The Orioles and the Maryland Stadium Authority have agreed to a two-year extension on the lease for Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
The extension was voted on at an MSA meeting on Monday and will run through December 31, 2023. The Orioles can exercise a five-year extension option by February 1, 2023.
“The MSA and the Orioles are currently discussing terms of a new lease and capital reinvestment that would keep the team playing in an upgraded Oriole Park at Camden Yards that would offer increased economic benefits from both baseball and year-round, non-baseball uses,” MSA chairman Thomas Kelso said in a statement.
The Orioles have been playing at Oriole Park at Camden Yards since April 1992, and they want to negotiate a long-term lease over the next two years.
“In the generation since the ‘Ballpark That Forever Changed Baseball’ opened in the heart of Maryland, Oriole Park at Camden Yards has attracted more than 72 million visitors to Downtown Baltimore. The Orioles are proud of our one-of-a-kind partnership with the Maryland Stadium Authority and the more than $10 billion in local impact we have created together for the residents of the city and state that we have called home for 67 years,” John Angelos, Orioles chairman and CEO, said in a statement.
The extension must be approved by the Maryland Board of Public Works.
“The Orioles’ partnership group that has managed Oriole Park to this spectacular level of returned economic impact are native Marylanders with a vision of continuing our long-term commitment as economic development and community contributors for generations to come,” Angelos said. “At a moment when we are all coming together to meet the public health and economic challenges brought by the COVID-19 crisis, today’s partnership extension by the MSA and the Orioles is an important collaborative step as the chairman and board of the Maryland Stadium Authority join together with the chairman and leadership of the Baltimore Orioles limited partnership group in fulfilling our aligned vision.”
News of the extension was first reported by WBAL Radio.
Every weekday, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. If you’d like to submit…
CINCINNATI—What happened? The Orioles completed their best week of the season, winning their fourth straight…
CINCINNATI—Dean Kremer allowed just one hit in six sparkling innings, and the Orioles completed a…
Albert Belle signed a five-year, $65 million contract with the Orioles in late 1998, but…
CINCINNATI—Starting pitcher Grayson Rodriguez, who’s on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation, has…
CINCINNATI--What happened? John Means was dominant in his first start of the season, allowing three…
View Comments
2 Years? 2 Stinkin' Years!?!?
But hey kids .... don't dare read between the lines on this one. (Jedi mind trick)
"The Orioles have been playing at Oriole Park at Camden Yards since April 1992, and their hope is to negotiate a longer-term lease over the next two years".
Uh ... Yeah right. How long have they already had ... but they need 2 more years to get the deal they want. Thought .. isnt' that about the same time frame as "the rebuild"? Coincidence? Hmmmmmmm.......
Maybe instead of the Boy Genius, when all is said and done, Mikey may be known as "The Closer".
Rich, thanks for answering my lease question in your previous column. My question and your response had impeccable timing.....lol
Gotta agree with Boog, seems awful coincidental that they could walk on 2023, to a new location, with a potentially much better team, with new owners, REALLY hope that doesn’t happen, but two yrs doesn’t seem like people were really working at it...go O’s...
Ray, they're not going anywhere. I don't know how many times you and others need to be told that. There are countless reasons for them to stay and none for them to move.
Amen Rich
not "them", new owners after sons forced to sell after Peter passes.
Ray .... really I'm with Rich ... you're so hard headed!
:)...well duhhh...lol...go O’s...
The self-congratulatory tone of the press release is offensive. The current Orioles partnership group didn’t build the stadium, yet they are taking credit for it. And what, exactly, is their “aligned vision”? Man, John Angelos is in desperate need of a PR guy, because this bs extension only adds fuel to the fire of relocation. Of course, there will be no public interviews about this, because the “man behind the curtain” stance of ownership won’t permit it. Rich, it’s really, really easy to like the guys between the white lines and hate the guys who own this team because of their arrogance and condescending attitude towards fans. People feel it.
Rich … Given the existing concerns about the financial stability of the franchise (declining attendance, the MASN litigation, slashing of the payroll), I don’t think a two year lease extension is very reassuring to fans. Despite the wording of the press release, I have a feeling something more than Covid-19 is holding up a long term lease. Yes, these negotiations are complicated, but they are now in year 30 of a 30 year lease – if both sides were intent on getting a long term extension done, it could have been accomplished by now.
I think changes the team would like to make to the ballpark require more time to negotiate, Birdman, and Covid may not be the time to do so.
correct, they had long before covid to get long term done.
