Bill Oram wrote a sports story today for the Oregonian. But it was not a researched article, nor was it truthful news. It was more of a puff piece and a pitch to anyone who reads it that someone with 20 Million dollars needs to do something fast to save the Hillsboro Hops. It is an opinion piece and nothing more, and it reads as a PR article for the team. The Oregonian is struggling for readership, mainly because no one wants to pay to digest this sort of nonsense. The stench rising from the story is almost as rotten as the bull shit piling up at the Hillsboro City Hall, where the new Hillsboro Hops stadium project has been going through preliminary approvals for the past several months. And I say all this as my opinion (fully disclosed above) and as someone who has been at every meeting and every hearing and provided significant testimony.
In Oram’s story today https://www.oregonlive.com/sports/2023/09/bill-oram-save-the-hops-stadium-funding-shortfall-puts-minor-league-team-at-risk-of-leaving-hillsboro.html (Bill Oram: Save the Hops? Stadium funding shortfall puts baseball team at risk of leaving Hillsboro) he quotes Jim Etzel. Chief Executive Officer of Sports Oregon. Etzel went on the record that the Hillsboro Hops will leave if the new stadium is not funded in Hillsboro. Jim is a powerful voice for sports in Oregon, so I expect him to take that position. But his voice and his formidable organization loaded with power players is being used to pressure the people of Hillsboro, of Washington County, and those in power in Salem to do something and to do it now. Full disclosure, because Oram will not tell you: KL Wombacher, who runs the Hillsboro Hops, is on the Executive Board of Directors of Sport Oregon. According to Oram, he was sitting in the conference room at Ron Tonkin Field counting down the days to September 30th when he has to give Major League Baseball an answer if the Stadium is a go or no go. Sounds like a cozy meeting – very objective place to do a sports story.
The problem is, up until this story, the Hops and the City have been saying it is all a go with no mention of this last-minute $20 Million.
Earlier this year, in a private meeting that was closed to the public, the Hillsboro City Council unilaterally decided to approve a new stadium and give the Hillsboro Hops all of the revenue from the lodging tax paid in the City of Hillsboro. That pledge will total $18 Million dollars. That same Council decided to circumvent the Hillsboro Parks Commission, which, by its creation, is supposed to determine all matters that affect Hillsboro Parks. But not to fear, they asked the City Attorney to ensure they could not be sued or blocked from doing so. This is the same Council that pretends they are transparent and equitable with an open process. Nothing could be more laughable in this case.
As of last Wednesday night, the City of Hillsboro Planning and Zoning Hearings Board had completed its 3rd hearing. After hours and hours of debate and worry over a wide variety of factors, a preliminary approval was granted. It will have conditions and is not a written order yet. So, nothing is final. After the notice is issued, anyone who provided testimony will receive that notice and will be able to appeal that decision to the Hillsboro City Council and possibly beyond. At this time, I can all but guarantee you that this will happen. If it does, it will be because the City of Hillsboro, which applied as both the applicant and decision maker for this stadium approval, refused to do sound, lighting, or traffic studies. Almost any small private development, like dog parks and charter schools, would have required those same studies. And this is a 6,000-seat new stadium with room for thousands more on the field and surrounding facilities. Appeals take time- months or years even. Time the Hops do not have, according to Oram’s story and Hillsboro Hops General Manager KL Wombacher.
Oram’s article is full of dire language that this weekend’s games may be the last. Wombacher is quoted as saying that the result of not getting $20 Million dollars of additional money could mean the instant end of the team in Hillsboro. He mentions a September 30th meeting with MLB, which is demanding league-mandated updates to the existing stadium (not a new stadium), by which the team needs to solidify a plan and the funding or face the consequences.
We’re in a tough spot for sure but we’re committed to this community and are driven to preserve Hops baseball for decades to come. We’ve felt the love today from fans and it motivates us to make sure we get this project done! #AllHoppedUp https://t.co/7xJnDvQD9f
— K.L. Wombacher (@wombokl) September 9, 2023
The article says that Hillsboro Senator Janeen Sollman will try and find the extra $20 Million- and she is quoted asking people to take to the phones and communication channels to pressure their legislators to find this money. She is a big Hops fan, often posts about the team, and failed in a previous attempt to get the team this money.
As of last Wednesday, the City of Hillsboro had agreed to the following:
- Give the Hops $18 Million Dollars in Transient Lodging Tax Funds- no repayment.
- Letting the Hillsboro Hops demolish and forever remove Fields 4, 5, and 6 at the Gordon Faber Sports and Recreation Complex. Land that is valued at as much as $15 Million dollars, which the Hops will get for little or no financial commitment. Money not accounted for in the $120,000,000 that Oram’s article and the Hops/City have put forth as the costs of the new stadium.
- The Hillsboro Hops will not have to contribute to the replacement of the lost fields, a number now estimated to be as much as $22,000,000. Also, it is not accounted for as a project cost in that $120,000,000.
