Part 4: The Deal Behind the Diamond

Good morning, Gentle JOCO Readers,

Part 4: The Deal Behind the Diamond

Nine Weeks. Twelve Firms Later. One Ballpark.

I don't know about y'all, but the more records I read, the more questions I have.

When we left off, Wilson and the Tobs were fighting over Fleming Stadium. We looked at the rent, the repairs, the denied grant requests, the city's proposed renovation plan, and the disagreement that ultimately led both sides in different directions.

What I assumed would happen next was years of planning. Studies. Committees. Consultants. More studies. A few public hearings. Maybe another committee for good measure.

After all, we're talking about building an entirely new baseball stadium with public dollars. Instead, what I found was a timeline moving faster than a leadoff runner with a green light.

According to Smithfield's own records, the town went from a nonbinding memorandum of understanding to a signed 20-year lease and a selected stadium contractor in roughly nine weeks. Nine! Weeks!

For comparison, some towns spend longer arguing about the color of a park bench.

Let's walk through it:

September 16, 2025: The MOU Appears

The first thing that caught my attention was that the Tobs item wasn't originally listed on the printed agenda.

According to the meeting minutes, council amended the agenda that night to add a Memorandum of Understanding with the Tobs Baseball Team as Business Item No. 2. They also added a closed session under N.C.G.S. 143-318.11(a)(4).

Town Manager Mike Scott described the document as a nonbinding agreement that would allow the town to continue contract discussions, seek funding, and move forward with stadium planning. Council approved the MOU unanimously.

Then came the closed session. And this is where things start getting interesting.

Behind the Closed Door-The unsealed minutes show discussion of:

• Bringing the Tobs to Smithfield.

• A proposed 1,500-seat stadium.

• Community Park as the preferred location.

• RFQs already being issued.

• Funding discussions involving millions of public dollars.

• Negotiations involving county government, tourism officials, and other stakeholders.

According to the minutes, Parks and Recreation Director Gary Johnson reported that requests for qualifications for a stadium design-build project had already been issued and that multiple firms had expressed interest.

Let me say that again. The MOU had just been approved publicly.

Yet discussions behind closed doors indicate the stadium planning process was already moving forward.

October 7: Twelve Firms Later

Three weeks later, council received a recommendation from a selection committee that had already reviewed twelve RFQ submissions. Twelve!

The top four firms had been interviewed. The committee unanimously recommended Muter Construction. Woman and veteran owned company out of Zebulon (nice). Council approved moving forward by a 6-1 vote.

Councilman Travis Scott voted no, raising concerns about traffic and questioning whether other options had been fully explored. A fair question. Because if twelve firms had already submitted qualifications by October, one obvious question becomes:

When exactly was the RFQ issued? That's one of several public records I will be requesting.

November 18: The Big Vote -Less than two months after the MOU, council approved:

• A 20-year lease.

• A design-build agreement.

• Roughly $6 million in project funding.

• A stadium expected to hold approximately 1,500 fans.

The lease terms were certainly attention-grabbing.

The Tobs would pay:

• $1 per year in 2026 and 2027.

• $10,000 in 2028.

• $12,250 in 2029.

• $25,000 annually beginning in 2030.

The town would retain naming rights, pay for construction, maintenance, repairs, water, sewer and refuse service.

The team would handle operations, concessions, staffing, security, cleaning and certain utility expenses.

Again, that's all right there in the minutes.

Whether you think it's a fantastic economic development project or a risky investment probably depends on your perspective. But nobody can argue the deal moved quickly.

Then I Found Something Unexpected......

While digging through records, websites and meeting minutes, I stumbled onto something that made me stop scrolling.

A company called Eagle Eye Consulting. At first, I assumed it was a sports consulting firm. Nope. My memory is better than that but for shitake & giggles I looked it up....

According to its website, Eagle Eye Consulting specializes in government relations, lobbying, public affairs, advocacy and helping clients secure public funding.

Then I reached their project list. And there it was. Right on the website.

The company lists among its accomplishments:

"Secured relocation of Tobs baseball team for the Town of Smithfield, N.C. and procured $7.5 million in funding for a new, modernized stadium."

Now that's interesting. Because up to this point, most of the story had appeared to be about baseball. But that's not a baseball accomplishment.

That's a government relations accomplishment.

Which immediately raises new questions:

Who hired Eagle Eye?

When?

Who paid them?

How much were they paid?

What exactly did they do?

What funding sources make up that $7.5 million figure?

And perhaps most importantly:

How far back does this timeline actually go?

The Question Isn't Whether Plans Existed. The public records show they did.

The real question is when the plans started.

Because by September 2025 there were already discussions involving stadium locations, economic impact projections, public funding sources, contractor qualifications, tourism money, county money, lease negotiations and project timelines.

That doesn't happen overnight. At least not usually. So now we're leaving the baseball field entirely. The next stop is the paper trail. The consultant contracts.

The RFQ documents. The scoring sheets. The economic impact report. The invoices.

And maybe, just maybe, the answers to a few questions nobody seems particularly eager to explain.

Because if there's one thing I've learned during this rabbit hole adventure, it's this:

The most interesting part of this story isn't the baseball. It's everything happening behind it.

That is all for now!

Carry on!

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