Last weekend the Spokane Indians baseball team had its final two home games for the 2021 season cancelled because of Covid concerns with players on the visiting team, the Tri-City Dust Devils.
That was the latest body blow for a team that had a cancelled season in 2020 and, this year, has had to adjust to serving fans in a pandemic-infused world.
But the Indians see some financial support on the horizon if they can only get the attention of Congress.Indians Senior Vice President Otto Klein says minor league baseball teams are working collectively to corral pandemic-related funding.
“These things were devastating. From ’19 to ’20, we lost 93% of our revenue as an industry. That’s significant. So we’re hopeful that members of Congress will look at this and recognize that minor league baseball, it’s not the only institution in all these towns, but it’s one of the major ones," he said.
Klein says teams like his provide great seasonal summer jobs and affordable entertainment for families.
“We’re one of the lifebloods of Spokane. Indians baseball has been here for over 119 years and we want to keep that going. We’re confident we are going to keep this going. This would just be some additional relief that could help us,” he said.
The Indians are asking fans to contact their Congressional members on behalf of minor league baseball. The club says fans can find out more here.