- No contract has been signed with the Hops for the new stadium, and no new stadium lease has been completed – as far as we have been advised.
- The City did get preliminary approval, subject to appeal, for the Hops to build the new ballpark.
- The City approved up to 36 events a year at the new stadium, which can exceed 7,000 people, and all the talk is that major concerts will be coming to town to help the Hops make money on their investment. Not that we needed traffic studies or noise or light studies for little things like that.
The original plan was to remodel Ron Tonkin Field. There were rudimentary bid summaries by one consultant (Mortenson) that ranged from 145 Million to 160 Million. Here is that document. Hillsboro Hops Stadium Renovation 2023: In my experience, there is no viable bid until a bid packet is sent out. The City and The Hops can still execute this plan and put it out to bid as one option- I am willing to bet a remodel can be done for much less than a brand new stadium- but that is not the narrative being offered.
Mortenson also bid the alternative of building a new 6,000-seat stadium simultaneously. That bid shows a 94 Million dollar cost estimate with some added upgrades, which would be “extras,” adding another $16 Million. So, let’s call it $110 Million. That bid is right here: Hillsboro Hops New Stadium. But wait, to be fair, we have to add $15 Million for free land because that is the value of land and the $22 Million for the lost fields. Even if the Hillsboro Hops are not paying for it, someone must (Citizens of Hillsboro), which is a severe direct cost. So this new stadium is going to cost $147 Million dollars legitimately. Or Maybe not- who knows because the project is not fully vetted yet.
Despite my opinions, that is an accurate record and rooted in actual facts.
Looking Back to Yakima – 2012
The Hillsboro Hops were formerly the Yakima Bears. The City of Yakima and the County were under identical pressure. In this article, KL Wombacher used carefully worded language that made it clear that they might consider leaving if they did not get a new stadium or a highly renovated one.
https://kimatv.com/news/local/more-stadium-proposals-could-lure-bears-out-of-yakima
From that story:
Where will the Bears be in 2013?
“That’s a good question,” answered Yakima Bears General Manager K.L. Wombacher. “At this point, we don’t know. You know, it’s tough to say we’re not gonna be here.”
The Bears saw its dream of a new ballpark on the old Cascade mill site give way to plans for a regional soccer complex. Vancouver, Washington also said no to a new stadium the Bears thought was a done deal. Now, two ballparks in Oregon could be in the works.
Milwaukie and Hillsboro are both considering stadiums. Hillsboro’s could be ready in time for the 20-13 season if it gets the go ahead.
“If they got ’em built, we would take a look at it,” Wombacher said.
In Oram’s article, Wombacher opines that he can’t imagine a community (Hillsboro) losing a team over $20 Million dollars.
KL it is not just $20 Million dollars. It’s 18 Million that our people are already giving your team and the $22 Million we will have to spend for new fields because you and the ownership want a new stadium for baseball and rock concerts. And you want our $15 Million in prime land for little to nothing. That is $50 to $60 MIllion dollars we are talking about. And we lose our fields…for our kids and adults to enjoy, which they have done joyfully for decades at the Gordon Faber. That is why almost 500 people signed petitions to stop this current plan, and so many of us have spent time and energy trying to have the City and your team return to the drawing board and reconsider remodeling Ron Tonkin. Yet you persist.
KL, who are you talking to? You made a masterful move in Yakima with more than one foot out the door to our city while trying to stay- or maybe you did not try? Let me help you out.
One pundit on Reddit offered this: https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/12zq18p/what_city_deserves_an_milb_team/?onetap_auto=true
What cities would be best suited for theses new AAA, AA, High-A, and Single-A squads?
A few off the top of my head:
Bakersfield
New Orleans (or Shreveport/Baton Rouge tbh, the fact that Louisiana has none is insane)
Orlando
Providence
There are tempting options there for sure- so KL, are we the next Yakima?,
In closing, let me say that many people love the Hillsboro Hops. The team has stepped up its game and entertainment value, and I recognize that- I think most people do. Hillsboro people like an honest and straightforward deal. These less-than-veiled threats of needing another $20 Million to keep the team here are modern-day extortion. We do not like that- and perhaps New Orleans might be a better fit. For you to meet with sports writers like Oram, reign in Wetzel, and whine to them and Sollman less than two days after the land use approval was issued is so telling. Had you done so before that, it could have bit the process in the ass- and it didn’t- at least not yet. You are a master at the game – but we see it for what it is. Some of us are watching, and we do not appreciate it or your approach- it has a sleaze factor to it, and it reflects poorly on your ownership, who do not deserve that, and on you. And I think you are better than that.
Maybe it’s time to pack it up?
