By Sean Meyer

Is the proposal to bring a professional independent league baseball team to Labatt Park nothing more than a money grab for the city?

Roop Chanderdat certainly believes that is the case and he is going to say so next Tuesday (Sept. 27) in front of the city’s community and neighbourhoods committee.

Chanderdat, along with Scott Dart, is co-owner of the London Majors, the chief tenants of Labatt Park since 1925, and says the addition of a second team threatens his team’s survival.

Chanderdat says the presence of a second team, which is fronted by Summit Professional Baseball and would play out of the independent Frontier League, would adversely affect the Majors’ fan base and business opportunities.

“We are a community team at the end of the day. What happens to the businesses that are supporting us when this team comes? What happens to the fans that support us when this team comes to town? That is why we can’t co-exist,” Chanderdat said. “We are going to lose some of our fan base, at least for the first little while. We will lose some business supporters. Unless they hurt us, they won’t survive.”

An excerpt from the community and neighbourhoods committee agenda for Tuesday states the new team would make a $23,000 donation towards a new scoreboard at Labatt Park and would generate an additional $25,000 in revenue above that of the amateur teams (not including the Majors) that would be displaced to other city facilities.

“What we are trying to get is why are they doing this? Is it because of the money?” Chanderdat said. “We have worked so hard to increase our attendance; it was 800-1,000, which puts us among the top of the league. We have worked really hard to be a part of the community and it seems that isn’t counting for anything.”

Bill Coxhead, London’s director parks and recreation, said the city has been negotiating with David Martin, president and general manager of Summit Professional Baseball, and that the Majors have been kept informed throughout the process.

“The question will be is this an appropriate use of Labatt Park? We believe it is. They believe it isn’t because it threatens their existence, as they describe it,” Coxhead said. “Did we build a 5,200-seat stadium for the Majors or did we build it for professional ball or whomever might best use the capacity? Most importantly, will this contribute to the entertainment fabric of the community? We believe it will.”

Chanderdat contends London has a history of failed baseball franchises, including the London Werewolves, a former Frontier League franchise that played at Labatt Park from 1998-2001. Another failed franchise would be the London Tigers AA team that played in the Forest City from 1989-1993.

“We had the highest caliber potentially we could get, AA baseball with the London Tigers, and that didn’t even work. That isn’t Frontier League; that was affiliated ball,” Chanderdat said. “This is independent baseball, which isn’t much of a caliber above us, if at all. It didn’t work with the Werewolves, which was a winning team, so what makes anyone think it is going to work now?”

Coxhead said Chanderdat will have an opportunity to make his points before the committee, but added the city wasn’t prepared to make decisions based on speculation about someone else’s business plan.

“Whether this team can sustain itself is up to Summit to deal with. We believe they are a stable organization with backing. They are baseball professionals, they have looked at the marketplace and believe they can make a go of it here,” Coxhead said. “It will be a political discussion, ultimately made by council, but staff is recommending that we give the only person knocking at our door an opportunity to be successful in our community.”

The Majors have launched an online petition asking for London residents to urge council to reject the Summit proposal. The petition can be found at www.petitiononlinecanada.com.