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Spartanburg County Council commits one million dollars in tax revenue annually for foreseeable future

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SPARTANBURG, S.C. —

In less than two years, a minor league affiliate of the Texas Rangers MLB team is expected to make its debut in downtown Spartanburg.

The $250 million stadium project will sit along Daniel Morgan Avenue, behind the AC Hotel. It's by far the largest private development in the city's history. The second largest is nearly three times less at $85 million.

"It's hard to overstate how big it is for downtown. And for Spartanburg as a whole," said Christopher George, the communications manager for the city of Spartanburg.

Spartanburg County Council voted to commit one million dollars each year for the foreseeable future in tourism revenue funds, saying the project will help expand tourism.

"When Major League Baseball and the Texas Rangers say, 'This is where we want this team, to be in Spartanburg, South Carolina.' It sends a message to the country that something's going on special in Spartanburg and the Upstate of South Carolina, and they want to be a part of it," said Spartanburg County Council Vice-Chairman David Britt.

Designed by the Johnson Group, the project goes beyond the field.

"It's going to have offices, it's going to have a residential area with condos, and they'll have many things beyond when the baseball season ends," said Britt. "There will be public events, concerts and all kind of gatherings down at the field and at the stadium."

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"There's going to be so much opportunity there for businesses," said George. "It's really going to be an entirely new section or district of downtown."

Work has been underway, but you will likely start to see construction on site by October.

The team is the Down East Wood Ducks, which is currently based in Kinston, NC. They are expected to begin playing in Spartanburg in spring 2025.

SPARTANBURG, S.C. —

City of Spartanburg leaders and Diamond Baseball Holdings held a groundbreaking for a new minor league ballpark in the heart of the city.

The ownership group announced Wednesday the new ballpark off Daniel Morgan Avenue will be called Fifth Third Park. They added they are excited for work to begin.

“People will be right on top of the field," said Tyson Jeffers, the General Manager of the Spartanburg Professional Baseball Club. "There’s not going to be a bad seat in the house. There will be some higher-end areas like the suites and the club level that are going to be really important for the business community, but just for your normal fan or family that’s coming, it’s going to be a cheap date, and we want to make sure we keep our prices low, so we can get as many people in here.”

Construction likely to begin this fall on Spartanburg baseball stadium

Spartanburg Mayor Jerome Rice said the ballpark is part of a $500 million project. It will also add apartments, a hotel, retail, offices and a parking deck to downtown.

“I’m a lifelong resident of Spartanburg, and an investment like this and what’s truly behind it, I mean bringing families together, bringing families downtown, making Spartanburg a destination is truly the key," Rice said.

More news: A family restaurant in Spartanburg has closed. The owner explains why here.

Diamond Baseball Holdings said the 3,500-seat ballpark will cost around $75 million and will honor the area’s baseball history, which includes the Spartanburg Sluggers of the Negro Leagues.

Oprah's Favorite Things 2023 list is out. Check out the Carolina business on it.

The park will be home to the Texas Rangers’ Single A affiliate, the Down East Wood Ducks. It is not known if they will make the jump to High A from Low A to compete with the Greenville Drive, a minor league affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.

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Jeffers hopes the proximity of the teams doesn't lead to them splitting the fanbase.

“I hope there’s going to be enough baseball for people to choose from," he said. "I think there’s going to be enough opportunity for people to come out to games and get different experiences.”

Jake Evatt, who owns a business in Spartanburg, believes the Upstate can handle the two minor league teams.

“Even though we call it the Greenville-Spartanburg area, the Upstate, I think they’re two different communities," he said. "I think Spartanburg being 30 minutes from Greenville, it’s a totally different community, totally different people.”

City leaders and team officials also hope the park can bring more people into downtown Spartanburg and looks forward to a future with the Drive.

“I think there’s an opportunity to create a healthy rivalry between the teams as well as both of us are going to be extremely focused on the community," Jeffers said. "I know the Greenville Drive do great work.”

Leaders said they have already picked a team name and branding, but that won’t be revealed until April of next year.

“We just want to make sure we’re creating something that is welcoming and is conducive with the Spartanburg community," Jeffers said. "Obviously, it will evolve over time, and we’ll continue to add different pieces to it and make sure every single year they come back, there’s something new and fresh for them to see.”

Opening Day is scheduled for April 2025.

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Remember, exhibitions don’t count. The score doesn’t matter. Who USC plays doesn’t matter.

