May 2015
| Business World
19
ated minor leagues and teams, but econom-
ic constraints began limiting that number.
However, as Boulders President Ken Lehner
explained, the benefits of independent base-
ball have become more apparent over the last
two decades.
“What happened about 20 years ago is that
there are all kinds of communities across not
only theUnited States, but Canada and other
parts of the world who want to have a home-
town team,” he said. “They have the financial
wherewithal to build a facility, they have a
local market who will support the team, and
there’s players out there who can compete at
a level that might have been overlooked by
an affiliated situation.”
