ASHWAUBENON – The Green Bay Booyah ownership group consisting of Steve Schmitt, Vern Stenman and Conor Caloia have agreed in principle to transfer ownership of the Green Bay Booyah, a member of the Northwoods League, to Mark Skogen.
The sale is pending the transfer of the lease for Capital Credit Union Park.
This transfer will be reviewed by the Village of Ashwaubenon Board of Trustees at their Dec. 15 meeting.
If approved, the sale is expected to be completed before the end of 2020.
All current team personnel will stay on under Skogen’s ownership and day-to-day operations will continue to be run by vice president and general manager, John Fanta.
Skogen is president and CEO of Skogen’s Festival Foods, an employee- and family-owned company founded by his grandfather in 1946.
The company now has 33 stores in Wisconsin.
Earlier this year, Skogen announced he would open the Epic Event Center, a music and event venue on Holmgren Way, a few blocks from the Capital Credit Union Park in Ashwaubenon.
His enjoyment of baseball, coupled with the ability to offer additional entertainment opportunities nearby, made sense to him.
“We’ll be providing entertainment down the street, so this is a great fit,” Skogen said. “It’s been fun watching the team over the years, and I’m excited to continue the excellent experiences Steve, Vern and Conor have provided to the community.”
Ashwaubenon Village President Mary Kardoskee said she’s excited about the change.
“The Village of Ashwaubenon looks forward to the opportunity of growing Booyah baseball,” she. “We’re confident this change will bring additional energy and excitement to sports and entertainment in our community. We appreciate Mr. Skogen’s continued investment in Ashwaubenon.”
The current ownership group purchased the franchise that was originally founded as the Green Bay Bullfrogs in December 2013.
Under their ownership, the franchise moved from Joannes Stadium to the newly constructed Capital Credit Union Park and re-branded as the Green Bay Booyah in 2019.
In 2020, the team completed its season with a reduced capacity of 25 percent due to COVID-19 restrictions, providing one of the only summer entertainment options in the area.
More than 2,000 cases of COVID-19 were reported during the time the team played in Brown County and none of the cases were contact traced back to Capital Credit Union Park.
The Booyah home opener is Tuesday, June 1, against the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders.
For more information on the different ticket packages, visit Booyahbaseball.com, call the ticket office (920-497-7225) or visit Capital Credit Union Park.