This is just the latest ramification of MLB requiring minor league teams to build new ballparks or renovate, and expecting taxpayers around the country to pay for it.https://t.co/atgssa8lbL
— Chuck Slothower (@chuckslothower) September 8, 2023
Never mentioned in these Hops stadium stories: The cost of replacing fields, the site of those replaced fields and whether or not the softball community was asked about a private entity laying claim to public fields… again. https://t.co/qt5KXGzfUX
— Jason Notte (@Notteham) September 8, 2023
It could have something to do with general lack of interest. During a season that lacked the extreme heat and wildfire smoke blamed for poor attendance in the past, Hops attendance is actually falling this year. @billoram https://t.co/qHJIC8ErC8 pic.twitter.com/vvf0yH5Ump
— Jason Notte (@Notteham) September 8, 2023
I have not read this book yet, but many of may want to- https://www.amazon.com/May-Best-Team-Win-Economics/dp/081579729X
Quotes from Readers:
“The overriding theme of the book is that MLB is an unregulated monopoly and as a conseqeunce the industry suffers from inefficiency, exploits consumers, manipulates public policy and suffers from a competitive imbalance that threatens the future of the game…. A well-crafted book that gives a good view of the inner workings of MLB and its owner-barons and provides an interesting case study of cartel behavior. The intended audience is clearly broader than that of academic sports economists…. Zimbalist succeeds in making the material engaging for both economists working in this field and for non-specialists interested in the economics of baseball.” –Leo H. Kahane, Mount Holyoke College and California State University, Hayward, “Journal of Economic Literature”, 6/1/2004
“These days a typical owner will rake in big money, claim he’s nearly broke and then threated to move unless his host city subsidizes a new stadium at taxpayer expense. If you think this is an exaggeration, read Zimbalist’s brilliantly researched study on the economics of the game.” –Charles Hirshberg, “Sports Illustrated”, 5/26/2003
“One of the great strengths of May the Best Team Win is the way in which Zimbalist clearly unravels the workings of various markets –labour, product, broadcasting and stadiums –and how they combine to make up the industry that is baseball. He provides a detailed analysis of collective bargaining in baseball…. Provides a very readable account of major issues associated with the recent operation of American baseball. It systematically examines various peculiarities and nuances of the operation of this legal cartel. Its major contribution lies in its analyses of the impact of recent collective bargaining deals, the various revenue sharing mechanisms they contain to enhance competitive balance and the moving feast that is broadcasting rights…. Highly recommended for all those interested in the economics of professional team sports and the operation of cartels.” –Braham Dabscheck, “Economic Record”, 6/1/2004
I read your entire article and honestly don’t buy it or care. The metro area needs Major League Baseball and it would be a shame if the state can’t pony up $20MM to save the Hops. I wrote my legislator and state senator in support and have encouraged others to do so too.
Thank you for your response. All voices are welcome here and we appreciate everyone.
Some of the decision made 10 years ago, when the Bears moved here to become the Hops, are causing problems today. Renovating the existing stadium to meet MLB specifications is cost prohibitive. I don’t regret the decisions of 10 years ago. At the time we did not know how the organization would integrate into our community. Now we know. Hillsboro is a better place today because of the time, money and resources the McMurray and Wombacher families have dedicated over the last decade.
There are at least 43 other communities who lost their teams that would love to have a relocation conversation. I have not followed the “details of deal” super closely. I do hope that the Hops can find a way to stay here. Hillsboro is better year round because the organization is here year round – not just for the 5 months games are being played. I don’t really love the idea of a new stadium so soon – but I would hate to lose the team.
Thanks for weighing in Mark- your voice and opinions are always welcome here!
How can Hillsboro justify $20 million for a baseball team when there are so many other priorities that affect so many more families? Plus I hate all the traffic the Hops bring in onto Imbrie
They can’t…but the Mayor anf other Councilors have season tickets and are regular attendees. If we pay for it and say nothing its better for them!
I’d love for an MLB team, but I don’t get spending for a minor league team. What other metro area has both a major league and minor league team in that proximity. A quick wikipedia search showed atlanta and gwinette, and NY and brooklyn… What happens to the hops if portland actually landed an MLB team?
Economically they would be wiped out…and have to fold up shop. But that is why this new stadium is being designed for Rock concerts too!
Don’t watch their games and don’t care if they move out of town. This should be funded by its backers, not tax dollars.
“The metro area needs Major League Baseball.” It clearly doesn’t. The metro area kicked a AAA team out in favor of soccer. It couldn’t support the Rockies’ farm club despite what was, by all accounts, one of the greatest promotional teams Portland has ever seen.
The one team tied to MLB is getting outdrawn by a wood-bat collegiate team in this market to the tune of almost 1,000 fans per game. The MLB-affiliated teams here are having a hard time measuring up to a team that plays in a city park, puts its fans in bleachers and blows up whales in the outfield. The MLB-affiliated team here gets trounced in attendance by both men’s and women’s soccer and junior hockey… in a market where most people spend the dry months roaming the coast or exploring the Gorge. There’s a strong chance that bouldering or kite surfing are more popular in this state than minor-league baseball.
It’s not on Hillsboro to pay $18 million in tourism dollars to keep a team that draws no tourists.
It’s not on the parks department to pay $20 million to replace softball fields that draw more people to them each year than the Tonk does.
