Mandalay Sells Las Vegas 51s

Mandalay Baseball announced that after adding two new teams to its stable of franchises, it has agreed to sell its Las Vegas professional baseball franchise - the 51s - the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers of the Pacific Coast League. The buyer is the Stevens Baseball Group, a family with significant holdings in Detroit and Southern Nevada.

Mandalay Baseball Properties is an industry leader as the owner/operator of multiple franchises, including: Dayton Dragons (Single-A, Cincinnati Reds); Erie SeaWolves (Double-A, Detroit Tigers); Frisco RoughRiders (Double-A, Texas Rangers); Hagerstown Suns (Single-A, Washington Nationals); Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees (Triple-A, New York Yankees); Staten Island Yankees (Short-Season A, New York Yankees) and the Las Vegas 51s (Triple-A, Los Angeles Dodgers). Mandalay Baseball recently acquired Scranton and Staten Island in partnership with the New York Yankees.

"Mandalay will continue to look for exciting opportunities to expand our baseball operations," Mandalay Baseball Properties CEO Ken Stickney said. "While we remain bullish on the prospects of minor league baseball in Las Vegas, we just thought this was the right opportunity to redeploy assets in other team opportunities."

The 51s completed their 25th PCL Season (1983-2007) at Cashman Field in September. The 51s organization is the longest enduring franchise in the history of professional sports in Southern Nevada.

"We are excited with the opportunity to continue to provide the baseball fans of Southern Nevada first-class family entertainment," Drew Dondero, Manager of the Stevens Group, said.

"It has been great having Mandalay Baseball Properties as the owner of our Triple-A franchise," 51s President/General Manager Don Logan said. "The vision and resources that a company like Mandalay provides has enabled us to be a very successful franchise in the Las Vegas market. The sale of the club will not effect the operations and management or the positive direction in which the 51s have been moving over the past few seasons."

The sale is subject to regulatory approval of the Pacific Coast League and the Commissioners of Major League and Minor League Baseball.