Chuck Greenberg is coming to a ballpark near you soon.
Greenberg is part of the ownership group that agreed to purchase the Frisco Roughriders from Mandalay Sports Properties. When the deal is finalized, the former Texas Rangers CEO will be have an ownership stake in three minor league teams, including two that feed to the Rangers.
What exactly will change with the product on the field at Frisco's Dr Pepper Ballpark? Here's a brief Q and A with Greenberg to answer that.
How important for you is it to be back in baseball in the Metroplex? It's great. I'm really excited about it. Frisco is a great franchise with a tremendous brand, wonderful operation. As soon as Mandalay decided to start selling the team individually I was pretty aggressive in making sure the focus would be on Frisco. I couldn't be more excited.
What does it mean to have two of the organizations (Myrtle Beach) that feed into the Rangers? I have a tremendous affection for the Rangers organization and all the people within the organization. I have a great affiliate with the Rangers in Myrtle Beach and I'm sure that's going to continue in Frisco.
You did some different things with the Rangers as far as fan experience. Will we notice anything different fans wise with what happens in Frisco? First of all Frisco is already a great operation and we're going to respect the adage âIf it ain't broke don't fix it.' But there's always new and fun ways to freshen up the fan experience, add more value for the fans and to keep it fun and new year in, year out. That's something that (Frisco president) Scott (Sonju) and I are very much looking forward to discussing soon. There's an unlimited number of ways to make fans have a good time and we're trying to explore all of them.
Will there be $1 hot chocolate (something Greenberg did in the summer of 2010 with Texas)? Well it worked before.
What's the endgame? Do you want to add more franchises? There's no master plan. Over the last few years I've been offered a lot of different franchises in minor league baseball and in other sports. It just didn't feel right. This one felt just right. Again being in such a dynamic community and right down the road from where we live (Southlake), having such an outstanding franchise, building off the great relationship that I already have with the Rangers and Myrtle Beach. It just seems like a perfect alignment of the stars.
Will there be any facility changes to an already nice park in Frisco? It's a gorgeous ballpark. It has a look all its own and certainly all the things the fans enjoy we're going to preserve. One of the most enjoyable elements of being in business is to try and come up with new ways to keep the experience of being at the park fresh. If there's something there that can build off what's already in place and make it better then we'll certainly look at it.
