Diamond Baseball seeks long-term deal to keep Arkansas Travs in NLR

The owners of the Arkansas Travelers went before the North Little Rock City Council on Monday. Here’s what was discussed.

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Dickey-Stephens ballpark is alive and well this baseball season. 

Of course, that park is home to the Arkansas Travelers. At the North Little Rock city council meeting held on Monday, Diamond Baseball Holdings, which is the company that owns the Travelers, council members discussed the ongoing negotiations with the city and the reasoning for an extended lease for the ballpark.

Diamond Baseball and the city are currently in negotiations for their lease, which is set to end next year, but Diamond Baseball is proposing a longer extended lease with the goal to keep the Travs in North Little Rock and expand their footprint in the community.

Many of us know the sights and sounds of a ball game during the baseball season, the crowds cheering, the crack of a bat for a homerun, and, of course, the seventh-inning stretch. 

While many flock to the stadium to catch a game during baseball season, during their talks with the city, Diamond Baseball made it clear that they want to do more with the ballpark in the off-season to help both baseball and the city.

“This is a special place, and we’re really excited about what you guys have going on in North Little Rock,” explained Henry Shepard, who is the Head of mergers and acquisitions and government relations of Diamond Baseball.

Since they took over, the goal has been to elevate the experience around baseball, and now they’re hoping to bring the fun and have a decades-long impact on North Little Rock.

“What Dickey Stephens and the Travs mean to the city is what we do when baseball games are not going on,” Shepard said.

Part of the ongoing negotiations for a 20-plus-year lease extension is the use of the ballpark outside of the baseball season. 

Shepard said that would include using the park in some capacity daily, if possible, and especially in the off-season, to bring events to North Little Rock.

“Concerts bring things like winter festivals that stay here from Thanksgiving to January 1st, Halloween festivals for two weeks in October, proms, HBCU classics, high school baseball games,” he described.

The lease is still active for another season, but Diamond Baseball said that they want to invest back into the community for the future of both the Travs and North Little Rock.

“We want to share the ballpark with the city. If you guys want to run events there, we truly believe that Dickey-Stephens Park, Diamond Baseball, and the Travelers succeed the most if we are truly in a public, private partnership with you guys rowing in the same direction,” Shepard said.

North Little Rock Mayor Terry Hartwick said in the meeting that they are hoping to have negotiations on the new lease wrapped up by the end of the year.

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