GASTONIA, N.C. — The parent company that owns the beleaguered Gastonia Honey Hunters baseball team is now countersuing against the city of Gastonia, claiming the city government worked with the team's league to wrest ownership of the Honey Hunters from the company.
The countersuit from NC Gas House Gang LLC, filed on Monday, Jan. 22 in the U.S. District Court of Western North Carolina, claims the city worked with the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball to take the team from the company "through coercive and predatory behavior." Such alleged actions included the city seizing the company's lease interest in CaroMont Health Park and physically changing the locks at the stadium.
The company claims the idea to transform a forgotten part of West Franklin Boulevard into the Franklin Urban Sports and Entertainment District (FUSE District) was noble, but turned hostile when the city sued NC Gas House Gang in 2023, seeking to void the agreement between the city and the team to try and kick the Honey Hunters out of the stadium. The company now wants a jury trial and, if a favorable ruling is found, damages of at least $75,000 before accounting for attorneys' fees and interest.
Issues with the Honey Hunters first came to light in July 2023, when both city and Gaston County officials confirmed the team owed thousands of dollars for services ranging from having paramedics working at the ballpark to hiring off-duty police officers for security. The team did make progress on repayments through the summer, which included repayment plans to entities like Gaston Emergency Medical Services.
Another turn of events happened in December 2023, when NC Gas House Gang filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in Maryland court. The team's balance sheet showed the company was in the red by almost $4 million, and court filings showed the company did not file federal tax returns in 2021 or 2022.
The financial issues saw the team kicked out of the ALPB, although the league has said it intends to field a Gastonia-based team again in 2024.