Riversharks' future in Camden uncertain

CAMDEN After 15 years on the city's Waterfront, the Camden Riversharks face an uncertain future.



The Camden County Improvement Authority, which earlier this year bought the team's stadium, Campbell's Field, has not reached an agreement to renew the Riversharks' lease and is negotiating with other ball clubs, a county freeholder said Thursday.

The CCIA "is actively talking to several prospective parties for the use of the 6,700-seat stadium and the Riversharks are one of them," county Freeholder Director Louis Cappelli said Thursday night. He said the county will provide more information "once negotiations and transactions are finalized."

Meanwhile, a published report said the Riversharks, a member of the independent Atlantic League, may be considering a move to Connecticut.

Lindsay Rosenberg, the Riversharks' general manager, said the club wants to stay in Camden.

"We've been here 15 years. We'd love to be here for 15 more," said Rosenberg.



Executives from the CCIA and the team discussed a potential lease Thursday morning, she said.



"They have our proposal of how we'd be able to stay and we're waiting for their answer," Rosenberg said. "It is our hope to be able to stay."

"Hopefully in the next couple of days, we'll have some clarity," said Frank Boulton, the Atlantic League's founder and senior vice president, who was present for Thursday's talks.

The Riversharks' last home game is Sept. 13 and the team's season ends Sept. 20.

Meanwhile, the Hartford Courant has reported the Riversharks are "a likely candidate" to replace an Eastern League team, the Rock Cats, that played its last game Sunday at a 6,500-seat stadium in New Britain.

In a statement, the Atlantic League said Tuesday it expects to put either a new team or one of its existing eight teams in New Britain. The league has not disclosed any specifics.

The CCIA agreed to buy Campbell's Field for $3.5 million in April. The

purchase resolved a lawsuit filed two years earlier by Santander Bank N.A., chief financier for the ballpark in the shadow of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge.

The lawsuit claimed Santander was owed more than $4 million in back rent for the stadium, It sought a judgment of $4.6 million from Camden Baseball LLC, owner of the Riversharks.

Cappelli said the county's acquisition of Campbell's Field averted "an uncertain future that could have ended in the foreclosure of the stadium." He said the CCIA "is now working to secure a long-term viable relationship with a tenant for Campbell’s Field to protect a valuable waterfront asset and to ensure the protection of taxpayer funds."

The county has promised unspecified improvements to the stadium, but it made no changes during the current season.

The county has said Rutgers University would continue to be a partner in the operation "by calling the stadium home to the Rutgers University-Camden Scarlet Raptors athletic teams and other programs."

Jim Walsh; (856) 486-2646; jwalsh@gannettnj.com



