Wiregrass Baseball Deal Strikes Out

By Matt Wiley

More than a month after Pasco Sports, LLC, missed its final deadline to submit proof of financing for its proposed $34-million baseball facility in the Wiregrass Ranch Development of Regional Impact (DRI), Pasco County staff is in the process of drawing up a new Request For Proposals (RFP) to build a sports facility at the same site.

At the December 16 Pasco County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) meeting, the Board voted unanimously (5-0) to scrap the contract that it had signed in January 2014 with Pasco Sports for a 19-field baseball facility on 22 acres of donated land from the Porter family, which owns Wiregrass Ranch. The county had agreed to dedicate up to $11-million in tourism funds to pay for the infrastructure necessary for the facility. 

Pasco Sports’ James Talton and retired MLB star Gary Sheffield were given until December 5 to turn in a financing plan, proving that they had secured funding partners for the project. The December 5 deadline was the second extension the BOCC had granted, after Sheffield promised to personally put up the initial $3-million investment at the November 18 BOCC meeting. However, Pasco Sports did not turn in its financing plan by the deadline.

County administrator Michele Baker told the BOCC that prior to the final deadline, Pasco Sports followed up with her, wanting to restructure the deal, which she said that she was open to, as long as they could ultimately prove they could come up with the necessary funding for the project.

“Whether it was this deal, or another deal, we still needed to have proof of the financing being available,” Baker said. “Ultimately, they did not meet the deadline, at their choice, so I recommend that we terminate the current business deal.”

Baker recommended putting out another RFP for the same site and negotiating a new and better deal, whether it’s once again with Pasco Sports, or another business partner that comes forward with a proposal for a facility at the Wiregrass site.

“I think, collectively, we can look at this, not as a failure, but as an opportunity to move forward and find something that’s going to be a perfect fit for Pasco County,” BOCC chair & District 1 commissioner Ted Schrader said at the meeting. 

Before voting to terminate the baseball facility contract, Sports Facilities Advisory (SFA, a group that specializes in advising and planning for the development of sports tourism facilities across the country) CEO Dev Pathik gave a presentation to the BOCC about the prospects for sports tourism in Pasco County. 

Pathik made recommendations for updating the county’s Tourism Strategic Plan, including possibly even hiring a sports commissioner to travel and market the area to possible sports tourism developers. 

He recommended putting out an RFP that explicitly outlines the county’s goals in economic development and requires developers to prove that their concept could help bring in visitors and fill local hotel rooms throughout the week, not just during weekend sporting events. He also recommended bringing in a company with a proven track record of building sports facilities. He mentioned that Pasco Sports’ proposal focused on dorms for athletes within the facility, which would take away from the economic potential for the area by having the athletes stay in local hotels.

“You should create options for (developers) to approach the county with what they believe to be the very best model in the county’s best interest and look at what the options are,” Pathik said.

“It’s about coming up with a strategy that’s ‘county-centric,’ that’s focused on the county’s objectives first and foremost,” Pathik added.