OnDeck Partners, the Marc Lasry-backed minor-league baseball ownership platform, has acquired the Wilmington Blue Rocks (High-A Nationals). The Blue Rocks became the third team in ODP’s MiLB portfolio, joining the Montgomery Biscuits (Double-A Rays) and Visalia Rawhide (Single-A D’backs), whose sales were announced in December.
OnDeck Partners CEO Mike Carney said the transaction came together over the last several months, and developed out of a friendship with Blue Rocks owner Dave Heller and their shared D.C. ties. No agencies were involved.
“It’s kind of a homecoming for me,” said Carney, formerly the EVP/Business Operations and CRO for the Nationals.
There will be no leadership changes in the front office.
“No staff changes at the local level,” Carney said. “We are looking to be additive to the great things the team is already doing on the ground.”
Riverfront Development Corporation of Delaware (RDC) is the landlord at Blue Rocks Stadium. Three years ago, the stadium lease was extended through 2030. Carney said RDC has a big vision for the surrounding area on the Wilmington waterfront.
“This is right in our wheelhouse,” Carney said. “It’s going to be part and parcel to what the RDC is already doing more broadly. Anytime the ballpark can be the center of entertainment, and it can be part of a bigger plan that the municipality is already putting in place, that’s really where our sweet spot is and that’s what Wilmington is.”
As for OnDeck’s next step, Carney said, “We feel really confident that there’s going to be several more partnerships that will come down the road. What is unique and continuing to evolve is we’re going to these owners with a message of flexibility. There’s lots of different ways that we can partner. It doesn’t need to be 100% equity all the time.”
