JANUARY 28 UPDATE: 

The Reno Redevelopment Agency has approved a new agreement that would allow ownership of Greater Nevada Field to be transferred from the City to the Reno Aces in exchange for a 20-year extension of the team's no-relocation agreement and a $40 million investment.

Team president Eric Edelstein said the deal has been a long time coming.

"I'll probably crash hard later, but right now, I'm just buzzing. This is great news for everybody," he said.

The City of Reno said the team's commitment will keep a big part of downtown Reno as is.

"That's an important thing for our community in order to keep families coming downtown and keep that great community asset," said Ashley Turney, Assistant City Manager.

The City of Reno will continue to pay $1 million to the team annually until 2043, which is when both parties agreed to restructure their deal in 2013.

A longtime Reno resident said the money shouldn't be a part of this deal.

"It's not free money. It's going to a billionaire. And I do appreciate his investment, but there's nothing to say that that investment to subsidize one person's business is needed," said Marc Radow.

In the late 2000's, Reno offered $50 million to attract a team to downtown, paid annually in $2.5 million payments.

In 2013, the Aces and the city agreed to reduce the total to $30 million with $1 million due every year until 2043, when the team's current lease expires.

Despite the unanimous vote by the city council, they did raise concerns with the deal.

Council Member Naomi Duerr brought up the possibility of a lawsuit and the lack of an appraisal for the stadium.

One person said without an appraisal, the city doesn't know the true value of the stadium it's losing.

"Devon Reese, a lawyer on the city council, he should certainly know better than to do something like that. I'm very disappointed in him," said John Viletto.

ORIGINAL STORY: 

The Reno Redevelopment Agency (RDA) is expected to vote on a new agreement with the Reno Aces on Wednesday.

The agreement would transfer ownership of Greater Nevada Field from the City of Reno to the Reno Aces' ownership, in exchange for a 20-year extension of the team's no-relocation agreement and a $40 million investment. Half of that money needs to be invested within five years of the start of the agreement, and the other $20 million will be used in the following five years.

Right now, the City of Reno owns Greater Nevada Field, and Nevada Land LLC, the owners of the Reno Aces, owns the land.

The RDA Advisory Board discussed the terms of the agreement at its meeting on Monday.

Aces president Eric Edelstein said the agreement would "just take what is already an extremely strong commitment and just really, future-proof it for both the team and the ownership."

Rich Atkinson has lived in the area for over 40 years. He said local sports like the Aces need to stick around.

"This is a town that's growing, and anything we can keep here that's for a lot of your family time and bonding community, it's great," Atkinson said.

The agreement would have RDA pay the team $1 million every year until 2043, when the current lease is set to expire. If it fails to make a payment and doesn't appeal within 30 days, the entire agreement is null and void. Similarly, if the team doesn't make its investment, the stadium and land would be returned to the city.

The team would be allowed to sell the stadium, but if they do so in the next five years, the city would get a cut of the profit. The team may sell to anyone - provided it gets approval from Major League Baseball - as long as the new owner inherits all contractual agreements.

Currently, the City of Reno is allowed to use the stadium 12 times per year. That would be decreased to five under the new agreement.

Nevada Land LLC would maintain control of the naming rights for the stadium.

Edelstein said the agreement would be a win for the city, the team, and the community.

"Everybody gets the certainty of what they want for the long term of the future," he said.

If the Reno Redevelopment Agency approves the agreement, we could be enjoying "Aceball" for the foreseeable future.