Assistant City Manager Brian Tucker said the city and county were not part of the discussions concerning the mandates.

“Everybody's looking around going, ‘Well, you've now imposed this new standard on these facilities, but you've not given anybody any financial resources to bring it up to these standards.’ We’re having to figure out how to bring the facilities up to a standard set by this third party who's on the outside looking in. The standards were set independent of the minor league teams, independent of the municipalities or whoever owned the venue. MLB is saying do this and that or we will find some other place for them to play,” he said. “It has to be done by the beginning of the ’25 season in April. The clock is ticking, and there's definitely a sense of urgency."

But Tucker doesn't envision an empty, boarded-up ballpark.

“They earnestly want to stay," he said. "Everybody is diligently trying to figure out how to do math and figure out how we can get to where MLB wants us to be and so they can afford the rent that covers some portion of that.”

The cost of the upgrades ranges from $15 million to $80 million, but Tucker said the wide gap can be explained. The bare minimum to meet the MLB standards is around $15 million. Those mandates are aimed at player development, not the structure or fan experience.

The other parts of the negotiations deal with enhancing fan enjoyment such as new seats, shoring up concrete beneath those seats, improving the restrooms and concession areas, providing spaces for play and entertainment, metal roofing and infrastructure that holds the stadium together as well as staff offices.

“It all goes together," Tucker said. "We have a responsibility to keep the structure maintained, and there has to be a good fan experience so the fans will keep coming back, enjoying themselves and spending money."

The money, what’s spent and lost, are part of the negotiations, too.

Michelle Shumpert, the city’s chief financial officer, said Myrtle Beach spends about $240,000 annually on the ballpark through operational maintenance, insurance and general work done there. The figure does not include capital budgeted items such as parking lot paving or new heating and air conditioning units. It also doesn’t include the looming $1.5 million-plus expense to replace the field, which will need to happen in about five years.

Last year, she said, the Pelicans paid the city $150,000 in rent, leaving the city with an average operational loss per year of $90,000. The Pelicans, according to the original 1998 contract, are required to pay 4 percent of what is made over $3.25 million.

“I love baseball. I, for one, want baseball here. But we have to figure out a way that we are not taking a loss,” City Councilman Bill McClure said. “We’re just not going to lose any more money. Greenberg comes back and says he will spend his money and make all the improvements? That’s fine. But, by the way, now we have to put on the table some talk about the losses. We’re not going to lose any more money, period.”

Fellow councilman Gregg Smith agreed.

“Baseball is an important amenity to many residents and visitors. The zip codes show most of the fans are from Horry County. Without the support of the city, there wouldn't be baseball in the area,” he said. “I understand why Major League Baseball is requiring these upgrades. It’s important that they treat their players better. I wish it was on their dime, but that's just not the way that major and minor league baseball operates.”

Mike Chestnut, who has been on city council since the second season of the Pelicans in 2000, said he wants everyone to pay their fair share.

“I like the Pelicans being here. But can the city do it by themselves? No,” he said. “Evidently something’s got to be going right. They’ve been playing here a long time. But the question is who pays for it now and in the future? Can we bring the county to the table like they came to the table years ago to pay their share? That’s the big question. We can’t, the city, can’t do it alone.”

The original contract for the Pelicans expired in 2018, and all the parties have agreed on extensions since. But in recent years, some county leaders have said they don't want to continue with the 30 percent ownership agreement.

"You know what drives me nuts?" Horry County Councilman Gary Loftus said. "It's the basic philosophy, to begin with. ... They're making millions of dollars, and they expect us to subsidize them? The hell with them."

Loftus pointed out that local leaders have already made a substantial investment in the stadium.The ballpark cost $12 million to build with the city and county paying $10 million and the Pelicans paying $2 million. The city and county paid off the stadium in 2018.

"What is wrong with the Pelicans that they can't get by on the damn field we built for them?" he asked.

Horry County Council Chairman Johnny Gardner said discussions recently have focused on staggering the proposed ballpark improvements and hitting benchmarks by specific deadlines. Although there is some opposition, Gardner said council hasn’t decided if it will stay in the baseball business.

“It’s not a done a deal yet on either side,” he said. “I get a lot of people that say they like going there and it’s goodwill for the public … We want to do what’s right.”

No downtown stadium coming

Despite rumors and conjecture, a ballpark won’t be built downtown on the old Myrtle Beach Pavilion property that’s owned by Burroughs and Chapin, the large landholder in the city.