It’s not on the state to pony up $20 million to bail out a business that has done absolutely nothing to help the state at large.
The Hops have changed exactly one thing about Hillsboro since their arrival: The city’s debt burden. They half-fill a building, comp the city a bunch of tickets, put politicians in the stands and get local journos to cheer from the press boxes, but do nothing to show their work: Because they can’t.
If they were an incredibly successful franchise, they would’ve had no issue showing the public just how much revenue they’d created for the city and county, how much tourism and leisure activity they’d generated within the last decade and how efficiently they could meet MLB’s new demands for minor-league facilities. But they didn’t do that.
They and the city pushed through a package—unfinalized and subject to appeal, by the way—that absorbs more local resources without making it clear how they’re going to make it worth anyone’s while. If you’re averaging 2,300 per game now, what is going to bring in 6,000 per game in the future? If you’re banking on a Live Nation venue here, what’s going to happen when Live Nation builds its two proposed facilities in Portland and McMenamins doubles down on its concert lineup in Forest Grove—where there’s actual accommodations for such things?
The Hops have gone out of their way within the last year to show how they’re a net negative for the city. They don’t generate enough parking revenue to pay off the current ballpark, they can only stay if they absorb the city’s tourism budget for decades and—as the absolute kicker in all of this—they’re going to be rewarded for their abject failure to successfully promote this franchise while players, coaches and parents who bust their ass to actually keep teams, leagues and tournaments afloat in this town get kicked aside.
The writing-to-politicians game works both ways, and railroading this ballpark and its public funding through without a discussion is alienating enough people to not only fill petitions (500 and counting… wow, that’s more than the number of Hops season ticketholders!), but to fuel a fairly robust letter-writing campaign. Welcome to the majors, kids.
FYI:
Hillsboro’s State Senator: Sen.JaneenSollman@oregonlegislature.gov
Hillsboro’s Legislator: Rep.SusanMcLain@oregonlegislature.gov
I’ve been reading your articles regarding this and see your opinions on it and others who also obviously bite everything you’re casting, hook, line and sinker. But you fail to add the benefits of the Hops and what having them here does for our community. Do you realize that the Hops organization alone puts up visiting team players, families of players, MiLB/MLB personnel, etc. to the tune of well over 1000 room nights per year in local hotels? Even with that conservative number (it’s actually more), they are paying local hotels more than $200,000 in room revenue each year. This doesn’t include any other tourists traveling to watch the games. That is the Hops organization themselves paying that into the community just for lodging and doesn’t include any other money spent by those people for food, entertainment, retail, etc. That also doesn’t factor in all of the people who travel to Hillsboro for Hops games who also spend their money around our community.
It’s also quite obvious you are against Hillsboro growth (hence your stance on every topic involving more development of the tech industry here and the large corporations who pump hundreds of millions into our community), creating jobs, or having things for people to do here. You would rather we all have to drive into Portland for entertainment options and employment apparently. You make that quite evident by your repeated reference to “ROCK concerts”, when in reality, the Hops proposal calls for the use of the facilities for ALL types of concerts and other public events. It’s the same tone my elderly father uses when referencing the younger generation’s music, which puts your tone in-line with someone who is bitter about change. As it stands, if I want to do something fun with my kids, I have to drive into Portland or Beaverton for just about anything they would be interested in other than a few small activities here in town or a Hops game. They do love going to Hops games.
Then there are the other major ramifications. If you were to have it your way, you would rather see the Hops pack their bags and leave town. This hurts not only the City of Hillsboro, but the entire Portland Metro Area. It sends a message to all professional sports that “Portland is not a sports city”, “Oregon is not a sports state”, and “Oregon rejects everything”. MLB will look at this and scoff at the thought that they ever considered Oregon for an MLB team and MLB to PDX ‘Portland Diamond Project’, would die. NHL… forget about it. NFL… yeah right. There is a lot more at stake here. Yes it sucks to consider that we are going to need to build a new stadium so soon. It sucks even more when you think back 10-11 years ago and realize, maybe they should have built Ron Tonkin Field across the parking lot back then, giving it the opportunity for future expansion/alterations. Then the space used for RTF would be additional softball fields today. It is really the NET loss of only 2 fields, not 3.
RTF will still be a very nice baseball field for clubs, leagues, organizations, etc. to use much more freely when the Hops are cozy inside their new Stadium (which would have future expansion/renovation ability if God forbid the Hops ever get elevated to a higher league again). Having an open and usable stadium available on RTF’s level also opens the door for… who knows… maybe a PSU Vikings baseball team in the future? There are so many other possibilities that you don’t even explore here, Dirk. Maybe try doing some of that research and brainstorming into what good may come from this all, and you’ll see why so many here actually still support this.
Hello there, S. Davis- or whoever you are, hiding behind an anonymous screen name. Thanks for posting- and thanks for being a ride or die Hops supporter. If you want to properly identify yourself and claim your true place in this discussion we can talk. We allow all comments but want those that want to get involved to say who they are and whom they represent. Your choice. Not going to really give any creedence to an anonymous poster-you might work for the Hops or ??
