GASTONIA, N.C. — Gastonia leaders announced Wednesday the launch of a new Atlantic League baseball team to replace the Honey Hunters in 2024, tentatively dubbed the Gastonia Baseball Club.
The team's name is only temporary, according to team and Atlantic League officials, who said a permanent name will be decided after receiving feedback from Gastonia residents. The team's ownership group, Zawyer Sports and Entertainment, is led by businessman Andy Kaufmann, who already owns a minor league baseball team in Jacksonville Florida, as well as two minor league hockey teams.
TEAM NAME: To find out more information about the club's new name, click here.
Gastonia's new baseball team will begin its first season with a home game on April 25.
Kaufmann made a big promise during Wednesday's introductory news conference, saying he would pay all Honey Hunters workers and vendors any money they were owed by the club, which has since filed for bankruptcy.
"We are going to show you our love by paying 100 cents on the dollar for everything you earned," Kaufmann said. "Secondly, talk about our community vendors and businesses that may have thought they were never going to get paid ... We want to show you our love by paying 100 cents on the dollar, as well."
Atlantic League President Rick White said the team plans to compete in 2024 and apologized to Gastonia residents for the trouble they've endured with the Honey Hunters' financial woes.
"We apologize to the residents, especially those residents who were employees of the ball club, and the community at large which owns this home stadium," White said.
The Gastonia Honey Hunters baseball team, the previous tenants of the stadium, said Tuesday the team's ownership has no cash to pay back creditors and will not get the money needed unless it wins its lawsuit against the city of Gastonia.
The team has more than $2.5 million in debt. The financial issues led to the Honey Hunters being kicked out of the Atlantic League. The owners want to host events in the CaroMont Health Park to pay back its creditors but the city, which owns the ballpark, is not allowing them to host such events, the owners said. In previously filed legal documents, NC Gas House Gang LLC, which owns the Honey Hunters team, estimated they could generate more than $100,000 in revenue if they're allowed to host events in the park.
The city had sued the team ownership saying the group failed to pay millions of dollars it owed to the city. Team owners have since countersued the city and filed for bankruptcy.
The issues between the team and the city became public in July 2023 when both city and Gaston County officials said the team owed thousands of dollars. Among the outstanding bills, officials said the team had overdue bills for paramedics and off-duty police officers, both of whom had worked baseball games at the stadium. The team did make progress on repayments through the summer, which included repayment plans to entities like Gaston Emergency Medical Services.
In December 2023, NC Gas House Gang filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in Maryland court. The team's balance sheet showed the company was almost $4 million in debt. Court filings showed the company did not file federal tax returns in 2021 or 2022.
The Atlantic League has previously said they intend to have a Gastonia-based team back in the league in 2024.
The Honey Hunters have posted a 2024 schedule to their website that promotes Atlantic League baseball at CaroMont Ballpark.
Previous coverage of the financial problems for the Honey Hunters:
- July 2023: Gastonia Honey Hunters owe tens of thousands for unpaid emergency services, county says
- August 2023: Honey Hunters pay $88K to city of Gastonia, continue to repay county, officials say
- Dec. 6, 2023: Company that owns Gastonia Honey Hunters files for bankruptcy
- Dec. 20, 2023: Judge rules that the City of Gastonia can proceed with suit against Honey Hunters ownership group
- Jan. 23: Parent company of Gastonia Honey Hunters countersues city government
- Jan. 31: City of Gastonia throws out motion by Honey Hunters owners seeking to get back in ballpark