It is up to Oregon lawmakers to put up money for a new ballpark.
It is up to the Oregon Legislature to come up with money to keep minor league baseball in Hillsboro. The ownership of Minor League Baseball’s Hillsboro Hops franchise of the Northwest League, now has until March 15th to come up with financing for a new stadium in the Oregon city. Originally, Major League Baseball gave the Hops’ ownership a deadline of September 30th to renovate the team’s present facility but the Hops’ ownership has decided to try and build a new venue. The team is affiliated with the Arizona Diamondbacks franchise. Hillsboro is the fifth largest city in Oregon and is part of the Portland metropolitan market. There are about 106,000 people who live in Hillsboro. The city reached an agreement to bring a Yakima, Washington franchise to town in 2012 and construction on a 4,500-seat stadium began in September 2012. The team started playing in the facility in June 2013. The 11-year old stadium does not cut it anymore. Hops’ ownership elected to build a new stadium but it does not have complete funding for the plan. The Hops’ ownership is looking for a $20 million handout from Oregon elected officials.
When Major League Baseball took over Minor League Baseball in late 2019, it decided to cut 42 minor league franchises. The Hillsboro Hops franchise survived and moved up from the Short Season-A classification to a High-A league. But Hops’ ownership was told to fix the stadium or the team would be moved. The Hillsboro park does not meet the MLB minor league stadium standard. Hops’ ownership and city officials considered renovating the Hops’ stadium but the ownership and city officials became convinced that building a new ballpark would be at least “15% more cost-effective” than fixing the present stadium. Hops ownership is headed to Salem begging for money.
