Atlantic League adds Staten Island team for 2022
Jul. 25—STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball plans to add a team in Staten Island in 2022.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, Staten Island Borough President James Oddo and the New York City Economic Development Corp. announced in a press release Friday an agreement with newly formed Staten Island Entertainment LLC to bring baseball back to Richmond County Bank Ballpark at St. George.
The new team would fill the void left by the loss of the Staten Island Yankees as part of the contraction of 40 minor league teams in 2020. The Staten Island Messenger said the new club would be an expansion team, which would give the Atlantic League nine teams next year.
The team would be the third recent Atlantic League replacement for a shuttered minor league franchise. The league put teams in Lexington, Kentucky, and Charleston, West Virginia, this season. The Staten Island Yankees were a short-season Class A team in the New York-Penn League.
The press release indicated the owners of the Staten Island Yankees have reassigned the stadium lease to Staten Island Entertainment, whose investor group, according to the Messenger, includes Manhattan billionaire John Catsimatidis, "Saturday Night Live" cast members Pete Davidson and Colin Jost, RedBird Capital, former New Jersey politician Eric Shuffler, Yankee Global Enterprises, and the ex-wife of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Dany Garcia.
The city has designated $8 million for new field turf and seating and concourse upgrades. The release said the stadium is also to be used for concerts and other community events.
The team name will be determined by a contest.
