The Oklahoma City Dodgers have entered into an agreement to become part of Diamond Baseball Holdings (DBH), which is a subsidiary of Endeavor, a sports and entertainment company.
Per multiple reports, DBH recently purchased nine Minor League Baseball Teams and agreed to operate all four affiliates of the Atlanta Braves. The OKC Dodgers will continue to be led by president and general manager Michael Byrnes and remain the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“Joining DBH is another step toward furthering our commitment to contributing meaningfully to the Oklahoma City community,” Byrnes said.
“Along with DBH, we will continue to deliver a next-level experience in Minor League Baseball, with the same traditions we know and love. I trust that joining DBH will serve everyone well into the future.”
DBH will support the OKC Dodgers with ticket sales, partnerships, naming rights, food and beverage, merchandise, content strategy, collectibles and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which are increasing in popularity and led MLB to sign a long-term deal with Candy Digital to produce NFTs for them.
As part of DBH, the Oklahoma City Dodgers will work closely with Diamond Baseball Holdings’ leadership, Pat Battle and Peter Freund.
“Diamond Baseball Holdings will be global in our ambitions and hyper-local in our approach, and creating incredible fan experiences will remain our number one priority,” said Battle and Freund.
“Additionally, we look forward to providing opportunities for growth to the employees of PDL Clubs whose passion and ingenuity have built the sport through the decades.”
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman added, “The Oklahoma City Dodgers have been fantastic partners for the past seven seasons and we look forward to continuing our partnership with them for many years to come.”
OKC Dodgers previous ownership and management
The OKC Dodgers have been owned and operated by Mandalay Baseball LLC since Sept. 2014 — which was a partnership between the Dodgers ownership and an investor group led by Dodgers co-owner Peter Guber.
“For the past 11 seasons it has been an honor for myself and Mandalay Baseball to be associated with Oklahoma City’s Triple-A franchise, including the last seven as a partner with the Los Angeles Dodgers,” Guber said.
“We feel our devotion and enthusiasm for both the team and city each and every day has left the franchise in a great position for success going forward and something that has instilled great pride in the Oklahoma City community.”
During Mandalay Baseball’s ownership tenure, nearly 4.2 million fans attended professional baseball games at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.
The Mandalay Baseball leadership team also worked closely with the City of Oklahoma City on several upgrades at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, including installing state-of-the-art digital scoreboards and video boards in left field and center field, the complete remodeling of the Oklahoma Fidelity Bank Club and adding new hospitality spaces throughout the facility.
“On behalf of the community, we’d like to thank Peter Guber and Mandalay Baseball for 11 years of dedicated leadership and ownership,” Byrnes said. “Without their commitment and vision, our franchise would not be in the position to succeed that it is today.”
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