You again provide no examples – Hillsboro has the best parks and outings of anywhere in the METRO area and that is why it is consistently listed in the Top Places to Live in America- not Beaverton and not Portland- sorry you have missed out on the Fun and games- but maybe that is because you are not from here or need help finding the good stuff? I will help anytime!
I have been clear- the HOPS should stay and grow. They average less than 2,000 fans and have lost attendance in the last 4 to 5 years even accounting for COVID. It is a fun time but not a draw. They can seat 4.500 with the lawn in the outfield now. So they have room to stay amd double their profits. You have read a few stories- but you do not know me. my work, or what I think. You want the HOPS to get everything and want to allow our kids and adults to suffer. PSU baseball can play here now- we have fied space and room for them.
Look man, I appreciate your critique- but if you are going to step to the line and take on the issues at hand, better bring more than some courage you got over a late night Pint. I am always about transparency- the City and Hops have offered NONE. Rather the City and HOPS did this in Executive Sessions that are closed to the public. They circumvented the Hillsboro Parks and Rec. Commission, and using inaccurate data and refusing to do important required work like TIA Analysis- they are not authentic or honest. So state who you are, come with more than projections and hyperbole, and understand that I am not acting or writing alone. I have insiders in the Machine begging me and others to fight this atrocity. And that is what this is. We have room for the HOPS to be what and who they are- and we LOVE them. But this is about the greedy owners, the false narrative, and the bully that is MLB which is heartless and has proven that for decades. Our community is being asked to knuckle under and “bow down” and some of us are saying HELL-NO. That is not anti-HOPS – that is PRO kids and PRO Hillsboro. So maybe put that weak sauce on someone else. I am having none of it. We can have the HOPS and support them (although if they need $50 Million dollars in support that means financially they have failed) and retain Fields 4,5, and 6- it is just a matter of the parties that be wanting to do it.
Thanks for playing!
Dirk
The absolute lack of evidence offered by these anonymous clown shoes is always telling.
” Do you realize that the Hops organization alone puts up visiting team players, families of players, MiLB/MLB personnel, etc. to the tune of well over 1000 room nights per year in local hotels?”
NEWS FLASH: Visiting teams and personnel, plus a handful of scouts, often stay in hotels. What’s funny is that this guy thinks 1,000 room nights is a lot. Let’s just consider the softball fields that the new stadium would replace and the softball tournaments that would be ousted along with them.
-The P.O.N.Y. International Softball World Series generated 2,250 room nights from a single event in McAllen, Texas
-The seven-day U.S. Fastpitch World Series in Panama City, Florida, created 27,400 room nights
-The three-day Premier Girls Fastpitch Super Select Championship in Columbia, Tennessee required 85,000 room nights
-Hell, the Mississippi Bombers Southeast Summer Invite in Oxford accounted for more than 4,000 room nights on its own
Source: https://www.sportsdestinations.com/management/economics/2022-champions-economic-impact-sports-tourism-30928
“Even with that conservative number (it’s actually more), they are paying local hotels more than $200,000 in room revenue each year.”
That’s also an adorable number. In the middle of the pandemic in 2020, Klamath Falls made more than $2 million from hotels, food and fuel based on baseball and softball tournaments alone. Source: https://steensportspark.com/2020/11/steen-sports-park-tournaments-provide-in-local-economic-stimulus/
When Salem hosted the USA Softball 18A Championship just before the pandemic in 2019, it estimated it would make $1 million to $3 million from event attendees alone: https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2019/07/24/salem-usa-girls-softball-western-national-championship/1806111001/
If you’re picking the minors over softball tournaments based on room nights and revenue, you’re thinking small.
“You would rather we all have to drive into Portland for entertainment options and employment apparently. You make that quite evident by your repeated reference to “ROCK concerts”, when in reality, the Hops proposal calls for the use of the facilities for ALL types of concerts and other public events.”
We could be talking about Mongolian throat singing, it wouldn’t matter: It isn’t just Dirk asserting that putting a large music venue in yet another transit desert is a terrible idea… it’s Live Nation, the promoter this project is actively courting.
Before the pandemic, Live Nation thought putting an amphitheater in an old shipyard was a better idea than putting one in a minor league ballpark because A) It has a walkable waterfront location and B) It has Max and streetcar access: https://www.kgw.com/article/news/10000-seat-amphitheater-proposed-in-portlands-south-waterfront/283-9d945349-932f-41e5-9ab9-c950b0d0d4b8
Now, Live Nation would rather put a venue roughly the size of the one the Hops are planning on the Central Eastside—indoors—because it’s once again in a walkable neighborhood near bus and streetcar access: https://www.wweek.com/news/2023/09/06/portland-music-promoters-dread-the-citys-big-plans-for-a-live-nation-invasion/
Big venues tend to go into cities… where things happen. Edgefield has a bit of remove because that’s baked into the business plan and the Gorge is built on being a remote amphitheater. Hillsboro’s not going to land another band box like Ridgefield (because Live Nation wouldn’t allow it) and isn’t going to turn a ballpark into Forest Hills Stadium (https://foresthillsstadium.com/calendar/) West because it doesn’t have four subway lines and the LIRR running to it. You’re asking people to trade all of the aesthetics of a McMenamins venue, the Zoo or Pioneer Square for the poor acoustics of a ballpark—which they’ll only pay for in novel situations, like Springsteen at Wrigley/Fenway or Pearl Jam at T-Mobile.
