Just two years ago, the St. Louis Cardinals made Memphis officially “Cardinal Country” by purchasing the franchise’s Triple-A affiliate. In a deal announced Monday and expected to be finalized in early April, the Cardinals have just as suddenly sold a majority share in the Memphis Redbirds. The new owner, Peter Freund (pronounced “froind”), is president of Trinity Packaging Corporation and calls New York home. Freund owns a pair of Class-A franchises (Williamsport in the New York-Penn League and Charleston in the South Atlantic League) and — gasp! — a minority interest in the New York Yankees.
Memphis Redbirds GM Craig Unger
Redbirds president and general manager Craig Unger is still calling the shots at AutoZone Park and will be for the foreseeable future. I asked Craig for some early impressions of the Redbirds’ sale and new ownership.
Were you surprised by the deal? Was there general surprise among your staff?
Anytime there’s a sale, there’s an element of surprise. Peter came in and was very excited about the opportunity here in Memphis, and excited by what the Cardinals had been able to do over the last two seasons. He sees a real opportunity to get involved in a great city, and great sports city. It’s exciting for us to see his enthusiasm for the Memphis Redbirds.
Had you met Mr. Freund before he approached the Cardinals?
I did not meet him until this process was in order. I’m familiar with the two other teams he has ownership in, what they do. I had talked to their GMs on completely unrelated items. One of their group reached out today to say welcome to the family and “This will be great for you guys.”
We look at this as bringing the heart and soul of the Redbirds back to Memphis. There were a lot of shared resources that we had with St. Louis. Some of the business operation was coming out of St. Louis. This is an opportunity for us to bring everything back. It will be a small business being run out of Memphis, out of AutoZone Park. It will be an opportunity for us to further connect with the local business community and fans. Peter’s excited to come here and meet the fans, sponsors, media.
Looking at things from the Cardinals’ standpoint, it almost looks like a house-flip, it happened so quickly. Considering the sagging attendance last season and ballpark renovations (which cost more than $6 million), did the Cardinals make a profit?
The financial details are between Peter and [Cardinals owner] Bill DeWitt. The Cardinals came in to stabilize a situation that was in desperate need of stabilization. There was a great deal of risk of the former bondholders just giving up on the stadium. There needed to be some upgrades, from the playing surface to upstairs.
This investment by Peter is a real strategic partnership. The Cardinals’ big animal is St. Louis. That’s where they have to focus. Having someone come in with a track record in minor-league baseball, being engaged with what’s going on at this facility . . . that is where this became very attractive. The Cardinals could retain interest in the organization and that was important to them. It was important to Peter.
How will the sale impact stadium operations? Your staff?
After this deal is closed, everything will operated centrally, here at AutoZone Park. There are some accounting functions that have been run out of St. Louis, human resources, IT services. These are all things we’ll bring in-house. There will probably be some staffing up as we unbundle some shared resources. We’ll have to build infrastructure and personnel to support a fully functional baseball team and all that goes with it.
What about the fan experience? Will the sale impact what a fan sees at AutoZone Park, as early as April?
I don’t think there will be anything right away that they can put their finger on. The fan experience is something we look at constantly. It’s centric to what Peter’s objectives are: improving the fan experience. He has ideas from two other minor-league teams to bring in and build upon. I think what you’ll see is a longer-term commitment to having more fun at the ballpark.
We want to increase the fun but not lose the connection to baseball. You have to serve both sides: the fans here to have nachos and hot dogs, and those who are keeping score and really in tune with the players, even those for visiting teams. You have to service both sides.
What would you say to a longtime Cardinal fan who’s skeptical about a man with a partial ownership in the New York Yankees owning the Memphis Redbirds?
This will remain the Cardinals’ affiliate. Having the Cardinals’ ownership here is important. Peter is very much in tune with that. He understands how important the Cardinals are in this market. And that’s why a continuing [minority] ownership for the Cardinals was critical for this.
