A defunct New Jersey minor league baseball team, deep in debt, said Wednesday it will sell off its uniforms, team bus, equipment — and even the kitchen sink.
The 16-year-old Newark Bears, once owned by former Yankees catcher Rick Cerone, had suffered from lousy attendance in recent years and, a source familiar with the situation said, had been losing $400,000 a year.
To break even, the Bears needed to draw about 2,000 fans a game. Last year’s attendance averaged 453, the source said.
The Bears, not affiliated with any major league team, suffered through roughly six separate ownership groups in the 11 years since Cerone sold the franchise.
The current owners, medical doctor Doug Spiel and his former fiancée, Danielle Dronet, have had a rocky relationship with the public.
Dronet, who ran the day-to-day operations of the team, generated some unwanted publicity in 2012 when she announced that pop star Justin Bieber would be holding a concert in Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium, where the Bears played.
But the singer’s publicist later called Dronet’s story “pure fiction,” and no concert was ever held.
Dronet said Superstorm Sandy caused the biggest financial hurdle for the team — putting a $500,000 dent in the team’s coffers.
Last November, after the Bears had dropped out of the Can-Am League, Dronet promised the team would play in 2014 — something that today is obviously not possible.
Miles Wolff, the commissioner of the Can-Am League, said he’d be “surprised” if minor league baseball returned to Newark.
The Bears were the publicly owned stadium’s major tenants.
Newark and Essex County each reportedly owe $1.1 million annually to bondholders — through 2029 — to cover the costs of building the now largely dormant 6,200-seat stadium.