ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The IronPigs minor league baseball team may be staying in the region for a while longer as the Lehigh County Commissioners approved providing up to an additional $3 million to the team.
The funds are in addition to the $1.5 million the county committed to the stadium improvement project back in May.
Asked if this funding ensures that the team will stay in the region, Commissioner Geoff Brace said it should if the city of Allentown chips in as well.
- Lehigh County Commissioners committed up to an additional $3 million in American Rescue Act funds for the improvement project
- The IronPigs need to make $9.5 million in stadium upgrades or risk losing their MLB affiliation
- Upgrades must be completed by the start of next season
“Based on my review of [the] math, Lehigh County's commitment will see the construction project through completion, but we need the city to come through for that to hold true,” Brace said in an email.
At a meeting Wednesday, commissioners unanimously approved providing a share of the county’s American Rescue Act funds for stadium upgrades. But several commissioners lamented the need to do so.
“I’m not enthusiastic about this. There’s a litany of things that I would rather see rescue plan money go to,” said Commissioner Ron Beitler, who removed his name as a co-sponsor of the bill.
But as some commissioners noted, an ultimatum from Major League Baseball may have painted the county into a corner.
The league has demanded that Coca-Cola Park undergo expansions of the stadium clubhouse and training room, as well as new stadium lighting and other amenities at a cost of about $9.5 million before the start of next season.
If it isn’t done in time, the IronPigs could lose their affiliation with the MLB and the Philadelphia Phillies.
“This is a very, very real threat from Major League Baseball. There have already been leagues that have pretty much been dissolved,” said Commissioner Antonio Pineda.
Pineda pointed to the New York-Penn League, a single-A short season baseball league that was disbanded in 2020. He said that league had provided full season baseball, but it is now little more than “a showcase league for college athletes that want to be drafted.”
Since 2019, more than 40 minor league teams have lost their MLB affiliations.
“I know it seems like ‘well, it’ll never happen here.' But there have been many cities across this country that it has happened to."Lehigh County Commissioner Antonio Pineda
“I know it seems like ‘well, it’ll never happen here.' But there have been many cities across this country that it has happened to,” said Pineda. “And, I want to make it also perfectly clear that this is not the baseball team, the IronPigs, coming to us and saying ‘oh, we need this, we want this.” This is major League Baseball telling them ‘you have to do this or you’re not going to have a minor league baseball team’.”
Commissioner Brace reminded the board that the county owns the stadium.
The IronPigs pay more than $928,000 a year to the county in order to be able to call Coca-Cola Park home, he said.
If the team leaves town, Brace said that county taxpayers will have to absorb that cost.
“That would come straight out of real estate taxes. And that’s the unenviable situation that we face,” said Brace.
In order to receive this new funding - which would be doled out as $2.3 million to help complete construction of the upgrades with room to provide up to $3 million if necessary, the team must extend its lease of the stadium.
This move also amends the team’s lease to note that, if at some point in the future the IronPigs wants to refinance debt associated with the stadium, the county would split any proceeds of that debt relief with the team.
“So, theoretically, we are looking at an agreement to the lease that will be a net benefit to the taxpayers of Lehigh County,” Brace said.
Along with Lehigh County, Northampton County and the state have also provided funding for the upgrades.
The City of Allentown could provide some funding as well. Allentown City Council has been on the fence about sharing $1.5 million in American Rescue Act funding for the stadium all summer.
But it may address the issue at its next meeting on Oct.19.
