California City Pledges $100 Million to Build Minor League Park for Dodgers Affiliate

As efforts to attract a younger and more diverse fan base are starting to show results, baseball teams are pulling out of minor league and major league markets in the nation’s most populous state.

In the past seven years, three affiliated minor league teams in the California League — Bakersfield, Lancaster, and Adelanto — ceased operations. At the major league level, the Athletics will play their final game in Oakland on Sept. 26. The A’s, moving to Las Vegas after a temporary stint in Sacramento, will be the first major league team in 20 years to leave their fan base and start over in a new location.

However, the city of Ontario is stepping up to keep minor league baseball alive in California and the city has been inspired by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Ontario City Councilman Alan Wapner has been working to bring a minor league team to his city for nearly 30 years, as described in a new report by Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times . According to the report, Ontario is finally on the brink of securing a team — one affiliated with the Dodgers, no less.

Wapner said the scoreboards in Ontario are designed to be hexagonal, similar to those at Dodger Stadium.

“We’re half-jokingly talking about a Union 76 ball out there,” he told Shaikin .

City officials announced that the Dodgers’ California League affiliate, currently the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, has agreed to move into the new Ontario ballpark, which is set to open in 2026.

“The way I describe it,” Wapner said , “it’s a major league stadium hosting a minor league team.”

Within the fishbowl industry of minor-league baseball, there have been years of a musical-chairs relocation within the California League: the Dodgers’ affiliate moving from Rancho Cucamonga to Ontario, the Angels’ affiliate from San Bernardino to Rancho Cucamonga, the Seattle Mariners’ affiliate from Modesto to San Bernardino — where it operated when a young Ken Griffey Jr. roamed the outfield almost 40 years ago.

Independent economists often bristle at the political posturing of the “benefits” of public investment in ballparks. Another California League stadium sits only eight miles from the proposed Ontario ballpark, in Rancho Cucamonga, potentially denting the impact a new park can have in the region. Additionally, there is concern that entertainment spending might shift from other local venues, such as the Ontario Mills mall or Citizens Business Bank Arena, to the new ballpark.

Hiramoto did not provide an economic impact report, but emphasized that the ballpark would help create a new audience. She noted that the ballpark would be part of a larger development plan that includes 50,000 new homes, potentially doubling the city’s population from around 200,000 to nearly 400,000.

This could be a huge shift in the Single-A landscape — and a huge perk for Dodgers fans in Ontario — if the plan comes to fruition.

Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

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