Allow me to go against the grain of popular gut feelings mentioned so far. The initial glance was --'what,2 years?" But rethinking it-2 years allows for time to iron out the renovation,financial plans for a bigger,better downtown facility. As a usual doom and bloomer I can see light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Baby steps leading to bigger leaps.
Orial, I think you're correct.
They could sign a 50 year lease and still people would be skeptical...that’s why we are called fans and not running the business
Thank you, millboy.
Well said
I don’t see an excuse to delay a planned relocation. I simply see the Angelos boys using the time for negotiating more ways to bring in revenue for themselves, i.e. the Billy Joel Concert, in order to offset the loss in MASN revenue.
I’m sure this is all on the up and up as Rich is trying to assure you all. The present climate certainly is not conducive to going out and making some long term commitments with so many unknowns out there. This is for both sides in the negotiating.They agreed to two years and are willing to wait until there is a more stable environment and predictable future.Now may not be the time ( for the obvious reasons noted) to put all your cards on the table.
Ain’t going to lose no sleep over it. Fans are so good at spending other people’s money. Ain’t got no time for conspiracy theories. The O’s are not being run by Robert Irsay. Just because the Angelos family maintains privacy in their business dealings does not mean they are secretly plotting evil deeds. I have not agreed with all their decisions but the team is not moving. We have the best ballpark in America.
It's going to be a LOOOONNNNGGGG season !
:)...go O’s...
It’s baseball right? Love a long season. When you lose, hey there’s another game tomorrow. Hope springs eternal and I am the eternal optimist. Drink some orange Kool Aid.
With Vodka...go O’s...
Honestly, I think that if it wasn't for COVID, it would be a longer deal; it really exacerbated things. The deal seems to be a detente for John and Louis as far as operations go for the team and their own plans to generate revenue and do more for the team and the city. I'm guessing that when a new lease is extended (30-99 years, is my guess) they'll do some renovation and take away seats for more concourse space. Plus, more events would be there like concerts, festivals and maybe even outdoor hockey games.
Would love to see more concerts and an outdoor hockey game!
Rich, I'm just curious because you said in a previous comment "there are coutless reasons for them to say and NONE for them to move". Having lived in the Baltimore area for a while, how on Earth do you come to the conclusion that there are no reasons to move? The reason people are so skittish about a franchise move is A.) they've been burned before and B.) the benefits of going to another market seem to far outstrip the benefits of staying. Outside of the intrinsic beauty of the stadium, which loses a lot of value when one considers it lacks many of the amenities of more recent parks like open concourses and giant video boards, what are you seeing that no one else seems to be picking up on?
Steve, those amenities you write of, open concourses and giant video boards, could be worked on in a new long-term agreement.
There is no major league ready stadium nor concrete plan anywhere to build a stadium in any city. If there were, Tampa Bay or Oakland may have already moved or gotten a new stadium underway in their market.
None of the markets thrown around, Nashville, Portland, Las Vegas or Charlotte are all smaller than this one, and none of them have the TV market reach this one does.
The Colts moved because cities were lining up to build them a new stadium and Memorial Stadium was aging rapidly.
There’s also no evidence that any of those markets are terribly eager for big league baseball.
Rich, good points. Indianapolis had already built the RCA dome and Irsay wanted the team closer to Chicago, where he lived. This supports your underlying point about stadia. Also of note, the Ravens, nee Browns, moved to Baltimore because Cleveland needed a new stadium and the City/State had one built and ready to go. PA is more popular in Balto than Art Modell in Cleveland. This new arrangement has as much to do about Maryland's ability to pay for the capital improvements expected by the O's (or even a new owner), as any financial issues that the O's have. The O's are not moving anywhere. I agree with you 100%.
Please, Phil, stop making sense.
As one who had compared the O’s current situation to that of the Colts before they left and after reading all the differing viewpoints concerning this issue I gotta say Rich, you, and those expressing similar views, have convinced me that I’m wrong. I am now of the belief the O’s aren’t going anywhere soon (except up in the standings I hope). OPACY is just too much of a gem and as you stated, I don’t see any cities clamoring for a team. It’s just that the loss of the Colts left such a deep, as yet unhealed, scar on me that even the thought of losing the O’s is traumatic. I tell people that when the Colts left I could’ve been clinically diagnosed as depressed for 6 months. I had gotten to personally know Frank Kush. I’d even golfed with him. I have no personal connections to any O’s but what I have is far greater, 50 plus years of memories watching so many great players and teams. So thanks to all of you for convincing me they’re staying put. I feel much better now.
Good to hear, David. These are tough times, but I knew you’d see the light!