City Maneuvers to Attract Baseball Team

Amid reports that Long Beach is making a pitch to keep the Riptide baseball team, the City Council on Monday will consider formalizing the terms of a deal to bring the minor league club to South County.

Still contingent on approval from Saddleback College to build a 4,500-seat ball park on campus for the Riptide, the proposal before the City Council would in effect make the city a minority partner with the ballclub.

Under the lease proposal, the Riptide would pay no rent, and both parties would share revenue from tickets, concessions and parking.

“If they’re successful, we’re successful,” said Dan Joseph, Mission Viejo city manager. “We feel they will be very successful here.”

The team would be obligated to stay in Mission Viejo for 15 years. The ballclub would then hold an option to stay for another 10 years.

On finalizing the deal, the city would give the Riptide a $150,000 check to pay the city of Long Beach for the release of stadium commitments from Blair Field, where the team played last season.

Mission Viejo would guarantee sales of 1,750 season tickets and would get 25% of revenue from walk-up sales and season ticket sales over 2,000. The city also would match advertising dollars spent by the Riptide during the first season.

Once the $150,000 had been recovered, the city would get 10% of ticket sales. City officials estimate that Mission Viejo will clear about $250,000 annually.

Riptide owners Paula Pyers and Pat Elders said Long Beach officials have indicated that they will make an offer that is significantly better than the contract the team has played under at Blair Field. Long Beach city officials could not be reached for comment Friday.

Mission Viejo Mayor Sherri M. Butterfield said Long Beach’s interest shows that the Riptide is a desirable franchise.

“It certainly suggests that they are a viable club,” she said.