INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indianapolis Arrows, a group seeking a major league baseball franchise in its city, will begin refunding fans who placed deposits on season tickets, a spokesman said.
Arrows president Arthur Angotti said the refunds will include the promised 5.5 percent interest on each $50 deposit.
Angotti had promised complete refunds by Dec. 31, 1987 if Indianapolis did not have an expansion franchise.
Major league officials have not decided if and when expansion might occur, making it obvious no new teams will play by 1987, Angotti said.
'I want to stress that we are not in any way letting up our efforts to obtain an expansion team,' he said. 'At this point we feel we can be as effective without holding hundreds of thousands of dollars.'
Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth assured Angotti a refund would not hurt the city's chances of landing a franchise.
'We proved our point,' Angotti said. 'There is a lot of grass roots enthusiasm for baseball in Indianapolis. We got over 11,000 season ticket orders without a team.'