“Then there are the other major ramifications. If you were to have it your way, you would rather see the Hops pack their bags and leave town. This hurts not only the City of Hillsboro, but the entire Portland Metro Area. It sends a message to all professional sports that “Portland is not a sports city”, “Oregon is not a sports state”, and “Oregon rejects everything”. MLB will look at this and scoff at the thought that they ever considered Oregon for an MLB team and MLB to PDX ‘Portland Diamond Project’, would die. NHL… forget about it. NFL… yeah right.”
And this is where we hit on the insecurities of this group. They want to be what they consider “big time,” but don’t see that Portland’s earned that distinction without any of the things they value. Buddy, c’mon:
1. The Blazers still sell out amid tanking seasons and just brought a G League team, the Remix, to town
2. The head of Nike and his partner at the L.A. Dodgers pooled their money and offered to buy… not a baseball team, but the Blazers. Included in that offer was a pitch to bring a WNBA team back to Portland. https://www.wweek.com/news/business/2022/06/03/does-phil-knights-quest-to-buy-the-blazers-include-bringing-a-wnba-team-to-portland/
3. There is an active push to bring a WNBA franchise to Portland that not only brought commissioner Cathy Englebert to The Sports Bra for a press conference, but has Wieden+Kennedy marketers in on it: https://www.portlandmercury.com/news/2023/07/28/46632153/as-wnba-eyes-expansion-supporters-push-for-portland-to-be-the-new-face-of-womens-basketball
4. The Portland Thorns are the reigning NWSL champions, have multiple USWNT players on their squad and are third in the league in attendance behind two California expansion teams: https://soccerstadiumdigest.com/2023-nwsl-attendance/
5. In a transitional year, the Timbers still draw more than 23,000 per match, rank among the Top 10 in MLS attendance and are the most-attended team per-game in Portland: https://soccerstadiumdigest.com/2023-mls-attendance/
6. The Portland Winterhawks not only have attendance double that of the Hops, but saw attendance grow roughly 1,200 fans per game from last season. https://www.hockeydb.com/nhl-attendance/att_graph.php?tmi=7537 And you think the NHL won’t come here because of minor league baseball? Not only has the NHL shaken off Portland losing Padres and Rockies minor league squads, but it almost moved the Coyotes here 10 years ago: https://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/2013/07/blazers_were_ready_to_buy_nhls_phoenix_coyotes_mov.html It still might: https://www.sbnation.com/nhl/2023/5/17/23727048/airzona-coyotes-relocation-rumors-election-maricopa-county
7. The Portland Pickles—a wood-bat collegiate team, mind you—averaged 3,070 attendees per game this year: https://ballparkdigest.com/2023/09/05/2023-summer-collegiate-attendance-by-average/ The Hops averaged 2,405, thanks largely to a push during the last weekend of the season: https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi?id=a5ca1732 If the Hops leave, neither the PDX Diamond Project nor MLB will see that as a failure of the market: They’ll see that as a failure of the organization and its marketing, promotion, sales and community relations.
“RTF will still be a very nice baseball field for clubs, leagues, organizations, etc. to use much more freely when the Hops are cozy inside their new Stadium (which would have future expansion/renovation ability if God forbid the Hops ever get elevated to a higher league again). Having an open and usable stadium available on RTF’s level also opens the door for… who knows… maybe a PSU Vikings baseball team in the future? There are so many other possibilities that you don’t even explore here, Dirk. Maybe try doing some of that research and brainstorming into what good may come from this all, and you’ll see why so many here actually still support this.”
Sorry, but a multimillion-dollar stadium that isn’t paid off shouldn’t be a consolation prize. You’ll pardon Dirk for not exploring the “possibilities” of burdening an already beleaguered PSU athletic department with another piece of unwanted infrastructure or the “god forbid” scenario of the Hops climbing the minor-league ladder (which one would think would take them closer to Arizona anyway). But the fact is neither he nor the taxpayers here owe you or the Hops anything for your unsupported pipe dreams.
If “so many here actually still support this,” why is the number of Hops season ticket holders (roughly 400) still < the number of people who've signed the petition against this new stadium (roughly 500)? Why is the stadium half full for the season and closer to empty until the team announces it might leave? Why does the team want to get its hands on roughly $40 million in public funding and force $20 million in public expenditures on new fields without so much as a public hearing—never mind a referendum item.
