Senate Resolution 110 - Introduced SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 110 BY COURNOYER , LOFGREN , and GREENE A Resolution recognizing the importance of Minor League 1 Baseball in Iowa and demanding that Major League 2 Baseball abandon its efforts to eliminate Major 3 League Baseball parent-club affiliation with certain 4 franchises located in Iowa. 5 WHEREAS, Iowa has a long and rich connection to 6 baseball, serving as the birthplace of over 200 Major 7 League Baseball players, including Hall of Famer 8 Bob Feller and 2019 World Series Champion Jeremy 9 Hellickson, and providing the setting for one of the 10 most popular baseball films of all time, Field of 11 Dreams, in which a ballpark in rural Iowa is famously 12 confused for heaven; and 13 WHEREAS, Major League Baseball announced that the 14 Field of Dreams property in Dyersville will host a 15 Major League Baseball game featuring the New York 16 Yankees and Chicago White Sox in August of 2020, with 17 Commissioner Rob Manfred recognizing Iowa’s unique role 18 in baseball culture and the rustic backdrop that Iowa 19 provides by stating, “We look forward to celebrating 20 the movie’s enduring message of how baseball brings 21 people together at this special cornfield in Iowa”; and 22 WHEREAS, the history of professional baseball in 23 Iowa traces back over 100 years to the Keokuk Westerns, 24 who played part of the 1875 season in the National 25 Association, which is considered the first professional 26 baseball league; and 27 WHEREAS, professional baseball first appeared in 28 -1- LSB 6394SS (1) 88 js/rn 1/ 4

S.R. 110 Davenport and Des Moines in 1879, Burlington in 1889, 1 Cedar Rapids in 1890, and Clinton in 1895, with Des 2 Moines, Burlington, and Cedar Rapids each hosting over 3 100 seasons of professional baseball; and 4 WHEREAS, the Sports Business Journal recognized 5 the Quad Cities region as the top minor league sports 6 market in the United States in 2015 and named Des 7 Moines as the top minor league sports market in 2017, 8 owing in large part to the entertainment and economic 9 value that Minor League Baseball teams provide in each 10 market; and 11 WHEREAS, the Quad Cities River Bandits create an 12 estimated annual economic impact of $18.7 million in 13 the Quad Cities region; additionally, the Quad Cities 14 Convention and Visitors Bureau has stated that more 15 than half of the annual hotel room nights spent in 16 the Quad Cities region are attributable to the River 17 Bandits and other local sporting events; and 18 WHEREAS, the Clinton LumberKings, the only remaining 19 charter club of the Midwest League, create an estimated 20 annual economic impact of $6.56 million in Clinton 21 County, which contributed to approximately 75 percent 22 of the total tax revenue the county received from 23 domestic tourism in 2018; and 24 WHEREAS, according to the Economic Development 25 Authority, the Burlington Bees have supported, directly 26 and indirectly, $4.7 million in wages in Des Moines 27 County; and 28 WHEREAS, Iowans support our Minor League Baseball 29 venues, which provide affordable, family-friendly 30 -2- LSB 6394SS (1) 88 js/rn 2/ 4

S.R. 110 entertainment and are accessible to all Iowans and 1 visitors; and 2 WHEREAS, over 40 million fans bought tickets to 3 Minor League Baseball games in 2019, of which nearly 1 4 million were purchased at Iowa ballparks, meaning that 5 a state that makes up less than 1 percent of the United 6 States population was responsible for over 2 percent 7 of Minor League Baseball ticket sales, demonstrating 8 Iowa’s devotion for America’s pastime at the Minor 9 League Baseball level; and 10 WHEREAS, Major League Baseball wants to eliminate 11 approximately 25 percent of the Minor League Baseball 12 teams in the country, including the Quad City River 13 Bandits, the Clinton LumberKings, and the Burlington 14 Bees; and 15 WHEREAS, many Iowans live at least three hours 16 away from the nearest Major League Baseball team and 17 are “blacked out” from watching six of the closest 18 geographic Major League Baseball teams on no-cost 19 television, making local Minor League Baseball teams 20 the best opportunity for fans to see potential Major 21 League Baseball players; and 22 WHEREAS, each Minor League Baseball team in Iowa has 23 been a temporary home for many Major League Baseball 24 stars; the Iowa Cubs have rostered many heroes from 25 the 2016 Chicago Cubs team that broke a 108-year 26 championship drought by winning the World Series; the 27 Cedar Rapids Kernels featured reigning American League 28 Most Valuable Player Mike Trout; the Burlington Bees 29 featured Mark Buehrle, who would win the 2005 World 30 -3- LSB 6394SS (1) 88 js/rn 3/ 4

S.R. 110 Series with the Chicago White Sox, and also featured 1 Hall of Famers Paul Molitor, Billy Williams, and 2020 2 inductee Larry Walker; the Clinton LumberKings featured 3 Orel Hershiser, Mike Scioscia, and Dave Stewart, all 4 of whom played in the 1988 World Series and each of 5 whom would win at least one World Series Championship 6 during his respective career; and the Quad Cities River 7 Bandits featured beloved Minnesota Twins catcher Joe 8 Mauer, who won three batting titles during his career, 9 and Joe Maddon, who managed the Chicago Cubs to victory 10 in the 2016 World Series; NOW THEREFORE, 11 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE, That the Senate 12 stands in support of Iowa’s Minor League Baseball 13 teams by demanding that Major League Baseball abandon 14 its efforts to eliminate the Major League Baseball 15 parent-club affiliation of the Quad Cities River 16 Bandits, the Clinton LumberKings, and the Burlington 17 Bees; and 18 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Senate appreciates 19 the economic and cultural benefits that Iowa’s Minor 20 League Baseball teams bring to their respective 21 communities and to the entire state of Iowa. 22 -4- LSB 6394SS (1) 88 js/rn 4/ 4