BALTIMORE -- Trucking magnate Edwin Hale became the new owner of the MISL's Baltimore Blast Friday and said he has no plans to move the club.
Hale, who paid a reported $850,000 for the team, also announced a restructuring of the Blast's front office, bringing aboard his longtime associate, former Baltimore Colts linebacker Stan White.
Hale, who runs Hale Container, a multimillion-dollar barge business and trucking enterprise in Canton, Ohio, paid less than the $1 million asking price of majority owner Nathan Scherr. Scherr paid $3 million for the team in 1983.
At a news conference announcing the sale, Hale said he will not move the team from Baltimore.
'This is my home. My friends are here,' said Hale, 42. 'I have a lot of business relationships here.'
The Blast lost $1 million in the 1986-87 season, and again in the 1987-88 season. Initial reports from the 1988-89 season indicate the team lost about $750,000, a team official said.
Three-fourths of the team owners in the MISL must approve the sale.
White, who was unable to attend Friday's announcement, said Thursday he and Hale hope the purchase will aid their attempts to attract an NFL franchise to Baltimore.
But White said they would not 'dump' the Blast in favor of a football franchise.
'His major reason for buying the Blast is to make it the best sports franchise it can be,' White said. 'He wants to promote Baltimore as a major-league sports town, enhance the image of the town so that Baltimore will be considered a possible city for a franchise.'
