Charlotte Knights, Durham Bulls seasons canceled, along with all of minor-league baseball
Major League Baseball has canceled the season for all minor-league affiliates, meaning 11 professional baseball teams across North Carolina won’t take the field this summer.
MLB will play an abbreviated 60-game season, starting July 23 and 24, with expanded rosters for all 30 teams, but will not support the minor-league system this summer. Canceling the minor-league season was long anticipated, due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
That means the Triple-A Charlotte Knights, the top franchise for the Chicago White Sox, will not play at Truist Field in uptown. The same goes for the Triple-A Durham Bulls (Tampa Bay Rays affiliate) and Class A Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (White Sox).
“We are extremely disappointed in this result for all the fans, partners, and community stakeholders,” the Knights said in a statement on their team website. “The effects of the pandemic have been felt by all who play a part in producing the memorable experiences of Knights baseball games.”
The Knights said fans with season tickets, suite holders, sponsors and group-ticket buyers will be contacted concerning their options.
The Bulls issued a statement from team vice president Mike Birling, saying “We here at the Bulls are heartbroken to not be able to host you for Bulls games this year and are already counting down the days until next year’s opening day.”
Bulls fans with ticket questions can email tickets@durhambulls.com. With professional baseball put on hold by the pandemic, the Bulls took the step in mid-April of furloughing about half the front-office staff.
The economics of minor-league baseball are locked almost entirely to attendance, since there is little or no television revenue. Players salaries are primarily the responsibility of the Major League parent clubs. However, the Knights pay about 400 game-day workers, many of whom also work Carolina Panthers and Charlotte Hornets games in similar roles.
After moving from Fort Mill to uptown Charlotte, the Knights have been one of the top draws in Triple-A baseball. Over the past three seasons, they have finished first (2018), second (2017) and sixth (2019) in average home attendance.
In addition to Charlotte, Durham and Kannapolis, the minor-league baseball teams in North Carolina are: The Asheville Tourists (Class A, Rockies), Hickory Crawdads (Class A, Rangers), Winston-Salem Dash (Class A-Advanced, White Sox), Burlington Royals (Rookie, Royals), Fayetteville Woodpeckers (Class A-Advanced, Astros), Greensboro Grasshoppers (Class A, Pirates), Carolina Mudcats in Zebulon (Class A-Advanced, Brewers). and the Down East Wood Ducks in Kinston (Class A-Advanced, Rangers).
The Knights opened their uptown stadium, recently renamed Truist Field, to fans for some small parties to eat ballpark food and to participate in activities like cornhole and batting practice. Also, Truist Field will host a team in a league for college players through the end of July.
This story was originally published June 30, 2020 at 5:11 PM.
