Baltimore Orioles to stay put in Camden Yards

Article posted by Coliseum, October 12^th, 2023

Image: Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Keith Allison, CC BY-SA 2.0

The Major League Baseball (MLB) team Baltimore Orioles will call Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland (US) home for at least another three decades.

‘cbssports.com’ stated that during the September 28^th home game against their peer team the Boston Red Sox (GameTracker), the team announced on the scoreboard that the Orioles and the Maryland Governor Wes Moore have agreed to a new 30-year lease to keep the team in Camden Yards. The current lease was set to expire this December 31^st.

The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team in Baltimore (US). The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League East division.

The 45,971-capacity Oriole Park at Camden Yards, commonly known as Camden Yards, is a baseball stadium in Baltimore, Maryland (US). It is the ballpark of Major League Baseball’s Baltimore Orioles, and the first of the “retro” major league ballparks constructed during the 1990s and early 2000s.

‘cbssports.com’ further stated that the scoreboard announcement said, “Earlier today (September 28^th), the Orioles Governor Wes Moore and the State of Maryland and the Maryland Stadium Authority agreed to a deal that will keep the Orioles in Baltimore and at Camden Yards for at least the next 30 years!!”

The Maryland Stadium Authority (MSA) was established by the General Assembly in 1986. The original mission was to build, manage and maintain quality facilities to retain Major League Baseball and return the National Football League (NFL) football to Maryland. The MSA is committed to enhancing the Maryland experience for those who live-work-and-visit Maryland.

Jeffrey Provenzano, Vice-President (Facilities), Maryland Stadium Authority, US, is a Member of Coliseum Strategic Committee.

The new lease agreement includes two five-year options that extend into the 2060s.

The Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott said in a statement, “The Baltimore Orioles are an institution and an irreplaceable member of the collective family that makes up Charm City. I am extremely pleased that under this agreement, they will continue to call Oriole Park at Camden Yards – the ballpark that forever changed baseball – home for another generation. I want to thank John Angelos (Chair and Managing Partner of the Baltimore Orioles) and the entire Orioles organization for continuing to be a team not only in Baltimore, but of Baltimore. I also want to thank Governor Moore, the Maryland Stadium Authority Chair Craig Thompson and the entire team at the State for their great work ensuring our Orioles remain in Baltimore. I look forward to working with them and all of our partners as we embark on the next steps to modernize the Oriole Park and the surrounding area into the best version of itself.”

Earlier in the month of September, the Orioles head honcho John Angelos said, “We’re going to have 30 more (years in Baltimore)” as rumors swirled that he preferred to move the team to Nashville. The sons of owner Peter Angelos, who has not been involved with the team while battling illness the last few years, were entangled in a legal battle, and at one point an investment bank was hired to assess a potential sale.

Last year, the State approved $1.2 billion – $600 million each – to improve the Camden Yards and the 71,008-capacity M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, home of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens. Earlier this year it was reported that the Angelos was seeking additional taxpayer funds to build a ballpark village around Camden Yards, an unrealistic request due to the fact that the land around the stadium is already occupied.

The Orioles Park at Camden Yards opened in 1992 and is an iconic venue. It marked the return of the retro-style ballpark and the end of the cookie cutter (ordinary) era.

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