New Baseball League Outlines Plans for ’96 Start

Hoping to create a partnership involving players, clubs and host cities, founders of the United Baseball League said Tuesday that they plan to open in 1996 with eight teams in the United States, one in Canada and one in Mexico.

“Ideally, we’d like to take advantage of the window of opportunity in 1995, but I think the odds are against us,” said Richard Moss, referring to the possibility of opening next spring.

Moss, a player agent and former general counsel of the players’ union, is one of four founders. The others are Smith College economist Andrew Zimbalist, Texas Congressman John Bryant and former New York congressman Bob Mrazek.

At this point, Moss said, the league has no owners, cities or stadiums--the emphasis has been on establishing the management company, he said--and won’t try to sign players for another month at least. But he said the plans do not depend on a continuation of major league baseball’s labor dispute.

“We’ll compete (with the American and National leagues) just the way Ford competes with General Motors,” Moss said. “In fact, I feel strongly that a large number of owners are ready to back off the salary cap and that they’ll work out an agreement (with the union) very soon.”

Moss said the plan is for the league to expand to 16 teams, including Japan and Korea, within three years and that it is imperative to have teams in the New York and Los Angeles areas.

“The next step is to make contact with the political leaders in the cities that have contacted us,” he said, adding that the league will offer each city a 15% pretax profit and equity share in the team in return for the construction of a “fan friendly” stadium or use of an existing facility.

Players will receive 35% of a team’s pretax profit and 10% of expansion fees and the capital gains profit from team sales. All of that money will go into a general fund, with the players determining how it is to be used.