Hope everyone is having a good start to the new year! With many of you probably returning to work this week after the holiday, we thought it would be a good time to update everyone on all things Beloit Snappers.

The short answer is that besides the great news last month that the Snappers had been invited to become a Miami Marlins' affiliate, we still don't know a lot. With little news coming out of the organization, combined with uncertainty surrounding the minor league baseball overhaul and COVID-19, there remains a ton of unanswered questions about the 2021 season. Kevin Reichard from Ballpark Digest wrote a good article over the weekend, noting that the new Professional Development License has been delayed, along with the start to the new minor league season until probably May at the earliest.

Construction of Beloit's new ABC Supply Stadium seems to be on track, but we haven't seen an update since this WISC-TV story, which suggests the grand opening is scheduled for July. Our hope is we will all get a chance to say goodbye to Pohlman Field before the new ballpark opens, but with the coronavirus pandemic it's unclear exactly how many fans will be allowed to watch live games this summer (if they even happen).

And then there's the question of the Snappers rebranding. The organization has been silent on the subject ever since owner Quint Studer put out this statement in October, which said the team's "new identity" would be announced in the spring. We have picked up pieces of information here and there, but have not received a direct confirmation the team is still considering one of the 5 proposed names, or something else entirely. Likewise, it's not clear to us whether "River Rockers" (or elements of it) is even being considered by the team.

So we'll keep trying to get the word out until we find out more! In the meantime, we are happy to report we have two interviews already scheduled this week-- one with the national sports website Stadium Journey, as well as with the Marlins fans blog Fish Stripes. We look forward to bringing those to you on our Facebook and Twitter pages when they are available. In the meantime, if you know of anyone who may be interested in writing about our fight to Save Snappy, please let us know!