Bankruptcy filing throws future of pro baseball in Valley into question

EDINBURG — The murky future of United League Baseball and the Edinburg Coyotes has gotten even more unclear.

On Monday, United Sports Equities - the company that operates the league - filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Broward County, Fla. The filing states that United Sports Equities has debts of $264,494.55, though some of the debts are disputed.

Included in the list of debts is a disputed one for $22,000 to the city of Harlingen. Earlier in the off-season, the city locked the Harlingen WhiteWings out of their home stadium, Harlingen Field.

Phone calls Friday evening to ULB chief executive officer Brad Wendt and league principal Gary Wendt were not returned.

Chapter 11 is the most common form of bankruptcy. The action frees a company from the threat of creditors' lawsuits while it reorganizes its finances. The debtor's reorganization plan must be accepted by a majority of its creditors. Unless the court rules otherwise, the debtor remains in control of the business and its assets.

While the United Sports Equities bankruptcy filing doesn't mean the end of the ULB, it's another sign the league is in danger.

Brad Wendt and United Sports Equities already have been hit with an injunction stopping them from making any changes to the league or liquidating any of its assets.

The August injunction granted to Byron Pierce and John Bryant barred the ULB from transferring its Amarillo and San Angelo franchises to the Golden League and abandoning the teams in Edinburg, Harlingen, Laredo and Alexandria, La.

Pierce claims he is owed $60,000 and is listed as United Sports Equities' largest creditor. The company disputes that debt, however.

In 2007, the Brownsville City Commission unanimously approved a partnership with the ULB to expand the league with a new team and ballpark complex to be located on city property along West Alton Gloor Boulevard.

The city was to own the proposed $7.5 million, 3,500-seat stadium, which was planned to house a UBL franchise 20 percent of the time and serve as the centerpiece of a $21 million commercial development on the city's Alton Gloor property.

However, the project stalled last year due to a financing dispute between the parties, according to The Brownsville Herald. In early November the Brownsville City Commission gave the investors a 90-day notice of default because they had not come up with financing for the stadium.

It's unclear what impact, if any, the bankruptcy filing will have on the project.

There have also been reports of stadium issues in San Angelo. The San Angelo Standard-Times recently reported the San Angelo Colts' home stadium is set to be put up for auction after Brad Wendt and the ULB failed to make a rent payment on the ballpark in December.

During the 2008 season in Edinburg, the Coyotes averaged 2,104 fans per game - third in the league. That total, however, was somewhat inflated by sponsor buy-out nights when admission to the park was free. The team also operated without an official general manager, though Gary Wendt set up an office at Edinburg Baseball Stadium and was the Coyotes' acting general manager.

Assistant general manager Omar Ortiz, who once served as the Coyotes' pitching coach, left the club in August.

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Brian Sandalow covers the Edinburg Coyotes for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436.