Fox Cities Stadium
As Major League Baseball and the players association continue to negotiate a possible return to the field this summer, minor league teams have been left behind with little hope of a baseball season.
The Milwaukee Brewers single-A affiliate, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are among the teams around the country that are expecting to hear of a cancellation to the season soon.
Timber Rattlers President Rob Zerjav told WRN on Monday that there’s no way minor league teams could have a season without fans in the stands. Zerjav said they’re already losing money and it would be worse playing games without fans.
The Timber Rattlers officially opened back up on Monday, but Zerjav said they’re focussing their efforts on finding other ways to generate revenue, other than playing baseball games.
The Timber Rattlers home field (Fox Cities Stadium) has banquet facilities and has hosted weddings in the past. They’re cooking up fish fry’s on Friday nights and doing other meal deals for fans. They also own and manage the Northwoods League team in Fond du lac (Dock Spiders) and Zerjav is confident that team will start play on July 1.
In the meantime, the Rattlers are waiting for Major League Baseball to pull the plug on their season. Zerjav said it’s not a matter of if, but more likely when.
AUDIO: Rob Zerjav says they can’t afford to play games without fans :07
AUDIO: Rob Zerjav said it hasn’t happened yet, but cancellation is pretty much a done deal :09