Negotiations to bring Double-A baseball team to Ottawa drag on

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The window to bring Double-A baseball to Ottawa has been extended into early 2013, Mayor Jim Watson said in a memo to city council Wednesday.

According to Watson, Beacon Sports Capital Partners, the group negotiating the purchase, asked for the extension ?given the complexity of the commercially confidential discussions still under way with a number of parties.?

Watson said he ?remain(s) optimistic? that a deal can be reached within the first quarter of the new year, in time to bring professional baseball back to the vacant Ottawa Stadium for the 2014 season.

Negotiations have been ongoing between the city, the Beacon group and the Eastern League, where it has long been rumoured the floundering Binghamton Mets, Double-A affiliate of the New York Mets, will be sold.

On Tuesday, Beacon COO Richard Billings shot down an ESPN report that suggested the sale of the Binghamton franchise to Ottawa had ?fallen through,? saying the report was ?inaccurate? and that negotiations are indeed continuing.

Binghamton Mets president Michael Urda has denied his team is on the move.

Eastern League president Joe McEacharn did not return requests for comment.

David Gourlay, founder of the Champions for Ottawa Baseball group building community support for the team, said the search for local ownership partners remains a key sticking point in negotiations, and could be a ?deal-breaker.?

The baseball winter meetings, starting Monday in Nashville, were thought to be a crucial point in the timeline to finalize a deal. However, Billings said the meetings are not a ?hard? deadline.

?When there is a final agreement with Beacon Sports Capital Partners and the Eastern League, I will update members of council at the earliest opportunity,? said Watson.

aedan.helmer@sunmedia.ca

Twitter: @OttSunHelmer

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Source: http://www.ottawasun.com/2012/11/28/negotiations-to-bring-double-a-baseball-team-to-ottawa-drag-on

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