Shreveport backs out of professional baseball deal after feasibility study

Professional baseball will not be coming to Shreveport anytime soon.

According to a joint statement sent to the press, after an 18-month conversation, the City of Shreveport and Arlington, Texas-based Rev Entertainment came to a mutual decision to not continue with the proposed development that began in October of 2022.

Mayor Tom Arceneaux said, "After months of due diligence, the final feasibility study, conducted by Baker Tilly, projected the $105 million project would require around $115 million in bonds guaranteed by the revenues of the city.

Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux (right) and from Sean Decker from REV Entertainment, March 23, 2023.
Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux (right) and from Sean Decker from REV Entertainment, March 23, 2023.

How it started: What's to come of professional baseball in Shreveport?

"The additional costs would provide funds to establish a debt service reserve fund, to pay for bond insurance and to pay other costs of issuing bonds. At current interest rates, this level of debt would require an annual debt service payment of almost $8.4 million per year for thirty years."

This would result in a total net cost to the city of up to $227 million.

Arceneaux said those funds would limit the city's ability to fund needed city services.

The deal, originally announced by then-mayor Adrian Perkins would have built a multi-sports facility that was believed to be the beginning of returning professional baseball to Shreveport.

Perkins and REV Entertainment were unable to announce the team, saying they were still in the early stages of finalizing which one would make Shreveport its home.

The announcement came six months after the city agreed to tear down the Fair Grounds baseball field which has sat vacant for over a decade.

"We are on the threshold of transformation," said Perkins at the time. "We are going to build a new state-of-the-art facility that will house baseball, other sports and entertainment."

Though the joint statement said it was "a mutual decision not to continue with the proposed development" Sean Decker's statement at the end of the press release seemed to indicate the city decided to withdraw from the project.

Decker, President of REV Entertainment, said "We believe sports and entertainment continues to be a catalyst for a community, and Shreveport is a community we believe in. We understand the timing and climate has changed since we first began these conversations in 2022 and understand the city’s decision to not proceed with the project."

"We have great admiration for Mayor Arceneaux, Tom Dark and the city leaders who we have worked with," Decker's statement continued. "Though the timing is not right now, we hope to continue to work together with the City of Shreveport in future endeavors."

More: What's to come of professional baseball in Shreveport?

Makenzie Boucher is a reporter with the Shreveport Times. Contact her at mboucher@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Professional baseball is not coming to Shreveport. Here's why