FORT SMITH, Ark. — Fort Smith has its eye on the ball for a new franchise coming in the Summer of 2024.
On Monday, Nov. 13, the Mid-America League announced Fort Smith will be the home of its fourth franchise yet, and the first outside of Texas.
"There hadn't been a baseball team here in the summer for such a long time. So we're glad to finally bring that back in," said Matt Perry, President of the Mid-America League.
Perry says the team will be made up of mostly college players from across the country with some spots for select noncollege players, such as "graduating high school players who have committed to play college ball. We'll also have some roster spots where we can bring in kids that aren't in college that are trying to continue to develop their skills."
Perry said they chose Fort Smith for the loyal fan base and the growing population.
"There's already a 300,000 population base over that in the region, a really strong business base, and [we've gotten love from] the people down here," said Perry.
The team is working on finalizing plans for using a pre-existing facility for the 2024 and 2025 seasons while working with the City of Fort Smith to build a stadium on Riverfront Drive, expected to be ready by 2026.
“The premise isn't to just start the process, [we want to ask,] 'what do we want to accomplish? What are the goals?'” said Perry.
"We're not going to build a giant stadium. I don't want a lot of empty seats. But we also want something big enough where we can do some other fun things. Concerts, that type of thing. Youth Soccer or football, it's going to be used for quite a bit of different things" said Greg Kigar, general manager of the team.
The team will be owned by local investors and the league will institute a Name, Image, and Likeness program for players to earn income.
A name has not been chosen for the team yet as the franchise is looking for community input. You can suggest a name on the Mid-America League website.
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