SPORTS ECONOMY
ertown into the most iconic spring training base in baseball. He
added the 6,000-seat Holman Stadium in 1953 and, over the
years, a nine-hole golf course, the villas that replaced the old
barracks, the Dodger Pines golf course community with its own
clubhouse and a conference center to give Dodgertown a yearround
income. In 1964, the Dodgers bought the property from
the City of Vero Beach rather than continuing to lease it.
Under Walter O’Malley and his son, Peter, the Dodgers won six
World Series championships and 14 National League championships.
While continuously investing in Dodgertown, they donated
to the community and paid local taxes.
In 1998, Peter O’Malley sold the Dodgers for $350 million to Fox
Television, which six years later sold it to the McCourts of Boston
for $420 million. Neither of these owners had the ties to the local
community that the O’Malleys did and constantly threatened to
take the team to Arizona. The McCourts moved the team in 2008.
DODGER VACANCY
In an effort to keep the Dodgers in Vero, the city and county
spent $17 million to buy the property, lease it back to the Dodgers,
upgrade the complex and add a two-story administration and
clubhouse building. The county issued a $29 million bond issue
financed by a state grant and tourist taxes. The contract with the
McCourts required them to pay a penalty if they broke the lease,
which they did. However, if they had paid the penalty, they had the
option to purchase the property, which the county did not want.
An attempt to bring the Baltimore Orioles to Dodgertown lost
to a significantly higher offer from the City of Sarasota. That city
spent $31 million in tourist development tax funds to renovate
its stadium.
Minor League Baseball leased the facility in 2009, bringing
baseball, softball, football, soccer, lacrosse and swimming teams
to the complex. That year, Dodgertown became Vero Beach
Sports Village. On its 80 acres, it offered 89 hotel rooms, a dining
facility, clubhouses, weight rooms, a Stadium Club, swimming
pool, 10 baseball fields, tennis courts, a large multi-purpose
athletic field, Holman Stadium games and a variety of events.
The conference center continued to cater to business events and
seminars. The county spent $2.4 million in 2012 to add a cluster of
softball/youth baseball fields.
With the sports facility experiencing financial difficulties,
O’Malley stepped in, forming a partnership in 2012 with his sister,
Terri O’Malley Seidler, and former Dodger pitchers Chan Ho Park
and Hideo Nomo. The group signed a new lease with the county,
extending operations to 2019. By 2016 the sports facility had
shown its first profit.
The loss of the Dodgertown name was a disappointment for the
Vero community. The McCourts refused to allow the name to be
used. O’Malley, working with a new Dodger ownership and with
Major League Baseball, reached an agreement he described as
“complicated” that led to the Historic Dodgertown name in 2013.
GOOD NEWS
Recently, Historic Dodgertown was added to the U.S. Civil
Rights Trail, a collection of Southern landmarks where segregation
was challenged in the 1950s and 1960s. Robinson and his
fellow African-American Major League players began training
here 70 years ago. Peter O’Malley, as director of Dodgertown,
integrated the seating, water coolers and bathrooms in Holman
Stadium in 1962.
With the MLB agreement, O’Malley says, “This long-term partnership
IRC HISTORICAL SOCIETY
On opening day in Vero in 1948, Jackie Robinson, the first African American to
play in the major leagues, homered for the home crowd.
is good news for the county and Vero Beach. Historic Dodgertown
will become an internationally known tourist designation.”
Indian River County Director of Tourism Allison McNeil says it is
“fantastic” that Major League Baseball is leasing Historic Dodgertown.
Because it is year around, Historic Dodgertown “absolutely”
has had a larger impact on the local economy than the former
Dodger spring training. “With the Major League brand,” says Mc-
Neil, “Historic Dodgertown will have an even greater impact.”
Major League Baseball announced renaming Historic Dodgertown
the Jackie Robinson Training Complex on April 2. v
MARK DOLAN
Former Dodger great Maury Wills assists with bunting practice during 2007
spring training in Vero Beach.
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