If "so may here actually still support this," let us put it on the ballot. But I'm guessing you're not going to offer support for that either.
You can call me S. Davis, that’s fine. Using a pseudonym is quite common on the internet by the way. I live in Hillsboro and work regionally in the tourism industry and have done so for 18 years. I have direct knowledge of the revenue generated by High-A teams with their partner hotels in this league, and since this involves privately owned businesses, I am not at liberty to release confidential information. I gave “ballpark” numbers on room nights and revenues, as the actual numbers are confidential. If the Hops want to release those numbers, that is entirely up to that organization. I am not affiliated with them in any way. So you can question my “creedance”, but if you want to do some digging, find out who their partner hotel(s) are and ask them yourself, you’ll be able to confirm what I’ve stated.
Yes, Hillsboro has a lot of great parks. The new park at the Hidden Creek Community center is wonderful. It truly is a great place to live as it has been recognized. I’m not trying to claim that it isn’t. But what other entertainment options does Hillsboro have? Blue Ox Axe throwing is new, but I wouldn’t take my kids there. Arcades, those are fun, but I’d prefer less video games so these are an occasional attraction. K1 Speed is great, but over a certain age only, bowling?… so my point stands, the Hops are a great family friendly entertainment option, where Hillsboro does lack other entertainment options for its populace size. Hillsboro is not a small town anymore and that mentality is still hard for many people to grasp.
I would also be very surprised if all of these youth baseball/softball tournaments that you keep referencing, draw nearly as many room nights as the Hops supply just with their organization. I visit Hondo Dog Park several times per week and rarely see Gordon Faber complex as busy as you make it out to be. If you are able to provide actual statistics behind those numbers, I’ll gladly eat crow. Keep in mind, I stated those room night figures are ONLY what the Hops Organization itself is paying for and does not include the room nights that come from other visitors and fans.
I’m also going to reply to Jason Flint here –
I also feel that the continual comparisons that I see of attendance numbers between the Portland Pickles and the Hillsboro Hops are not very transparent. The Pickles play around 40 home games per year, where-as the Hops play around 64-66 home games per year. So if you look at full season attendance (based on 2022 #s), the Pickles drew 72,273 and the Hops drew 150,792 for their respective season. It’s a bad comparison and we need to stop using it. We also know that college sports are popular in Oregon and many of the athletes playing for the Pickles are somewhat from this region so they will pull a lot of local support. People also love fun niche leagues. Look at the Savannah Bananas! Are we going to keep comparing bananas to hops (pardon my fruit pun)?
You listed out several major baseball/softball tournaments around the nation that have happened in previous years, but when have any of those happened here? You can’t use a major tournament that has never been held in Hillsboro as an example of the Softball field’s usage. Major tournaments of that caliber are often the exception and not the rule. Eugene for example had massive sports tournaments and events last year with the use of Hayward Field, City owned sports complexes, Autzen, and MK Arena. Those gave a massive boost to the local economy like you’re referencing, but those wouldn’t have been possible without larger infrastructure in place, like Hayward, Autzen and MK Arena. The smaller tournaments that Gordon Faber draws will still happen and it will still work. I’m not saying that the Hops shouldn’t help replace them somehow and I truly hope they do, but I guarantee any losses of room nights for the net loss of 2 fields is nowhere near what the local hotels will lose with the Hops leaving. It’s not small thinking at all. I have worked directly in the Eugene market during these sports tournaments and know exactly what they are capable of.
And finally, I get it. There is a distrust of governments that don’t follow the normal processes through certain channels the way it’s normally done. Believe me, 99% of the time I’m going to agree with you on this. There is however, a recognition that the City needed to act much faster than going through all of the red tape would have allowed. MLB really put them in a tight spot here and the City Council is doing what they feel is in the best interest to keep this important piece of our community. They are doing so at the expense of negative media attention (such as your own) and the potential that they will lose their seat in the Council chambers when each of them comes up for re-election. Something like that, where they are risking so much to make this happen, knowing how much they will be scrutinized, shows me that their interests truly are for the people of Hillsboro. They know the risks and they aren’t trying to hide it.
Do you realize that the Hillsboro Mayor and City Council, and people like you who want to develop, develop, develop and develop the hell out our verdant farmland are just another bunch of opportunists, speculators, and investors who do not care one iota about overrunning this good farming community with easy living close to all the beauty nature can offer and turning us into an Anaheim North, a Hollywood Blvd., a Santa Monica or San Francisco? We like our Historic Hillsboro, we love our farmers, and do not appreciate nor want you trying to take over our town and pulling the old, tired, staid “afraid of change” card one bit.
Do you think folks haven’t tried to take us over before to make a mint off of us? “Ooo-whee, look at all that dirt, that gorgeous verdant patchwork of lovely green farms, all that flat dirt, so easy to build on,” said the developers, realtors, bankers, investors, and ambitious politicians as they flew over that 2,500 acres between Forest Grove, Hillsboro and Old Glencoe. “This’ll be like shooting fish in a barrel!” as they rub their hands rapidly together in excited anticipation and conspire to devise a master plan to “trick the locals” and run, jump and skip to the bank leaving the mess they’ve made behind for the “long timers” to live with and clean up.
