From Ripken Baseball and Leidos:
Baltimore, Md. – Ripken Baseball and Leidos, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS), a national security, health and engineering solutions company, today announced a multi-year partnership granting Leidos the naming rights for Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen, Md. Leidos Field at Ripken Stadium is now the home of the Aberdeen IronBirds, New York-Penn League short-season affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles.
“We are thrilled to enter into this significant partnership with Leidos,” said Tim Lewis, President and COO of Ripken Baseball. “The Ripken Way is about perseverance, integrity and an unwavering commitment to be and do our best. Leidos and Ripken Baseball share these core values, which have driven us each to be innovators in our respective industries. We also share a commitment to doing the right things for our customers, our employees and our community, through this partnership.”
“We support numerous customers in the Aberdeen Proving Ground area and many of our employees live there as well – teaming with the IronBirds is a great opportunity to expand our presence,” said Leidos CEO Roger Krone. “We have found sports engagements like this, and our partnership with MLS team D.C. United, to be an effective way to brand our company, while at the same time enabling us to engage with employees and the local community. We look forward to working with the IronBirds team, and wish the team great success this season.”
“We are pleased to celebrate this partnership of two dedicated community leaders at this exciting time in the history of Ripken Stadium,” said Ripken Baseball Chairman and Baseball Hall of Famer, Cal Ripken, Jr.
The IronBirds home opener at Leidos Field at Ripken Stadium is set for Friday, June 19 at 7:30 p.m. against the Hudson Valley Renegades. The IronBirds and Leidos Field at Ripken Stadium will also play host to the 2015 New-York Penn League All-Star Game in August. Season ticket packages are currently available and offered through full season, half season and 9-game ticket plans. For more information and to order 2015 IronBirds season ticket plans, please call 410-297-9292 or visit www.IronBirdsBaseball.com.
Will they have the famous Leidos pizza? Good stuff – hometown sells out to big business.
Someone needs to do the math and find out how bad the city of Aberdeen has been financiially screwed in the past and what benefit if any does this new partnering have for them. Until then I wouldn’t get to misty about these core values of partnership, commitment and honor they talk about bringing.
Good ol’ Cal, hometown boy: “I’m so sorry my beloved Aberdeen got taken to the cleaners by the team of lawyers at Ripken Baseball. I really wish I could help, but there’s nothing I could do – the company that I founded, own, and am the president of screwed them over, not me. I feel so helpless…”
A lot of people were lead hook/line/sinker with the BRAC stuff. A little due diligence and Aberdeen wouldn’t have empty office space and they still would have a golf course in their zip code that was making some money.
Peep’s can say they weren’t making money, albeit it was a top rated (and affordable) Maryland golf course, but – think of the alternative, how many more years will those single family homes sit empty?
When you do proverbial “throw in the towel”?
Harford builders (residential and commercial) did a surprisingly poor job of assessing the BRAC-movers demographic. If they had even done minimal research, they would have found that many NJ employees never had any intention of moving down here. Many either commute daily, or, share a rental with a bunch of their peers during the week, and return to their families in NJ on the weekend. If those Beech Tree houses ever get sold, it’s not going to be to APG employees.
Cedarday is another example. Their perception was that NJ residents would sell their homes for $800-900K and want to move into those 4,000+ square foot behemoths down here. I hate to disappoint, but it didn’t and won’t ever happen. Now with the APG downsizing, and risk of another CECOM move to Huntsville, AL, the chances of selling these homes gets smaller and smaller every day.
Brac has nothing to do with these leeches. Stay on subject please.
Aberdeen reserved the right to charge for parking when the deal was originally done. They have never done so because Cal and Bill Ripken don’t want them to, (hometown discount) yet Aberdeen continues to subsidize the stadium out of their general fund every year. I believe this naming rights agreement gives them the political capital necessary to institute a parking fee and if Cal and Billy want to cover it out of Ripken baseball revenues they can. At $5 per car and with 2000 spaces a season of full houses could generate $390,000.
Good, let them start paying for their own parking lot maintenance too.
All of the above about the parking lot is basically untrue. The contract stipulated that the City could only collect a fee for parking if approved by Ripken Baseball. That contract was the result of a jock sniffing Mayor and a particularly inept lawyer.
You are incorrect Arturro. The city bows to them. Never said the city received any money. The city messes up on contract with these people.
That’s the way I understand it to be – Aberdeen can keep the proceeds from parking, but they cannot charge for parking without the approval of Ripken Baseball, which has not happened. Cal must be losing sleep knowing that his company is doing this to his hometown and being helpless to do anything about it.
“Leidos Field at Ripken Stadium.” That just rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? Yeah, like a huge loogie.
And did you know that your local 7-11 pays twice as much ground rent for the land they operate on compared to the Ripken Wharehouse Hotel that occupies ten times the space.Sweet deal or hard pill to swallow?
If Delegate Lisanti gets her way the taxpayers of Aberdeen won’t be the only ones paying for repairs at Ripkin Stadium. Here is a link to her bill to create a state debt of $200,000, so all Maryland citizens can share in the fun:
http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/webmga/frmMain.aspx?pid=billpage&tab=subject3&id=hb1280&stab=01&ys=2015RS
Get ready Harford for Round 2. The proposed Cultural Arts Center will cost taxpayers millions to build, and never meet the rosy, yet totally unrealistic revenue projections they are trying to sell the County Council. Even the best year in their projected business plan, the revenue & expenditures show a negative $361,222 dollar deficit. And this includes ticket prices, if you buy an entire “play series” of $60.00 per ticket.
By their own study they admit this whole project will only serve 4% of the citizens of Harford County. So get ready Harford for the next albatross around your neck.