The Rochester Red Wings and Monroe County are back at the bargaining table today, trying to resolve their impasse over next season’s use of Frontier Field.
Rochester Community Baseball’s 20 year lease on the stadium is ending with the end of this season, and the two sides haven’t been able to reach a financial agreement on the stadium lease. CEO Naomi Silver says a decision on where the team plays next year has to be made within less than three weeks, before the annual International League fall meeting sets the 2018 team schedules.
Silver says the Rochester Red Wings have paid about one million dollars a year rent…but indirectly. The county gets the team’s parking revenue, a ticket surcharge plus a share of food and concession revenues. Silver says the county’s position in the ongoing talks has been they want both that indirect revenue, plus a million dollars cash a month on top if it.
Silver says she understands the county wants to pay off the stadium debt, and also has about $7 million in essential maintenance payments coming up in the next few years. But she says the team can’t meet the county’s demands.
