NH Fisher Cats selling team, will remain in Manchester
Dec. 5—The New Hampshire Fisher Cats are being sold to Diamond Baseball Holdings, which owns minor-league baseball franchises across the country, the team announced Tuesday.
"We are staying in Manchester. We're staying as the Blue Jays affiliate, and we're staying at Delta Dental Stadium," said General Manager Michael Neis.
"Continuing to operate as usual," Neis said in a phone interview from Nashville, where he was attending Major League Baseball's Winter Meetings.
The team's lease with the city of Manchester runs through the 2035 season, with a pending proposal to extend it through 2039, Neis said.
Diamond Baseball Holdings owns or is in the process of acquiring 29 teams. They include Boston's Single-A affiliate in Salem, Virginia, and its Double-A team, the Portland (Maine) Sea Dogs. In a separate announcement Tuesday, DBH said it is buying the Red Sox' Triple-A affiliate in Worcester, Mass.
Officials from the various teams in the DBH family can collaborate and compare notes on what works best at their individual stadiums, Neis said: "Working with all the peers across the industry to provide the best in class," whether it be food and beverage or other hospitality options.
Both sides declined to give the purchase price.
Last year, the Fisher Cats drew 236,809 fans, averaging 3,947 per game, which ranked them 19th among Double-A teams, according to Ballpark Digest. In 2022, the club averaged 4,346 per game.
More than 150 Fisher Cats players have gone on to play in the majors over the team's 20 seasons.
Peter Freund, CEO of Diamond Baseball Holdings, said in an email that the deal will bring benefits to the community.
"In the long-term, DBH will work to further enhance the experience by introducing things like new technology-related innovation, creating new local, regional, and national partnerships, and bringing more exciting events to Delta Dental, such as concerts, comedy tours, holiday and community events and other non-baseball experiences that open up the ballpark to the community year-round," he said.
Neis and Fisher Cats CEO Rick Brenner will remain to run the franchise. Tom Silvia, one of the club's current owners, will stay on in an advisory role once the acquisition is complete.
No date was given for when the deal is expected to be finalized.
DBH will be the club's third owner.
Drew Weber, who at the time owned the Lowell (Mass.) Spinners, a Red Sox Single-A affiliate, purchased a Double-A team from New Haven, Conn., and moved it to Manchester. The team played its inaugural season at Gill Stadium in 2004.
The following year, with the team enjoying its new stadium, Weber sold the team, saying he accepted the blame for the "tremendous amount of money" he lost in getting his team established in Manchester.
Massachusetts real estate developer Arthur Solomon purchased the team.
"You tell me how long I'm going to live and I'll tell you how long I'll be here," Solomon, then 64, told the New Hampshire Union Leader in 2005.
Solomon today remains the majority owner of NH Triple Play LLC, the entity that owns the team. Brenner and Silvia are minority partners.
The Fisher Cats won Eastern League championships in 2004, 2011 and 2018.
