The Long Beach City Council will meet on Tuesday to consider approving the arrival of a new independent professional baseball team that aims to begin play on Bohl Diamond at Blair Field in the 2026 season.
The team would join the Pioneer Baseball League—an MLB Partner League with 12 teams across the Western U.S. The potential franchise is backed by Innovation Baseball Partners (IBP), a group that includes members of the Oakland Ballers ownership team.
“Long Beach is a sports town. Long Beach is a baseball town,” said Mayor Rex Richardson. “We saw what was taking place with the Oakland Ballers and with the Pioneer League and we explored the opportunities. It’s always a good thing to have positive social interaction, and having a local team that Long Beach can root for and get behind does a lot for our community’s morale.”
“As we were identifying different places across the country, the top of the list was Long Beach,” said Paul Freedman, co-founder of IBP and CEO & co-founder of the Oakland Ballers. “It is a city with a history and tradition of baseball, with the Dirtbags beloved, and it’s a city that’s on the rise. Not only should it have always deserved baseball, but it definitely deserves baseball now.”
The team would become the fourth independent minor league team to set foot in Long Beach, the most recent being the Long Beach Armada of the Golden Baseball League. The Armada ceased operations in 2009.
Both parties believe Blair Field would be the ideal landing spot for the new team, as it’s one of the city’s top attractions for Long Beach sports fans. The proposal would require collaboration between Long Beach State and city staff to share the facility with the Dirtbags.
“We’re really encouraged by the way the community has rallied around the Long Beach State baseball team and the popularity that the program has,” said Jamie Rosenberg, fellow co-founder of IBP. “That gives us the indication that, with a good product and good experiences, the community responds.”
“This is a new opportunity, and there hasn’t been an opportunity like this at Blair Field in many years,” added Richardson.
This is a developing story and The562 will have updates as the process unfolds.
