A dust-up between a Memphis City Council member and the Memphis Redbirds emerged Thursday.
Council member Chase Carlisle defended his discussion of pickleball during a debate Tuesday about the future of AutoZone Park with a statement Thursday afternoon. Not long after, the Redbirds responded with a statement on X.
Park leaders asked council members Tuesday for an infusion of $5 million to bring the park up to certain standards. Carlisle argued that a Minor League Baseball team at the park may not be the best use of the property.
Carlisle said times were changing. He called baseball stadiums a “dying model.” Instead, he said, “people are playing pickleball.”
In a news statement Thursday, Carlisle said “The coverage of this discussion didn’t reflect the full conversation, and I think the public deserves the complete picture.”
“My point was about being proactive,” he said in a statement. “Pickleball, for example, is one of the fastest-growing sports in the country.
“Minor League Baseball thrives in some downtowns; in others it does not. As a city, we owe it to taxpayers to think clearly about the highest and best use of this asset rather than spending first and planning later.”
The Redbirds management said on X Thursday they were “disappointed by some comments” during the council meeting but did not name Carlisle directly.
The new money, management said, is not for luxury updates but for safety projects and those expected by Major League Baseball to maintain a city-owned facility. Many of these, they said, have already been done simply because they could not wait. Also, further investment is needed, the team said, to modernize the facility.
The Redbirds said AutoZone Park is “one of Downtown’s most significant public assets.”
“As Memphis strives to compete with top-tier peer cities, it must be willing to invest in and maintain the institutions, venues, and infrastructure that contribute to a vibrant urban core,” the team said on X. “The cost of inaction is not measured only in deferred maintenance — it is measured in lost opportunities, diminished competitiveness, and a declining vision for Downtown Memphis.
Carlisle said he hopes the Memphis Redbirds remain Downtown, “alongside other uses that bring people to the park year-round.”
“But the honest assessment today is that AutoZone Park is an under-managed and underutilized asset,” he said. “The people of Memphis deserve a plan that changes that.”
The Redbirds agreed saying, “the status quo is not a strategy. The future of this facility, and its role in Downtown Memphis, deserves serious discussion and long-term commitment.”