All that matters to them is they’ve played another team, and can see what adjustments need to be made before the home opener against USC Upstate next week.

So while the 60-57 win over the Terriers won’t count toward the season’s record, the Gamecocks can take away that they found a way to win.

Perhaps that slow start should take priority. Could it be first-full-game jitters, even if it’s an exhibition? Potentially. But it’s a similar trend to what happened during the intrasquad scrimmage USC held last week during Garnet & Black Madness night.

Wofford easily jumped out to a 11-4 lead just two minutes into the game. USC didn’t score a 3-pointer until late in the first half. The Gamecocks were getting out-rebounded 23-17 by halftime.

That’s not sustainable for USC this season, regardless of the end result. The 17-point deficit looked like a mountain to climb, and it won’t be easy to reclimb that same mountain every game in the regular season — particularly in conference play, and the Gamecocks know that.

“We let them throw the first punch really,” Myles Stute said. “We didn’t come out aggressive enough. We didn’t come out how we talked about coming out throughout the past couple of weeks.”

Paris said he liked playing Wofford for this exhibition because of the aggression and physicality the Terriers came out with. He’s used to seeing it, with his five years in the SoCon. That didn’t change how quickly the Gamecocks realized what Wofford could do, and how to not “hit the panic button.”

“You’re gonna want to call for mercy and hit that panic button and we didn’t hit the panic button,” Head coach Lamont Pari said. “So I thought that was really good.”

Stute made his true USC debut and proved exactly why he’ll be an asset during the dog days of the season. When the Gamecocks struggled to score a 3-pointer, Stute was the first one to sink it. When USC couldn’t get a rebound, Stute ended the game with 11 rebounds — giving him the only double-double of the night.

Ground was broken Wednesday for Spartanburg's new Minor League baseball stadium, to be called Fifth Third Park after its naming rights sponsor, Fifth Third Bank.

"Fifth Third Park is going to be the most engaging, most exciting and the most entertaining baseball experience you can get," said Tyson Jeffers, general manager of the new Spartanburg team. "Let's make Fifth Third Park the new hub of Hub City."

Hundreds of fans and public officials attended the festive ceremony that had a baseball game feel to it. The site of the future 3,500-stadium stadium is behind the A.C. Hotel at West Main Street and Daniel Morgan Avenue. It is estimated be open by April 2025.

The National Anthem was sung by Emma Brooke Alley of Converse University, speakers were introduced as batters up, vendors tossed bags of peanuts to attendees and T-shirts were thrown as souvenirs into the crowd.

"This is the biggest project in Spartanburg's history," said Spartanburg Mayor Jerome Rice. "A couple years ago we were just talking about a baseball team coming. But now, look at what will happen on this site here."

The new Spartanburg team is a Class A affiliate of the Texas Rangers Major League organization. It is owned by Diamond Baseball Holdings.

Peter Freund, CEO of Diamond Baseball Holdings, said Wednesday's groundbreaking date was chosen in advance with hopes of coinciding with a World Series victory by the Texas Rangers.

The Rangers were up 3 games to 1 over the Arizona Diamondbacks ahead of Wednesday night's World Series Game 5. The Rangers won in Phoenix, 11-7, and claimed their first championship in franchise history.

"If you're superstitious and baseball fan like myself, the fact that they could bring it home tonight is all because of us being here on Nov. 1," Freund said. "We are thrilled to have the Texas Rangers as our partners and hopefully later this evening the World Champion Texas Rangers."

The team's current name is temporary, Spartanburg Professional Baseball Club. A permanent club name, logo and mascot will be revealed sometime in the coming year.

Project seen as boost to Spartanburg's western gateway

In May, a group of public and private partners led by The Johnson Group in Spartanburg announced that a new stadium will be built next to the A.C. Hotel and host a Minor League Texas Rangers affiliate, which was then playing as the Down East Wood Ducks in Kinston, North Carolina.

The City of Spartanburg will own the 3,500-seat stadium, and it will be developed by The Johnson Group of Spartanburg.

The stadium is part of a $425 million development project with multifamily housing, office space and entertainment options at the 16-acre mixed-use site in the area known as the Grain District on Daniel Morgan Avenue and just off West Main Street.

Besides the stadium, the project will include a 150-room hotel, more than 375 luxury apartments, a 150-room hotel, and 200,000 square feet of office space. The space also has parking for at least 1,500 vehicles and a public plaza.

