Atlantic City Surf Cease Operations
March 30, 2009 - Canadian American League (Can-Am)
Atlantic City Surf News Release
Atlantic City, NJ -The Can-Am League received a letter today from Managing Partner Mark Schuster stating that the team would be turning in its membership in the Can Am League immediately. The Surf will cease operations after eleven seasons of professional baseball. The Surf has three years remaining on the lease including the upcoming 2009 season. Formed in 1998 as a charter team in the independent Atlantic League, the team played nine seasons before joining the Can-Am League in 2007. Opened as "The Sandcastle," in 1998, Bernie Robbins Stadium, the home of the Surf, has been the central issue leading up to the today's decision.
The Surf, previously owned by Frank Boulton, was purchased in 2006 by a group of investors led by Mark Schuster. Experiencing many on-field successful years, including seven post-season playoff appearances and numerous attendance records, the team continued to build the franchise in recent years under the leadership of President Chris Carminucci. Off the field, in 2008, the organization's attendance increased over 24 percent and the Surf set a Can-Am League single game attendance record of 8,016 fans on July 3, 2008. However, even with the improved financial performance of the club, the team is still losing money. "This is obviously a sad day for the ownership group and more so for the great fans of South Jersey and the Atlantic City area," said Schuster. "For more than three years now, we really gave it our best shot. While we made great strides in improving the financial performance of the company, there are much larger issues that we face when we look at whether to recapitalize the company or say enough is enough", Schuster noted. "The overriding issue that is adversely affecting our ability to drive revenue is the impending sale of Bader Field property which sits beneath Bernie Robbins Stadium. "When the City put the "For Sale" sign up on the property in October, it significantly changed things. We immediately started fielding calls about whether we were still in business and whether we were playing baseball anymore". Sponsors saw this as a sign that we would not be a long standing member of the community and that we are short-term." "If there is one thing that sponsors want it is that they want to feel like they are part of something that is growing".
Coupled with Bader Field being for sale was the fact that the City of Atlantic City refused to invest in maintaining or making any capital improvements to the stadium. Bernie Robbins Stadium used to be one of the crown jewels in minor league baseball but in recent years has begun to show its lack of attention. The Surf made numerous requests to City Council and City Staff for capital improvement funds only to be rebuffed each time. In the spring of 2008, the City allocated $500,000 to fund repairs at Bernie Robbins but those repairs were never made. The City leases the property to the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority who in term leases the stadium to the Surf. "I cannot say enough about the good people at CRDA", stated Schuster. "Tom Carver and Nancy Wattson went out of their way to continually try and help the Surf in whatever way they could".
"The impending sale of Bader Field, the stadium being in disrepair and the City's unwillingness to extend the lease beyond the next three years were significant factors in our inability to raise new capital", stated Schuster. "Both existing investors and new investors were weary to put more money into the business because the team could be without a home in less than three years. It was a tough argument to make to our existing partners as well as new investors. "We really tried. We are not in the business to lose money and if we are losing money there needs to be a glimmer of hope that we will have a place to call home for years to come. We did not have that in Bernie Robbins Stadium", stated Schuster.
"The fans of South Jersey and the Atlantic City area have been phenomenal-it is a great disappointment to us that they will not be able to enjoy another season of Surf baseball", said Chris Carminucci, President. "We can never thank this community enough for all the support they have given us over the years and we can only hope that we've provided them with lasting memories of baseball and family fun for years to come."
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Canadian American League Stories from March 30, 2009
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