(LEXINGTON, KY) – Temerity Baseball has partnered with a local investor group to acquire Lexington’s Atlantic League (“ALPB”) team and stadium. Temerity Baseball is one of the strongest and most experienced owner/operator groups in minor league baseball and also owns the Greensboro Grasshoppers of the South Atlantic League and the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers of the Carolina League. The ownership group includes a number of local investors including former Lexington Legends President Alan Stein and other members of the group that built the stadium and brought the Legends to Lexington in 2001.
“We are delighted to have the opportunity to bring a new era of Professional Baseball to Lexington with our ownership of the Lexington ball club, which is an anchor franchise in the Atlantic League, the top-level MLB Partner League,” said Temerity Baseball Founder and Chairman, Andy Sandler. “For many years the Lexington Legends were a crown jewel franchise in minor league baseball playing in a charming stadium and at the top of the South Atlantic League in attendance and fan support. We are going to do everything we can, working with our Lexington partners, to bring back the excitement and enthusiasm of those earlier days,” Sandler added.
The ALPB approved the transfer of ownership of the team to Temerity Baseball prior to completion of the acquisition. “The Atlantic League was excited to add a Lexington team in 2021 because Lexington had been such a great professional baseball market for over two decades. The future is now even brighter for Lexington Baseball as we welcome Temerity Baseball to the Atlantic League, recognized as one of the outstanding community-focused ownership groups in all of minor league baseball,” said Atlantic League President Rick White.
“I have spent much of my adult life establishing and promoting professional baseball in Lexington, and I am so excited to have the opportunity to reengage in this labor of love with the Temerity Baseball leadership team. The expertise, financial resources and enthusiasm Temerity Baseball brings to restoring the heyday of professional baseball in Lexington gives me great hope that we can recreate the level of community support we had for the Legends and once again fill the ballpark with families on game days,” said Stein.
Temerity Baseball is already hard at work preparing for the 2024 season. “We will host a big announcement on February 15th in Lexington. We hope the community will join us for that, because it will be legendary,” said Sandler. More details will be released on Lexington Baseball’s social media channels (@lexingtonlegends on Instagram).
Temerity Baseball has signed a multi-year partnership with Transylvania University for the Pioneers to continue playing at Lexington Professional Baseball’s stadium. “Transy’s baseball team has shared a home field with Lexington’s professional baseball club since 2019, and we are truly excited to continue our partnership with Temerity and its community supporters. The facilities and staff at the ballpark create an exceptional experience for our student-athletes,” said Transylvania’s president, Brien Lewis.
“We are thrilled with Temerity Baseball’s new ownership and excited to announce that this will be Transylvania’s permanent home for the next 20 years. To be a part of this partnership and in a facility loved by our community, I cannot imagine a better situation in NCAA Division III baseball,” said Dr. Holly Sheilley, Transy’s Vice President of Athletics.
Lexington opens the 2024 Atlantic League Championship Season at home on Thursday, April 25th against the defending ALPB South Division Champion High Point (NC) Rockers, the first of 63 ALPB games to be played at 207 Legends Lane. For ticketing and sponsorship information, please visit LexingtonLegends.com.
About Temerity BaseballTemerity Baseball is owned by Temerity Capital Partners, a multigenerational family office led by Andy Sandler and his sons Michael and Jake. Temerity Baseball is led by Scotty Brown, a minor league baseball veteran with over 30 years of experience operating minor league baseball teams. Temerity Baseball was formed in 2018 to enable Sandler to further his passion for baseball and community redevelopment with the purchase of the Kannapolis Intimidators (Class A, White Sox). Temerity Baseball persevered through a final season in an aging stadium and a year-long delay due to Covid before opening the award-winning Atrium Health Ballpark in 2021. Rebranded the Cannon Ballers, and now playing in the Carolina League, the team has seen steady attendance increases each season and is now one of the top drawing teams in Class A minor league baseball. In addition to its baseball business in Kannapolis, Temerity is partnering on development projects around the ballpark. In February 2024 it will open Stadium Lofts, a 43-unit apartment building that will also house the Cannon Ballers’ team store and a Temerity-owned restaurant and bar, The Towel City Tavern. Temerity expects to begin construction on Kannapolis’s first hotel, which will also be stadium-adjacent later in 2024. In late 2021, Temerity purchased its second professional baseball team, the Greensboro Grasshoppers, the High A Pirates affiliate, and First National Bank Stadium. Already a highly successful South Atlantic League team, Grasshopper revenue and attendance has increased significantly following the Temerity acquisition. Temerity has plans to build a 300-unit apartment building with two restaurant/bars adjacent to First National Bank Field.
About the Atlantic League
Celebrating its 26th Anniversary season, the Atlantic League is Major League Baseball’s first Professional Partner League, a player gateway to the major leagues, and a leader in baseball innovation. ALPB has sent over 1,400 players to MLB organizations while drawing over 46 million fans to its family-friendly ballparks throughout its 25-year history. For more information, please visit www.AtlanticLeague.com.