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When a professional sports team is sold, there is often fear that new ownership will want to make sweeping changes.
So when it was announced Wednesday that Frank Boulton was selling the Long Island Ducks to Texas-based Rev Entertainment, plenty of questions immediately followed:
- Would the Ducks remain on Long Island?
- Would they stay in the Atlantic League?
- Would the staff remain intact?
- Would the Ducks continue operating the way they have for 25 years, providing affordable, family-friendly professional baseball?
The answer to all of those questions is yes.
“It’s really important that fans know that I don’t think you should expect any tremendous changes,” said Sean Decker, president of Rev Entertainment, during a press conference Thursday at Fairfield Properties Ballpark.
“We didn’t buy the Long Island Ducks because we saw an opportunity to change things. We bought the Long Island Ducks because we think it’s an unbelievable institution and we want to be great stewards of that institution and continue to grow it.”
Baseball fans on Long Island won’t notice much difference as the Ducks prepare for the 2026 Atlantic League season. The entire staff will remain in place, and the game-day experience will continue as fans know it. The new ownership group plans to build upon what the Ducks have done successfully for 25 years.
While Rev Entertainment is based in Texas, the Ducks will continue to be operated as Long Island’s team.
“We love the way it happens here (on Long Island),” Decker said. “We will not start flying Texas flags or change anything in terms of the way that it is. We will continue to fly Long Island Ducks flags and do everything we can in leading the brand. We believe that these teams are hyper local and for us we want to continue upon what we think the staff has already done a really tremendous job doing.”
That philosophy dates back to 2000, when Boulton’s dream of bringing professional baseball to Long Island became reality. A former owner of the Albany-Colonie Yankees, the New York Yankees’ Double-A affiliate, Boulton initially tried to move that team to Long Island before the Mets blocked the move.
Undeterred, he founded the Atlantic League in 1998. Two years later, the stadium now known as Fairfield Properties Ballpark opened in Central Islip, and the Long Island Ducks were born.
Boulton wasn’t actively shopping the team, but interest continued to come in. Now, 26 years after QuackerJack first arrived at the ballpark by helicopter for Opening Day, the Ducks are entering a new era.
“We never put a ‘for sale’ sign on this team,” Boulton said. “But, over the last few years, we’ve had a number of people knock on my door and talked to us about the possibility of a sale. About a year ago, I started to speak to Sean and Sean and I kind of connected. We checked a lot of boxes together. I’m proud to say that I picked Rev Entertainment.”
The Ducks are one of the most successful franchises in Atlantic League history, with four league championships. They are the league’s all-time leader in wins and attendance and have recorded a league-record 721 sellouts.
General manager Sean Smith will remain in place, along with Michael Pfaff, who will continue as president and chief business officer.
“This is an exciting day,” Pfaff told Greater Long Island. “They bring a lot assets to the table and a lot of resources and that’s a way to grow the business in the future.”
“The team has been very competitive,” Decker said. “We believe the gold standard in the league and we’re going to try and add resources to compete for championships in every way possible. We’re really excited to get the opportunity to work with Mike (Pfaff) and Sean (Smith) and the team here (on) Long Island.”
Decker said Rev Entertainment does not plan to change the team’s promotional strategy. The first year of ownership, he said, will focus on learning and listening — both about the franchise and the Long Island community. The company may look to expand private events at Fairfield Properties Ballpark on non-game days, something it has done with other teams it owns.
Still, the Ducks’ future remains firmly rooted in Central Islip.
“There’s no secret to success,” Decker said. “You have to be hyper-local. You have to create reasons for fans to come more than once. There’s no intention of doing anything with moving the team geographically, league etc. We’re here to be exactly where they are today.”
While Rev Entertainment has explored adding teams from other sports in different markets, Decker said that won’t happen at Fairfield.
“I have yet to see a model that makes sense for us,” he said. “The geometry of these buildings is challenging to do other sports at a lot of times at a professional scale. There’s no goal for us to have a secondary tenant.”
Twenty-six years after Frank Boulton brought professional baseball back to Long Island, he has officially passed the torch. A new era has begun — but for Ducks fans, it will still feel very much like business as usual.
Top: Ducks dugout celebration during an Atlantic League of Professional Baseball game on Sunday, May 26, 2019 in Central Islip, N.Y. (AP Photo/Vera Nieuwenhuis)
