Long Beach State and the city of Long Beach have reached an agreement to lease out Blair Field to the university, CSULB Athletics Director Vic Cegles said on Tuesday.
The deal, which will cost LBSU approximately $254,000 per year, will allow the NCAA Division I Dirtbags baseball team to become the primary tenant of the field. The agreement includes four separate 11-year extension options, which could essentially make it a 55-year deal, Cegles said.
“It allows us to do the things to make [Blair Field] one of the best collegiate facilities in the country, and that’s our goal,” he said.
Under its previous permit, the university was spending approximately $100,000 per year to use Blair Field, which included renting and maintaining the field, according to Cegles.
There will be no change to student fees — something President F. King Alexander was adamant about to make the deal work.
Cegles said a projected $252,000 per year in revenue would be generated through concessions, endorsements, alumni donations, commercial and movie shoots, maintenance and facility rental. Additional annual donations include $200,000 for five years from an anonymous donor for operating expenses.
“We feel as if we can come real close to making it break even,” Cegles said. “So, it won’t cost students any additional dollars. It won’t add to our budget.”
LBSU will make upgrades to Blair Field, including locker room renovations and possible “naming opportunities,” Cegles said, which would be a monetary gift in exchange for the naming rights.
“So, we can name the locker room for Jered Weaver; we could name the facility ‘Blair Field at [Jason] Giambi Stadium,'” he added hypothetically. “From a fundraising standpoint, it’s really important.”
Dirtbags head coach Mike Weathers said it’s an opportunity for “all the eras, not just Dirtbags.”
“It’s a chance for old players to have some ownership of the ballpark,” he said.
The university took over the day-to-day operations of Blair Field on Jan. 4, and 49er Shops Inc. will run the concessions. Alexander said food and drink prices would be lowered to accommodate families.
The Long Beach Armada, a member of the Golden Baseball League and a former Blair Field tenant, is filing a lawsuit against the city regarding the termination of its permit. It had previously operated the concessions, which included Dirtbags games. The league released its schedule Jan. 15 and the Armada were not included.
The Dirtbags will now conduct practices at Blair Field instead of the on-campus practice facility. Cegles said a lack of “basic [equipment] you need to have to recruit kids” has hurt the Dirtbags’ growth.
“Have you ever been to this practice facility? Do you see how bad it is?” he said. “We don’t have a locker room, it’s chicken wire on the fence there and I would think that [Weathers] doesn’t even bring recruits to show them that when he brings them on campus.”
Weathers said the Dirtbags haven’t decided whether practices will be conducted at the facility full time.
“We’re easing our way into this,” he said. “For convenience [of the players], we anticipate some practicing on campus. … It’s not going to be a big difference.”
Cegles said the original plan was to invest $2 million to $3 million into the on-campus practice facility through donations from some of the program’s current Major Leaguers, like Jason Giambi, Troy Tulowitzki and Evan Longoria. But he said the city approached LBSU last spring about a long-term lease.
“We’re saying, ‘Yeah, maybe it makes sense to put all our resources into Blair as opposed to doing it here,'” Cegles recalled.
The Dirtbags’ season opener is Feb. 19 against Pepperdine at Blair Field.
Danny Lee contributed to this article.