Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano announced Monday that his Ballpark Request-for-Proposal (RFP) Committee has selected Long Island Ducks owner Frank Boulton to bring a second Atlantic League team to the Island – this time, in Nassau County.
Two proposals were received by the RFP Committee in regards to bringing a new team to Nassau: one from Boulton and the other from Blumenfeld Development Group/Sterling Equities.
Sterling Equities was co-founded by Fred Wilpon, majority owner of the New York Mets.
Mangano said the RFP Committee's decision to go with Boulton was based on several reasons, the main one being that Boulton has a team in place that has already been approved by the Atlantic League.
"The demographics support it," Boulton said in regards to having two minor league ballparks on Long Island. "I've been doing this for 25 years. I've developed eight other ballparks and I've owned 10 minor league teams, so I have a pretty good track record and I have a pretty good understanding of Long Island."
According to Mangano, Nassau County residents would get a share in the revenue derived from events held at the facility.
While the exact numbers were not available, Boulton's current arrangement with the Long Island Ducks gives Suffolk County a $1 surcharge on every ticket sold. Suffolk residents also get a percentage of advertising and marketing in the ballpark, as well as their share of the sales tax.
The prices for Ducks tickets currently range from $9 to $12.
Boulton said he expects a similar overall plan with Nassau County.
Residents will have the opportunity to decide the fate of the new "first class sports-entertainment complex," which would house both the new baseball team and the New York Islanders, at a public referendum vote on Aug. 1.
"We're offering this product," Boulton said. "If the people here in Nassau County want the product, they're going to go and pull the lever that says 'yes.'"
"It is about adding a venue where the people can spend their dollars in their home county," Mangano added. "It is a venue where they can take their kids close to home, whether it be to enjoy an affordable baseball game or attend a concert."
Should the vote fail, Mangano said that the ballpark would be looked at as a potential self-supporting, individual location.
"We do have to weigh that if the Aug. 1 [vote] is not successful," he said.
The tentative location for the ballpark would be at Mitchell Field along Charles Lindbergh Boulevard, directly across the street from the Cradle of Aviation Museum.
