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Loudoun investors get commitment from league
Virginia Investment Partners, or VIP, a group of investors from Loudoun County, has reached an agreement to bring minor league baseball and an Atlantic League franchise to Northern Virginia.
The team could begin play as early as 2011 if the Board of Supervisors approves the Kincora development plan that includes the stadium.
The Kincora project -- at the intersection of routes 7 and 28 -- is a 400-acre mixed-use development that would feature the 5,500-seat minor league ballpark. A public hearing was held June 8 before the county's supervisors at the Loudoun Government Center in Leesburg. The supervisors voted to send the stadium plan to committee for further review, as a vote could come in July.
VIP Baseball will present at the league's board of directors' meeting June 23 in Newark, N.J.
"The Atlantic League is excited to explore bringing ALPB baseball to Northern Virginia," said Frank Boulton, the league's chief executive officer and founder. “We have been monitoring the project with the Kincora development group with great interest for some time and now are positioned to assist in making affordable family sports entertainment for Loudoun County, Va., a reality.”
Boulton agreed to the prospective sale of a franchise he owns with partner Tony Rosenthal.
Joe Klein, executive director of the league and a past general manager of three big-league clubs, and Peter Kirk, who is involved in the ownership of three Atlantic League teams, attended the June 8 meeting on behalf of the league and in support of Kincora. Also attending and speaking in front of the supervisors was Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew, who ranks ninth on baseball's all-time home run list.
The Atlantic League began in 1998 and has membership in eight cities -- Bridgeport, Conn.; Camden, N.J.; Lancaster, Pa.; Long Island, N.Y.; Newark, N.J.; Somerset, N.J.; Waldorf, Md.; and York, Pa.
Former major league standouts Gary Carter (Long Island), Tim Raines (Newark), Sparky Lyle, (Somerset), Butch Hobson (Waldorf) and Tommy John (Bridgeport) currently manage teams in the Atlantic League.
For more information, visit www.kincora-va.com.
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