ASHWAUBENON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The owners of the Green Bay Booyah will be paying significantly less rent the next few years as they deal with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Booyah and many other Northwoods League baseball teams have been playing for almost a month now, during the pandemic. Reduced attendance has affected the team’s bottom line, and the shortened season will also mean 12 fewer home games.
Big Top Baseball, owners of the Booyah, had big plans for soccer, concerts, festivals, and baseball when it moved into the $14 million Capital Credit Union Park last summer. The pandemic has put almost all those events on hold.
“We’ve got some Little League events and things that we’ve been able to host here to kind of help us keep running,” said John Fanta, Vice President of the Booyah.
The Village of Ashwaubenon owns the 1-year-old stadium. The plan to pay for it is using rent from Big Top and tax revenue generated from new development in the area. The plan was designed in a way that taxpayers wouldn’t have to put any money toward the project.
Big Top’s lease was supposed to run through 2038 with annual payments starting at $260,000 and eventually rising to $270,000.
Village President Mary Kardoskee tells FOX 11 Big Top asked to amend the deal as it handles hardships from the pandemic.
“They are very confident that they will be able to keep going. This has been a really great development for them.”
Ashwaubenon’s village board agreed to extend Big Top’s lease agreement to 2041. The team won’t have to pay a base rent this year or next. Base rent will start at $125,000 in 2022 and rise 1% each year.
The village will also now receive $1 for every event ticket Big Top sells. That is estimated to generate $5,000 for the village this year, and $65,000 a year for most of the lease agreement.
“We used very, very conservative numbers for that amount we put in there,” said Kardoskee. “We think and they think also that they will hit much higher numbers.”
Kardoskee says there is enough tax revenue from new development in the area to cover the lack of rent money the next few years.
“We are actually getting the same amount of money, it’s just spread out over longer periods of time.”
Booyah leaders hope more fans will trust the precautions they’ve taken, helping their finances get back on track quicker.
“The people that have come out have really enjoyed themselves and they’ve written into us how much they felt safe coming out and doing so and they’ve returned multiple times,” said Fanta.
With capacity at 25%, the Booyah’s average attendance is down about 1,000 fans compared to last year.
679 is the average attendance this year through 12 games.
Big Top Baseball was supposed to host its first concert at the stadium in September. On Tuesday, it announced the “Wilco and Trampled by Turtles” concert will now be held September 17th next year.
The Green Bay Voyagers soccer club also canceled its season, which included 10 home games at Capital Credit Union Park.
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