MLB has told the owners of the Everett AquaSox franchise that the team needs a new stadium.
Everett, Washington, which is about 30 miles north of Seattle, still does not have its financial house in order to provide public funding for a new stadium for a Minor League Baseball team and two United Soccer League men’s and women’s lower tier franchises. But the Everett City Council is moving ahead with a portion of the project by purchasing four downtown parcels for $10.65 million for the stadium complex. More land is needed and Everett officials are hoping not to seize that land by eminent domain. Everett has to build a new stadium to keep the Everett AquaSox baseball team, the High-Class A affiliate of Major League Baseball’s Seattle Mariners franchise in town. The proposed 5,000-seat stadium would become the new home of AquaSox and two future United Soccer League expansion franchises. The stadium would also host concerts, festivals and other community events. The project will cost an estimated $120 million with AquaSox ownership committing $17 million toward the new stadium but there is a problem.
There is an estimated $31 million funding gap. Everett politicians are hoping to find money from public-private partnerships and other financing gadgets. The AquaSox ownership has been told by Major League Baseball that it has to improve its present facility or build a new stadium to keep the team in Everett. In 2021, Major League Baseball reorganized the minor leagues. MLB created an entity called the Professional Development League and cut the number of minor league teams affiliated with MLB to 120. MLB also created a new set of rules for working conditions and team facilities and gave local owners and municipalities four years to either renovate or build new stadiums in that time frame or have a deal in place for a new or renovated facility. The city of Everett has to do something fast.
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