At Wednesday's event, Geordy Johnson, CEO of The Johnson Group, said the project will breathe new life into downtown Spartanburg's western gateway.

"It will be a hub, a meeting spot, a social venue, a destination," Johnson said. "I believe that Fifth Third Park has the opportunity to become Spartanburg's front porch. Fifth Third Park will be a lasting landmark for generations to come."

The project is a result of a partnership between the City of Spartanburg, Spartanburg County, the State of South Carolina, OneSpartanburg, Inc., The Johnson Group and Diamond Baseball Holdings.

Robbis & Morton of Birmingham, Ala., will be general contractor for construction of the stadium. In addition to 3,500 fixed seats, there will be 12 corporate boxes, a 5,000-square-foot club lounge, a children's area, a grass seating berm, and concession facilities. The stadium will serve as a year-round venue for public and private events.

'Biggest project in the city's history'

City Manager Chris Story has called it the biggest project in the city's history, both in scale and in the amount of capital behind it.

"What we're talking about today is a $425 million undertaking, $305 million of private investment in about a four-block area," Story said at a recent City Council meeting. "We believe it will transition Spartanburg to a whole new (level) of economic activity and opportunity. It is really a once-in-a-generation opportunity."

A breakdown of the main funding sources:

➤ The state Legislature provided $54 million.

➤ Spartanburg County will provide $1,873,000.

➤The Downtown Partnership Committee will provide $3,610,319.

➤ City of Spartanburg will be providing a funding source to cover the estimated $58.6 million cost of the stadium and associated public infrastructure, which will include revenue from the city's local accommodations tax and Downtown Development District fund and revenue from the baseball stadium itself, once it is open.

Baseball: A Spartanburg tradition for nearly a century

Professional baseball has long been a tradition in Spartanburg. It will be the first time in 31 years that a Minor League Baseball team has played in Spartanburg.

The Spartanburg Sluggers, a Negro League team, called Duncan Park home from 1926 to the early 1950s.From 1963-1980, and again from 1986-1994, Spartanburg's historic Duncan Park was the home of the Spartanburg Phillies, a South Atlantic League minor league affiliate of the Philadelphia big-league team of the same name.

The Greenville Drive, which play in the High-A South Atlantic League, are currently the closest Minor League team to the Hub City.

Spartanburg leaders have said they believe the Upstate can support two Minor League baseball teams.

Those interested in seeking employment or season tickets can go here:

Staff writer Samantha Swann contributed to this story. Contact her atsswann@shj.com or on Instagram at @sam_on_spartanburg.

Bob Montgomery covers Spartanburg County politics and growth & development. Reach him via email at bob.montgomery@shj.com.

Early in October, Dylan Scott released a new six-track EP called “I’ll Be a Bartender.”

It is Scott’s sixth EP, and his eighth release overall, including two full-length studio albums, 2016’s “Dylan Scott” and 2022’s “Livin My Best Life.” Throughout his decade-long career, the Louisiana native has established himself as a serious player in the world of modern country pop music, and his new release drives that point home.

The opening title track on “I’ll Be a Bartender” is a perfect example of the styles that Scott mixes into his music. Yes, there’s a weeping pedal steel guitar on the song, and Scott has a classic country twang in his confident, gritty delivery. And yet the influence of modern pop music is strong in the tune as well. It has a foundation of pure electronic beats.

It’s a sound that has served Scott well. The singer-songwriter has scored three No. 1 country hits (“My Girl,” “Nobody” and “New Truck”) among his catalog of singles since entering the music industry in 2013. Scott’s streak of top-selling hit singles is impressive. He has three gold singles, representing sales of 500,000 copies apiece, and three platinum singles, meaning they’ve sold a million copies each. “My Girl,” has sold 3 million copies.

Scott’s songs have also been streamed an unbelievable 1.8 billion times, and the songs on “I’ll Be a Bartender” have already been streamed over 100 million times, despite the EP only having been out for a little over a month.

Scott performs live at Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium Nov. 16 and you can expect to hear a whole slate of hits, including “Hooked,” “Nothing To Do Town,” “Can’t Have Mine (Find You a Girl)” and many others.

You can also expect a great live show. Scott has spent much of the last decade sharing the stage with country music giants like Garth Brooks, Luke Bryan and Chris Young, and he’s learned how to create a powerful, tight show.

Want to go?

Who: Dylan Scott, with Tayler Holder

When: Thursday, Nov. 16

Where: Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium

Tickets and info: crowdpleaser.com/events