The Wilson Times: July 17, 2025 ‘They don’t want us in town’: Tobs future in Wilson uncertain After nearly 30 years in Wilson, the Tobs baseball team faces an uncertain future as denied funding and stalled lease talks push the team to consider relocating from its longtime home. By Christopher Long | clong@wilsontimes.com | 252-265-7821

Logo Page Header Subscribe News Obituaries Public Notices Links July 17, 2025 ‘They don’t want us in town’: Tobs future in Wilson uncertain After nearly 30 years in Wilson, the Tobs baseball team faces an uncertain future as denied funding and stalled lease talks push the team to consider relocating from its longtime home. By Christopher Long | clong@wilsontimes.com | 252-265-7821 Wilson Tobs players watch play from the dugout on July 3. According to the team's president, Greg Suire, the future of the Tobs here is uncertain. Wilson Tobs players watch play from the dugout on July 3. According to the team's president, Greg Suire, the future of the Tobs here is uncertain. Drew C. Wilson | Times Wilson Tobs President Greg Suire said circumstances are stacking up for an eventual move from the city the team has called home for almost 30 years. In fact, the team is actively looking for a new place to play ball in the region. After the team was denied grant funding from the Wilson County Tourism Development Authority on Wednesday, Suire said the first domino has fallen for the Wilson Tobs to be forced out of town. “It’s extremely disappointing that Tourism wouldn’t believe enough in what we do getting people at Fleming Stadium,” Suire told the Times Wednesday night. “The thousands of dollars we’ve generated in partnership with the city — all of the sudden we’re being cast aside, and I’m not sure why. We’ve been partners for 29 years. This is how they are treating Wilson’s oldest sports brand still alive.” Tourism Director Brandt Harrell told the Times that without a lease agreement in place between the Tobs and the city to utilize Fleming Stadium, the board couldn’t award a grant for a season that isn’t guaranteed to take place in Wilson. “Since they don’t have a lease agreement, the finance subcommittee was thinking that they can’t, in good faith, give a grant since that’s not been nailed down yet,” Harrell said. “Right now, there’s no season to give a grant to.” Suire said the city of Wilson has been unwilling to realistically negotiate a lease agreement for Fleming Stadium. “The Tobs not having a lease at Fleming Stadium has been fueled by the city staff’s reluctance to keep us in town,” Suire said. “They don’t want us in town. They’re demanding $500,000 for a new concept we’ve never been a part of or given feedback on that doesn’t meet CPL (Coastal Plains League) standards. They don’t want us there.” During May’s Wilson City Council breakfast meeting, City Manager Rodger Lentz presented council members with options for Fleming Stadium renovations. Council members supported the choice to finance a total stadium renovation with new aluminum bleachers to seat 600 to 1,200 under the existing roof structure at the cost of $1.75 million. Suire said that during a June meeting with Lentz, the city manager wanted the $500,000 commitment from the team before discussing a new lease. “I guess that means it’s time to leave,” Suire said. “It’s an awful business move (to pay $500,000) when you have no facility ownership or long-term lease. The Brewers are not putting any money up for their new stadium. The city turned their back on Fleming Stadium. We kept investing in it and spending money. They turned their back. Now they come up with a plan that doesn’t even meet the requirements for a full-time tenant.” The Wilson Warbirds will play their inaugural season here in the spring, just two years after the city announced it would construct the stadium with the Milwaukee Brewers Single-A affiliate as the primary tenant. It’s a $70 million project. In February 2023, the city announced a proposal to build the stadium complex adjacent to the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park. ‘THE PEOPLE OF WILSON LOVE US’ From the time the announcement, project and development became official in December 2023, Wilsonians have worried about the future of the Tobs here. Suire said Tobs fans have no part in the team’s demise in town. “This has nothing to do with the citizens,” Suire said. “They love us. At the end of the day, it’s the city’s decision. It would’ve been nice after 29 years of growth and prosperity for the community, Pink Nights and Read Around the Bases, which doesn’t cost schools a dime — all that stuff is going away. The people of Wilson love us. This is the team that generated baseball’s enthusiasm and entrenchment in Wilson. This is what got people to build Fleming Stadium and open their arms again to competitive baseball in 1996.” Suire called the lack of communication with the city “extremely frustrating.” “All the city had to tell us three years ago is that we’re out,” Suire said, referring to the last lease negotiation with the city. “They never did that. (Former City Manager) Grant Goings refused to communicate with me. They never had a communicative approach with us until June at the 11th hour. I said from the beginning the town wasn’t big enough for two teams. We’re not against progress. We came to grips with being second place. People kept asking, demanding that we stay.” Suire said he’s figuring out where to go from here, both metaphorically and literally. “We are still, on July 17, clinging to the chance to stay in town,” he told the Times on Thursday. He said a decision on where the Tobs will play next season must be made before this season ends in August. “The fact is, they (the city) don’t want the Tobs in town taking away from their new endeavor, and at the end of the day that’s all there is to it,” Suire said. “That’s the city’s choice. From our perspective, the only people hurt by this whole thing are the citizens of Wilson, and that’s who I thought the government was supposed to represent. They’ve all ganged up on us. “It’s a shame that tourism is the first one to officially turn their backs on us,” he said. “We, the Tobs, are the collateral damage of the new team coming to town.” In 2024, the Wilson Tobs requested $45,000 from the Wilson County Tourism Development Authority and received $15,000 in grant funding. This year, the Tobs requested $40,000 and did not receive a grant. The grant money is earmarked to help recipients market and promote their events or business. Funding from grants comes from hotel occupancy tax generated in the county. NEW TOURISM GRANT RECIPIENTS • North Carolina Senior Games Pickleball requested $12,000 and received a $12,000 grant. • “Pick Up Your Bed and Walk” Documentary requested $15,000 and received a $7,000 grant upfront and will receive a $3,500 grant upon completion of the documentary. • Southern National Motorsports Park requested $60,000 and received a $10,000 grant. • Downtown Jazz Festival requested $10,000 and received a $2,000 grant. • Casita Brewing/Wizarding Weekend requested $1,150 and received a $1,150 grant. • Barnes Street Gallery requested $7,000 and received a $1,000 grant. RETURNING GRANT RECIPIENTS • North Carolina Whirligig Festival requested $50,000 and received a $30,000 grant. • Wilson Arts Center requested $23,000 and received a $20,000 grant. • Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park & Museum requested $20,000 and received a $15,000 grant. • Wilson County Fair requested $12,000 and received a $10,000 grant. • Wilson City Little League requested $10,000 and received a $10,000 grant. • Wilson Downtown Development requested $20,000 and received a $10,000 grant. • Barton College/Homecoming requested $15,000 and received a $7,500 grant. • World of RC Inc. (Thunder Alley) requested $8,672 and received a $3,500 grant. • Wilson Youth Soccer Association requested $6,000 and received a $5,000 grant. • Wilson Rose Garden requested $3,000 and received a $3,000 grant. • Imagination Station requested $10,000 and received a $2,500 grant. • Freeman Roundhouse Museum requested $10,000 and received a $2,500 grant. • Mount Hebron Masonic Lodge (Juneteenth Festival) requested $7,000 and received a $2,500 grant. • The Brittany requested $5,000 and received a $2,500 grant. • Carolina Virginia Racing Association requested $2,500 and received a $2,500 grant. • Seeds of Hope requested $2,000 and received a $2,000 grant. 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