Men's baseball coming back to NT

ScreamingEaglesFan · February 16, 2005

In an article titled "Stadium deal almost done" in todays NT Daily RV was quoted saying

Villarreal, who has long said that bringing NCAA baseball back to NT is a priority for him and the athletics department, said his goal is to have an NCAA team at NT "at the latest by the beginning of the 2007-2008 academic year."

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Full Text of the article

Stadium deal almost done

chris buckman

Staff Writer

February 16, 2005

Baseball fans at NT who have been deprived of a team to root for since 1988 may soon have something to cheer about.

Although no official agreement has been reached, negotiations are well underway between NT and the Denton Outlaws of the Texas Collegiate League, an independent baseball league that showcases Texas collegiate talent, to build a state-of-the-art baseball stadium on the NT campus at no cost to the university.

The construction costs would instead be paid by the owners of the Denton Outlaws and the collegiate league. Under the proposed agreement, NT would retain ownership of the stadium and the collegiate league would lease the park from NT.

The field would provide a home for NT's club team during the academic year until NT baseball can receive NCAA accreditation, and the Outlaws would use the facilities as a home park during the summer months.

"The memorandum of understanding, the facility usage agreement, and the construction agreement are all now in their offices being reviewed," NT athletic director Rick Villarreal said Monday. "We continue to work with them, and feel that it's all going to come into place."

However, a few hurdles still must be cleared before NT can see NCAA baseball again. John Hampton, president of the Outlaws, said the team has raised "a significant portion" of the money they will need, but the planned stadium could cost up to $3 million.

The Outlaws had originally hoped to build the stadium in the summer of 2005, but have pushed back their plans, hoping to have the facilities completed instead by the summer of 2006.

"We're going to continue to move on as fast as we can [with the construction,] but we're not going to do it before everyone's satisfied with what we're building and how we're building it," Villarreal said. "We're a little bit at their mercy as they continue to raise the money, but we're going to continue to work on it."

Villarreal, who has long said that bringing NCAA baseball back to NT is a priority for him and the athletics department, said his goal is to have an NCAA team at NT "at the latest by the beginning of the 2007-2008 academic year."

Several years ago when NT and several other schools were under consideration for membership in Conference USA, the lack of a baseball team was cited as a weakness. NT was later denied an invitation to join.

"I think it's an important part of a complete athletic program in this part of the country," Villarreal said. "You can look around and see the teams from this part of the country that have been in the [college] World Series. It's a great spectator sport. We think we can generate good crowds for baseball here."

The proposed stadium would seat approximately 6,000, more than the initial plans held for, and would sit on what is called the Newton Rayzor site, a 10-acre stretch of land west of Bonnie Brae Street. This area, known as Eagle Point, is home to NT's new athletic complex and to Victory Hall, the newest dormitory at NT.

Should NT reinstate a NCAA baseball program, it may raise Title IX concerns. Villarreal said plans to meet that challenge, and is committed to doing what it takes to bring baseball back to NT while continuing to provide opportunities for everyone.

"We've put a number of things into place the last year and a half." Villarreal said. "We've got cap numbers in football, we've got cap numbers in track, we've got cap numbers in men's golf. We'll continue to keep our numbers down in the other sports to meet the Title IX requirement. That may mean adding another women's team. That may mean any number of possibilities. But we don't want to really define those things until we find out definitively where we are."

ADLER · February 20, 2005

Wow, are these guys prepared. The Athletic Department is already offering Live Video Streaming of our baseball games. That's amazing considering that forming the team was just recently announced.

Somebody deserves a pat on the head.

STREAMING VIDEO OF NORTH TEXAS BASEBALL GAMES

NT80 · February 20, 2005

Wow, are these guys prepared. The Athletic Department is already offering Live Video Streaming of our baseball games. That's amazing considering that forming the team was just recently announced.
Somebody deserves a pat on the head.
STREAMING VIDEO OF NORTH TEXAS BASEBALL GAMES

They are good. If they offered live streaming video from the new (to be built) football stadium then I'd sign up!

Edited February 20, 2005 by NT80