Following minor league baseball’s constriction last year and a 2020 without revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal is proposing roughly $500 million in federal assistance for the sport, the Hartford Courant reported. “Minor league baseball is in peril,” Blumenthal said yesterday at Dunkin’ Donuts Park, home of the Hartford Yard Goats, the Double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. “These teams have not played since September, 2019…. The teams have struggled. Many of them are on the verge of bankruptcy. We need to come to their aide. That’s why I am leading a congressional effort. We did it for restaurants, theater, live music. Baseball deserves it as much.” Blumenthal said the fund “ought to be flexible,” and compared it to the $28.6 billion Restaurant Revitalization Program, created to provide restaurants and bars with compensation for their reduced revenues of the past year. He cited the importance of minor league baseball to the communities, restaurants and local economies of the cities which they reside in.
