Message from the Baltimore Orioles

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FROM THE BALTIMORE ORIOLES FRONT OFFICE

December 9, 2020

Baltimore, MD- Orioles baseball to continue driving economic impact in seven communities across three states;
Aberdeen, Bowie, Frederick, Norfolk, and Salisbury all remain commercial partners

The Orioles are pleased to announce that the club has invited the Aberdeen IronBirds, Bowie Baysox,
Delmarva Shorebirds, Norfolk Tides, and the communities they serve to continue as
economic development and entertainment partners. The Orioles will also continue to collaborate
with the community of Frederick, Md., where the club has worked with Major League Baseball (MLB)
and Prep Baseball Report (PBR) to bring the MLB Draft League to Frederick residents. The MLB Draft
League is the first league in the country focused on top prospects who are eligible for the annual
MLB Draft.

Today’s announcement is the result of a collaborative effort by the Office of the Commissioner, the
Baltimore Orioles Partnership Group, three minor league ownership groups, and state and local
government officials to build upon the Orioles organization's unrivaled, sports-based economic
presence in the region. For three decades, the Orioles have extended and replicated the club's
Camden Yards formula for driving tourism and delivering economic impact to benefit local
communities. This time-tested formula for success was first introduced in 1992 through a
private-public partnership of the Maryland Stadium Authority, the Maryland State Legislature, the
City of Baltimore, and the Orioles that revolutionized urban real estate development by
transforming the Camden Yards and Baltimore Inner Harbor areas into one of the leading sports
tourism destinations. Since the Camden Yards campus opened in 1992, the Orioles have attracted more
than 70 million visitors to Charm City, and an additional 19 million visitors have enjoyed Orioles
baseball in the Maryland and Virginia communities that host the club’s minor league ballparks since
2005. With the renovation of Ed Smith Stadium in 2010, the Orioles brought the Camden Yards
redevelopment model from Maryland to Florida through a similarly transformative
private-public partnership of the State of Florida, Sarasota County, the City of Sarasota, and the
Orioles that has been certified by state and local government as having generated nearly $100
million per year in economic impact directly benefiting the residents of that community. In the
State of Maryland, Orioles baseball and Camden Yards have been a catalyst for billions of dollars
of cumulative economic impact in local communities across the state for more than a quarter of a
century.

“Over the past three decades, the Orioles have designed and established a network of economic
development partnerships in Maryland, Virginia, and Florida which have generated billions of
dollars in impact returned to the public, far exceeding the initial investments made. Our partners
and our entire organization are extremely proud of that track record of development, entertainment,
and over-delivery, and we are pleased to have successfully secured and extended the economic
benefit of the Camden Yards blueprint for multiple communities into the future,” said JOHN ANGELOS,
Orioles Chairman and CEO. “Throughout this process, we have remained committed to retaining our
decades-long presence in our state and region as we work closely with Major League Baseball to
evolve and extend our system of local baseball for the benefit of players and communities around
the country. This steadfast commitment to our home state, the Mid-Atlantic region, and all
communities where we do business will create jobs and drive commercial activity while
ensuring that residents will continue to enjoy the most affordable, family-focused experience in
professional sports.”

At the Triple-A level, the Orioles have invited the Norfolk Tides and Norfolk community to continue
their partnership, which began in 2007. For more than a decade, Norfolk has been the final stop for
Orioles prospects during their journey to Camden Yards. The Tides would continue to play their home
games at Harbor Park in downtown Norfolk, Va.

At the Double-A level, the Orioles have invited the Bowie Baysox and Prince George’s County
community to continue their partnership, which began in 1993. The Baysox, who have been an Orioles
partner for nearly three decades, would continue to play their home games at Prince George’s
Stadium in Bowie, Md.

At the Class A-Advanced level, the Orioles have invited the Aberdeen IronBirds and Aberdeen
community to continue their partnership, which began in 2002. The IronBirds were introduced as an
Orioles affiliate nearly two decades ago, when the Orioles worked to facilitate the opportunity for
Ripken Professional Baseball to become part of the Orioles’ family of minor league ball clubs. The
IronBirds would continue to play their home games at Leidos Field at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen,
Md.

