Deontay Wilder boxing promoter buying Montgomery Biscuits baseball team
Lou DiBella wears a Montgomery Biscuits cap during the Deontay Wilder press conference in Birmingham. (Solomon Crenshaw Jr. / Alabama NewsCenter)
Boxing fans have become accustomed to seeing promoter Lou DiBella in Alabama to build excitement for Deontay Wilder heavyweight fights.
But the CEO of DiBella Entertainment will be making more frequent visits to the state as he has reached an agreement in principle to buy the minor league Montgomery Biscuits, the AA affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays.
During a Feb. 24 press conference for Wilder’s defense of his World Boxing Council title, someone referred to the promoter as Lou DiBiscuits. After Wilder’s fifth-round technical knockout of Gerald Washington, DiBella was sporting a Montgomery Biscuits ball cap.
Lou DiBella on buying the Montgomery Biscuits and boosting entertainment in the Capital City from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
The promoter said he drove to Montgomery when he was in the state for Wilder’s July 2016 fight with Chris Arreola. He toured Riverwalk Stadium and rode around town.
DiBella said Montgomery is “booming, growing” and appealed to him.
“The Montgomery Biscuits were for sale and now my ownership group is working on a deal that’s close to closing,” he said.
This is not DiBella’s first venture into baseball. He is only too willing to show the ring he wears, one of three World Series rings he’s gotten for being associated with the San Francisco Giants.
“I’ve been involved in minor league baseball as the president and managing partner of the Giants’ AA team,” he said. “This will be our eighth season in Richmond. Before that, we were in Connecticut. I’ve been associated with the Giants for over a decade.
“My ownership group and my management group, we’ve wanted to be involved in another minor league team,” DiBella continued. “I’ve been looking for the right opportunity over the last five years. I hadn’t really thought much about Alabama until I spent some time in Birmingham and took a ride to Montgomery.”
The promoter called the Biscuits a natural fit. After talking for months with Biscuits owner Sherrie Myers, the two sides reached an agreement in principle at the Major League winter meetings.
“Now we’re waiting on baseball’s approval to close the deal but I’ll be the president of the Montgomery Biscuits, God willing, in a little more than a month.”
DiBella said he doesn’t plan to make a lot of changes, saying current staff must get to know him, his management group and ownership group.
“Look, I’ve got plenty of ideas because I’m an idea guy,” he said. “And I’m a promoter. Whether it’s in baseball or it’s in boxing, I’m a promoter. I’ve got loads of ideas.
“Overwhelmingly, when you do a big boxing event, it’s got to be fun. You have to offer people a great entertainment value,” DiBella continued. “What we can offer in Montgomery to the Biscuits fans is great entertainment value. The other thing is you have to be part of your community. You have to interact with the community … be a great corporate citizen.”