City officials, Pelicans representatives and Burroughs and Chapin had discussed building a new stadium that could serve as a multipurpose venue costing more than $100 million, but city officials said all the parties had agreed it was not possible.

“It’s done. It wasn’t happening. No one wanted to do it,” Smith said. “We talked about it. The Pelicans didn’t want it. Burroughs and Chapin didn’t want it. And now, we have to do something soon.”

The city spent two years trying to figure out the best use for the property it owns between Ocean Boulevard and U.S. Highway 501 adjacent to the undeveloped Pavilion site between 8th and 9th avenues. Tucker, the assistant manager, said the city has spent about $31 million purchasing and razing blighted property in the area. City officials plan to sell that land to a developer or split it up to developers who agree to operate it under a city-approved vision that would enhance downtown leading up to the Arts and Innovation District across Kings Highway from the old Pavilion site.

Other cities face similar struggles

Myrtle Beach is not alone with ballpark funding issues.

Spartanburg recently approved a $425 million downtown developmentthat includes a home for the Sally League’s Hub City Spartanburgers, a hotel, public plaza, apartments and parking. The upstate city authorized a $67.5 million bond to help pay for the 3,500-seat stadium for the Texas Rangers affiliate.

City leaders in Fredericksburg, Va., found an alternative to building a stadium for a minor league team by becoming a tenant. The city has agreed to pay about $1.5 million annually for 30 years to the developer. The 5,000-seat Fredericksburg Nationals stadium was built by owner Art Silber, his children and two other companies, according to BaseballParks.com.

The Fredericksburg Nationals are in the Carolina League with the Pelicans.

Shumpert, the city’s financial chief, took a scenario of a $20 million bond to be paid off in 20 years. Based on the current interest rates, Horry County picking up 30 percent of the bond load and the current permanent city population of 40,000 paying the debt— it would cost each taxpayer about $500 over 20 years, or about $25 a year. She said that figure is high because the ballpark is eligible to use hospitality fees to offset the debt.

Time running out

The Pelicans, who did not respond to repeated calls and emails, have released the 2025 schedule with the first home game slated for April 8. The schedule lists 66 homes games and 66 road games.

But, without a contract and the MLB mandates outstanding, city officials said there may not be games next year.

“There are other variations of baseball out there that would still be baseball in Myrtle Beach, but that's more of an unknown quantity, and we don't exactly know what to expect with that,” Tucker said. “Our first choice is absolutely the Pelicans to stay in Myrtle Beach. But what happens if negotiations fall apart, and we can't agree on something? I don't honestly think we know what happens next … We have lots of visitors that come here. I would argue, some of the visitors don't even know we have minor league baseball. But it's one of the options, an entertainment option, one of the better options in the city. So, there will be a market for something else to be in that spot if it were to go away. But candidly, we're not considering anything that would go away from baseball at that place. That's not even a minor consideration.”

The Pelicans got their start in Myrtle Beach when the Atlanta Braves brought in a Class A-Advanced club from Durham, N.C., the Durham Bulls, made famous by the 1988 movie “Bull Durham.”

The first pitch at the 21st Avenue North ballpark was April 12, 1999.

Greenberg bought the Pelicans in 2006, and the team became an affiliate of the Texas Rangers from 2011-14. The team has been a Cubs affiliate since 2015.

The ballpark sits on about 20 acres across from Broadway at the Beach, which is owned by Burroughs and Chapin. The Pelicans are responsible for setting the prices of the tickets, food and beverages as well as allowing free parking.

Burroughs and Chapin also owns the undeveloped land adjacent to the ballpark at the corner of 21st Avenue North and Grissom Parkway.

The Pelicans had five people on staff on opening day in 1999. Today there are more than 20 people working full time at the ballpark.

"Every board I'm on, there's a Pelicans representative on the board," Smith said. "They're at every event. They're just good people for the community. And baseball brings through people that could be huge stars one day. That gives them exposure to Myrtle Beach, which I think is good for the city as well.”

And, he added, it’s cheap fun.

A single ticket cost about $14. Pelicans hats are $25, a can of beer is $2, nachos are $5 and a Cracker Jack box is $4. Thirsty adult fans can get a souvenir beer bat filled to the rim for $25. And the first 1,000 fans at the Aug. 31 home game can get a free bobblehead of coach Buddy Bailey, who was with the Pelicans 2016-18 and returned to Myrtle Beach in 2021.

The final home game of 2024 is Sept. 1 beginning at 6:35 p.m.

Charles Perry contributed to this report.