A Texas-based company that works with MLB’s Rangers went duck hunting and bought a ball club on Long Island.
REV Entertainment, the official sports and entertainment company of the big league team, announced the purchase of the Long Island Ducks on Wednesday. The move ends Frank Boulton’s tenure as owner, a position he has held since the team’s founding in 2000.
Boulton, who founded the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and has served as the league’s president since its inaugural season in 1998, will remain with the Ducks in an advisory role for REV Entertainment.
“I have always viewed my ownership of the Long Island Ducks as a public trust, and any successor had to be consistent with that belief,” Boulton said in a statement. “REV Entertainment has that commitment and is the right organization to lead the Ducks into the future and keep QuackerJack dancing on the dugout tops for many years to come. I am grateful to the fans, friends, sponsors and the entire Long Island community for supporting 25 incredible seasons of Ducks baseball and am confident it will only get better as we move into the next 25!”
Ducks President and Chief Business Officer Michael Pfaff will continue in his role leading the front office, and REV Entertainment’s sports management division will lead the company’s operations, “with a focus on maintaining the club’s unique identity, deepening community relationships and creating new opportunities for growth and innovation,” according to a club news release.
“We are proud to welcome the Long Island Ducks to the REV family,” Sean Decker, president of REV Entertainment, said in a statement. “Frank Boulton built something very special on Long Island. It is our responsibility to honor that legacy, build on the foundation he laid and continue to deliver an affordable, family-friendly experience while positioning the Ducks for long-term success.”
REV Entertainment operates several independent baseball teams across the country, and in addition to acquiring the Ducks, the company announced that it has also purchased the Schaumburg Boomers of the Frontier League.
Before Wednesday’s announcement, there was no indication that Long Island’s baseball team was for sale.
The Ducks were one of the flagship teams of the Atlantic League and became the winningest ball club in the league’s history, with four titles in the first 19 years of their existence.
The Ducks also hold the distinction of being the Atlantic League’s all-time leader with 721 sold out games.
Boulton has long been praised for his leadership in helping create the Atlantic League and the Ducks, who play in Central Islip.
The longtime baseball owner was part of an effort to bring a second Atlantic League to Long Island in Nassau County in the failed referendum to rebuild the Nassau Coliseum in 2011. Boulton is said to have brought a new minor baseball league team to play in a 6,000-seat stadium near the arena.
Boulton appeared to end his stewardship of the Atlantic League late last year.
The competition announced in November that Boulton would transition from his role as chairman and CEO of the Atlantic League to an at-large member of the executive committee, effective Jan. 1.
York Revolution owner Bill Shipley was selected to succeed Boulton in that role.
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