The Kansas City T-Bones won’t be evicted from their baseball stadium on Friday.
The Unified Government announced today it would give them another 30 days.
Mike Taylor, UG spokesman, said that the T-Bones and American Association made a $50,000 payment, and the UG gave them 30 more days.
The team has told the UG a couple of different groups are interested in buying the team and it will take a little more time to happen, Taylor said.
In August, the UG stated that the T-Bones were more than three-quarters of a million dollars behind in their utility and stadium payments to the city of Kansas City, Kansas, and the Board of Public Utilities.
The UG issued an eviction notice to the T-Bones in a letter dated Aug. 16, for an eviction on Sept. 13.
According to Taylor, the one-month extension was granted in order for the team and the American Association to negotiate the sale of the team to a new owner.
“The T-Bones, the American Association of Independent American Baseball, and the Unified Government have been committed to playing the 2020 season and beyond. This agreement with the UG is a good reinforcement of that mutual commitment,” Joshua Schaub, the commissioner of the American Association, said in a news release.
The Unified Government owns the stadium and in 2017 reworked the management agreement with the T-Bones in an effort to keep the team in the stadium. Under the agreement, the T-Bones are responsible for paying current utility bills, past due utility bills and past due payments for use of the stadium, the UG news release stated. The T-Bones failed to make most of those payments.
Team owners have stated they are in the process of selling the team and indicated the back debts could be paid when the sale is confirmed. The extension gives the T-Bones and American Association 30 days to negotiate and complete the sale of the team and payment of the debt. The payment of the $50,000 and extension of the eviction does not relieve the T-Bones organization of paying the remainder of the debt owed, the UG stated.
“The Unified Government looks forward to the sale of the team to new owners and repayment of the debt. More importantly, we look forward to keeping a baseball team in our stadium because we view the team as a community asset and an important part of our successful Village West tourism district,” County Administrator Doug Bach stated.
The 30-day extension runs until 5 p.m. Oct. 13.