We are warm. We are genuine. We are accepting. But we aren’t dumb and naive as you seem to think we are. We are welcoming with a calm demeanor and you think you can take advantage of us, the hics, rubes, yokels, and easily-fooled bumpkins. You think you can spin some scenario where you’re the benevolent outsider who wants to help “improve our lives, bring commerce, offer jobs, provide generational wealth.” Balderdash. You don’t give a damn about destroying our way of life. It’s laid back here, easy going, relaxed, and neighborly. People help each other without expecting anything in return.
We want livability over rich, shallow, flash. Pretentious, superficial, cold, stuck up, and self-centered are not adjectives we use for our friends and neighbors. This isn’t Hollywood where the audition never ends.
Where are you from anyway? When my family moved here from Portland in 1956, there were a few thousand Hillsborites. In 1960, Hillsboro had 8,000 residents. Now there are 108,000 residents. And you want to pull the “afraid of change” card here? You can pack your dumb innuendo and pack it out. Just like the Hops.
Shall I say “Remember the Beavers?” Oh, maybe you didn’t live here 20 years ago? After having the PGE park in which they played renovated into a soccer field in 2010, they eventually wound up being the El Paso Chihuahuas. Sad that a mighty Beaver would be relegated to being a little, yippy, ankle-biter Chihuahua dog, isn’t it? I don’t care about nor wonder where Mr. Wombacher ends up. He can take his Short Season LLC with it’s 26 wealthy investors and find somewhere else to call home. Talk about a boondoggle
This is simply not a baseball town, no matter how hard you, and Wombacher, and Callaway, and Sollman, and the City Council try to gas light us into thinking it is. It’s all about soccer and basketball now (and even that’s in question). Didn’t you get the memo? Maybe you slipped off the routing list?
WE, THE CITIZENS WHO HAVE LIVED HERE FOR DECADES OR GENERATIONS OF FAMILIES WHO SETTLED THIS LAND AND BEEN HERE FOR NEARLY 200 YEARS DO NOT WANT TO BE TURNED INTO A CALIFORNIA-LIKE ANAHEIM TOURISM ATTRACTION FOR ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT!
WE DO NOT WANT TO BE MADE OVER INTO “INTELS-BORO!”
And if it’s concerts you want, we had hard-rocking Pat Benetar in 2018 and many others over the prior years.
Remember that the Westside Commons was all hyped up as bringing us concerts? Where are the concerts?
It’s all about “say one thing and do another in this town, don’t you know?” There won’t be lights on the god-awful $1.8 million Californian Bridge of Sky and Land (straight out of Baldwin Hills) and “without warning” now there are lights. And do I trust the Mayor and City Council to ever do the right thing when they expect everyone to abide by the City Codes the Mayor and City Council wrote and approved, and yet they did not comply with them for the “Conditional Use 003-23” they passed for the GFRC and new Hops field? Double standard, say it three times, fast.
The whole Hops situation was just a “bait and switch” political ploy to further the Hillsboro2035.org plan of building a plaza, an amphitheater, and other passive entertainment where the active recreational Gordon Farber Recreation Complex now stands, to create a “destination hub” and make tons of money from hotel occupancy taxes.
Don’t let the two-faced politicians treat us like juveniles, and easily lead us down the garden path only to clobber us in the end. It’s not the Gold rush. It’s the Dirt rush and we must protect and preserve our irreplaceable rich farm soil that cannot be recreated or recovered once it’s paved over.
Stop
Hillsboro
Over
Urbanizing
Today
SHOUT!!
“Aren’t trying to hide it?” A team wants public money and won’t open the books. A city promises it to them while sharing nothing with the public. Nobody involved in this deal is doing anything but hiding its actual value.
Nobody will vote out an elected official when a 2,200-per game team in a “High A” division MLB wants to jettison leaves because it doesn’t get a handout.
Also, per-game is a far more relevant figure here than total attendance, as the Hops aren’t drawing 150,000 uniques a year. It’s minimal changeover from their 15-mile base, and the Pickles matket ro theirs better. The Hops could learn something there.
“Fun niche league.” Its just as much s feeder as High A and has the vallups to prove it, but the Hops don’t want “fun,” which is why they’re in their current position.
It’s interesting thst you wave off the baseball and softball events In similar sized markets simpky because they don’t happen here. Youd think someone so deeply involved in county tourism would see those comps for what they are: Market opportunity Gordon Faber slready meets.
I have respobdywith data. You’ve responded with shrugs and dismissals. It’s nice to seem the organization’s culture truckling down, but it isn’t winning the team any battles.
Nobody blames MLB for this: They blame the Hops and, if they folliow the thread, a parent organization that’s playing the same game in Phoenix