The company that owns the Iowa Cubs baseball team in Des Moines is reportedly interesting in buying the Swing of the Quad Cities for seven-million dollars. Swing president Kevin Krause says Raccoon Baseball Incorporated, or R-B-I, has also offered to pay Davenport the money the Swing owes in a dispute over leasing John O’Donnell Stadium, along with several million dollars in prepaid rent.
Krause says R-B-I plans to use two-thirds of the purchase price to prepay rent to lower the rent down the road and operate more successfully. Davenport has threatened to lock the Swing out of the stadium unless the city’s paid 415-thousand dollars by May 3rd. According to a press release from the city, R-B-I offered to pay two-point-five million dollars for the team, in addition to another four-and-a-half million dollars in prepaid rent.
Krause says the deal came about in a convoluted way. He say “If someone wanted to purchase the franchise, they would contact (the parent company) Seventh Inning Stretch and negotiate that way. This came via the city first.” Krause says he’s being painted as the villain in this whole situation. He says “It’s easy to make me the bad guy because I’m the face of the franchise.”
Krause met with officials from Davenport and R-B-I on April 14th to discuss selling the team. R-B-I chairman Michael Gartner says his company wants to “restore pride and profitability to professional baseball in Davenport.”