Pending Village of Ashwaubenon approval, ownership will transfer to Mark Skogen
Ashwaubenon, Wis. – 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 December 15th meeting. If approved by the Village Board, 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.
Pictured: Skogen’s Festival Foods CEO Mark Skogen
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 the state of Wisconsin. Earlier this year, Skogen announced that he would open the Epic Event Center, a music and event venue on Holmgren Way, just blocks from the Capital Credit Union Park in the Village of 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 am excited to continue the excellent experiences that Steve, Vern, and Conor have provided to the community.”
“The Village of Ashwaubenon looks forward to the opportunity of growing Booyah Baseball,” said Village President Mary Kardoskee. “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 of 2013. Under their ownership the franchise moved from Joannes Stadium to the newly constructed Capital Credit Union Park in the Village of Ashwaubenon and re-branded as the Green Bay Booyah in 2019. The Booyah have become a staple of summer entertainment in northeast Wisconsin. In 2020, the team completed their season with a reduced capacity of 25% 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 slated for 6:35pm on Tuesday, June 1 against the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders. For more information on the different ticket packages visit Booyahbaseball.com, call the Capital Credit Union Park Ticket Office at 920-497-7225, or visit Capital Credit Union Park in Ashwaubenon.
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its’ 27th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, over 245 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and MLB All-Star Jordan Zimmermann (DET). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.