At the Class-A level, the Orioles have invited the Delmarva Shorebirds and Salisbury community to
continue their partnership, which began in 1997. For more than two decades, Wicomico County and the
Eastern Shore of Maryland have been home to some of the organization’s youngest professional
prospects just starting their journey toward Camden Yards. The Shorebirds would continue to play
their home games at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium in Salisbury, Md.

In Frederick County, the Orioles have worked with the Office of the Commissioner and owner Ken
Young to bring amateur baseball to the city through the groundbreaking MLB Draft League. The
Orioles will maintain their strong presence
in the region through baseball development and a series of entertainment and economic initiatives.

With the extension of this powerful economic partnership structure, the Orioles’ network of Major
League and minor league player development in the State of Maryland and the region will remain one
of the most economically vibrant, budget-friendly, and geographically cohesive in all of
professional sports.

Under the Orioles brand, this unique model has established the State of Maryland as a year-round
training hub for professional baseball. The geographic proximity of the Orioles’ development
centers will enable the club to foster strong relationships with partner communities while allowing
Major League coaches, scouts, athletic trainers, and front office analysts to have continuous,
uninterrupted access to prospects and thereby optimize the time spent recruiting, teaching, and
advancing young talent to Camden Yards.

“We are proud to continue the Orioles’ tradition of creating baseball across Maryland and our
region,” said MIKE ELIAS, Orioles Executive Vice President and General Manager. “We believe the
structure of our minor league affiliates will enable us to continue fortifying a robust pipeline of
talent that will graduate top prospects to Camden Yards in the very near future and for years to
come, and we are excited to have secured a home for the MLB Draft League in Maryland as well. We
are eager to continue working with our local communities as we strive to build the best player
development system in baseball, with an eye towards our ultimate goal of developing a
championship-caliber team.”

“Since the club moved to Baltimore in 1954, Orioles baseball has been a way of life in the State of
Maryland,” said GOVERNOR LARRY HOGAN. “With today’s announcement affirming the club’s longstanding
commitment to the region, I am as proud as ever to call myself an Orioles fan. The future of the
Orioles and of the game of baseball in Maryland is bright.”

“We are thrilled that high-level baseball will remain in Aberdeen, Bowie, Frederick, and Salisbury
and that these communities will be part of Maryland's baseball landscape long into the future,”
said KELLY M. SCHULZ, Secretary, Maryland Department of Commerce. “There is no question that
this honored American pastime has a significant economic impact throughout Maryland. This isn’t
just about more opportunities for our residents; the Orioles’ commitment to Maryland will continue
to help attract visitors and businesses to our state. We look forward to working with the Orioles
to drive commercial activity and increased excitement in Maryland as the game of baseball grows at
all levels.”

ABOUT THE ORIOLES’ IMPACT

In 1954, Major League Baseball returned to Charm City, drawing more than one million fans in its
first year and laying the foundation for decades of success on and off the field. Since then, the
Orioles and the State of Maryland have enjoyed a mutually beneficial, sustainable partnership that
has driven economic impact and created meaningful change in the community and throughout the
region. With the introduction of Oriole Park at Camden Yards in 1992, The Ballpark That Forever
Changed Baseball ™ inspired a generation of construction that brought America’s ballparks into
existing and historic neighborhoods and played a key role in the revitalization of urban life.
Upholding this legacy for more than 28 years, Oriole Park has been widely regarded as one of the
nation's best sporting venues, annually ranked among the top ballparks by publications such as
Forbes, USA Today, New York Times, and Washington Post. Attracting more than 70 million kids and
adults to Charm City’s Inner Harbor area to date, Oriole Park is one of the leading catalysts for
year-round tourism in Baltimore and Maryland, having directly contributed billions of dollars in
economic impact The Orioles’ award-winning design and building innovation extends from Baltimore to
the club’s southern home of Sarasota, Fla., where the Orioles have generated more than $436 million
in cumulative economic impact since 2015 through the club’s year-round corporate presence and
Spring Training attendance. In the 10 years since moving the Orioles’ year-round, state-of-the-art
training academy and Major League and minor league operations to Sarasota, Ed Smith Stadium has
welcomed more than one million fans and was named the best Spring Training experience in all of
Major League Baseball by USA Today in 2018.

–orioles–