There is no definitive answer regarding when or if the Chattanooga Lookouts will launch their 2020 season.
The same could be said about 2021.
Before these altering times due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the storied Lookouts of the Class AA Southern League appeared on a list of 42 minor league franchises that Major League Baseball wanted to contract after the 2020 season due to inadequate facilities or geographic concerns between the big league clubs and their affiliates. The New York Times reported on the contraction candidates this past November, but MLB responded to that article by stating the list was inaccurate.
“The team in Chattanooga is not likely to and certainly should not be contracted,” Jason Freier, a Lookouts co-owner and the CEO of Hardball Capital, said this past week. “We have a fabulous market in Chattanooga, and we fit well into the geographical footprint of the Southern League. There is a deep history of baseball in Chattanooga.”
MLB representatives and minor league baseball officials had hoped to hammer out a new Professional Baseball Agreement by now to replace the current one that expires after the 2020 season, but those talks are on hold due to coronavirus concerns. Currently at the forefront is MLB’s potential return, given that millions of dollars are being lost without spectators in the seats of its 30 venues and with no television revenue.