NEWARK BEARS DISBAND, BUT LEAVE OUR DEBT BEHIND

The Newark Bears, which at one time was a great local option for fun, cheap professional baseball, will not play this year, according to The Star-Ledger, which also details an auction of its assets set for April 26.

But the team's legacy will live on with a debt that we Essex County residents must pay on the team's ballpark to the tune of $1.1 million annually through 2029. Thank public officials who agreed to this deal when the $30 million stadium was built.

The paper reports:

The Newark Bears are holding a going out of business sale.
 
The now-defunct professional baseball franchise is selling everything from the team's uniform and equipment to landscaping supplies and office furniture, the organization announced today. Even the 56-passenger team bus is up for grabs.

In November, the Can-Am League announced the Bears wouldn't be returning. While co-owner Danielle Dronet said at the time she was "pretty positive" the team would take the field in some capacity, league's commissioner Miles Wolff said he was told by the team's owners that they would not field a team.
The commissioner proved right.

Three weeks ago Dronet and co-owner Doug Spiel contacted auction company T Paul Wilbert & Associates to inquire about unloading the team's assets, according to Tim Wilbert, the auction company owner.

Newark Mayor Luis Quintana lamented the loss of Newark's baseball team.
“While this is a setback for the Bears, the City of Newark, and the region as a whole, we believe that this is not the end for the Bears or their stadium," the mayor said in a statement. "We will work with the county, our partners in the business and sports’ communities, and local colleges and universities to make full use of Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium.”

Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo has not yet returned requests for comment.
Wilbert called the auction for a sports team "very unusual" but said he was confident the sale would be ready despite the quick turnaround time.

The team's 6,200 seat Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium was funded by bonds and opened in July 1999 at a cost of more than $30 million. Essex County and Newark each must pay $1.1 million annually until 2029 to cover the debt service on the stadium, according to a previous Star-Ledger report.

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