The City of Pensacola and the Pensacola Blue Wahoos are excited to announce that Blue Wahoos Baseball will continue to call Pensacola home for another 10 years, renewing their lease at the city’s Community Maritime Park in downtown Pensacola for two additional five-year terms.
“The Pensacola Blue Wahoos are such an integral part of Community Maritime Park and downtown Pensacola, and I’m thrilled that they have decided to stay in Pensacola for another 10 years,” Mayor Grover Robinson said. “We are so fortunate to have Minor League Baseball here in the City of Pensacola, offering opportunities for residents and visitors of all ages to enjoy a beloved American pastime while experiencing Pensacola’s beautiful waterfront views. I look forward to enjoying many more Wahoos games over the next decade.”
“We are very appreciative to the fans that are so supportive of Blue Wahoos Stadium and our team,†team co-owner Quint Studer said. “What was uninhabitable land not too long ago is now a cornerstone in the revitalization of Pensacola. We’re grateful for the opportunity to continue to provide affordable family-friendly fun in downtown Pensacola for the next decade.â€
Entering its 10th season, Blue Wahoos Stadium is widely considered one of the premier facilities in Minor League Baseball. A two-time recipient of Ballpark Digest’s Best Double-A ballpark and four-time winner of the Southern League Ballpark of the Year, Blue Wahoos Stadium has welcomed over 2,500,000 fans through its first nine baseball seasons.
As a community ballpark, Blue Wahoos Stadium hosts over 200 events throughout each year, bringing University of West Florida football, high school and youth sports, concerts, movie nights, festivals, and numerous other family-friendly community events to downtown Pensacola.
“We’re very thankful for the first 10 years at Blue Wahoos Stadium and looking forward to the next 10,†Studer said. “Over the last year, there has been intense competition nationwide to be one of the just 120 communities that gets to host affiliated Minor League Baseball, and having a great facility like Blue Wahoos Stadium is key. Due to the vision of Mayor Robinson and the support of the City Council, we’ve been able to find solutions to ensure our community’s ballpark meets the facility requirements to remain affiliated, including improving the playing surface, the lighting, and the netting. We are very thankful for our community’s support and the support of Major and Minor League Baseball and the Miami Marlins.â€
Since their founding in 2012, the Blue Wahoos have established themselves as one of the most successful businesses in Minor League Baseball, winning the Southern League Organization of the Year four times, the Bob Freitas Organization of the Year twice, ranking first in all of baseball in Fan Experience, and consistently being rated as one of the top places to work in the nation.
The long story short is that the Blue Wahoo’s were never going to move as they threatened. The “for-profit” team owned by the two wealthiest people in Northwest Florida Quint & Rishy Studer had a contract that required the Blue Wahoo’s to pay for minor league baseball changes to the city’s stadium. Solution? The Blue Wahoo’s more or less forced the city to agree to a new 10-year contract that now makes city taxpayers pay for Blue Wahoo’s upgrades to the stadium. The Blue Wahoo’s wrote the contract and told the city “take it or leave it.” That is how city government now works in the Studer-era. Mayor Robinson was only too glad to force the city council to approve the contract because he does whatever Quint Studer tells him to do. Studer advertising revenues keep local newspapers afloat so they’re not going to report the truth. As case in point, an upcoming PNJ story on this matter is incredibly deceptive. What is surprising is that the city council members were all so ready, willing and eager to give the Studer’s $2 million in public money to include one who told me that she was outraged at what was being done. It helped that Quint Studer had lobbied council members in private to include inviting them over to his office for a little “chat” or meeting with them in their office. $2 million is nothing to council members who spend money like drunken sailors on shore leave. But to regular citizens, the $2 million could have done a lot to make the city a better place to live. This deal is all about taking money from city taxpayers to make the Studer’s even richer.