Nashua Silver Knights owner John Creedon, Jr. shares the enthusiams of this student crowd atone of last year's Education Day Games for the 2026 season on and off the field. (Telegraph file photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – The Futures Collegiate League is gathering for its annual winter meeting at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut this weekend, and it seems these days the Nashua Silver Knights are playing with house money.

“I’ve never been more excited than I am for the 2026 season,” Silver Knights owner John Creedon, Jr. said earlier this week at a business season kickoff event for season ticket holders and sponsors at a downtown restaurant. “Just some new facets to our relationship with the city at Holman Stadium, some events we’re looking to have at Holman Stadium this summer, it’s our manager, Nick Guarino’s second year with the team, a lot of lessons learned and we feel great about the roster. The baseball’s going to be outstanding.

“I’m really excited about the Lowell-Nashua rivalry. Their fans will be traveling up to Holman, our fans will be traveling down to LeLacheur. I think it’s going to be a fun rivalry. Every game the teams are going to be playing for keeps there.”

The Silver Knights are in the running to potenially host the Futures League All-Star Game this summer, though no official decision/announcment has been made yet.

Creedon says the seven-team schedule will be good and that the home and road schedule “fell pretty favorably for the Silver Knights this year.”

Silver Knights general manager Cam Cook said recently the franchise is ahead business wise from this time last year, when the team had its best year with attendance, etc.

“It’s true,” Creedon said. “Last year was great. We made a couple of tweaks to ballpark operations and food and beverage operations that really helped our business model. We’re thankful for the city for their willingness to work for us. It’s a historic ballpark that has operational challenges; it was never designed with hospitality in mind, food and beverage, fan experience outside of paying attention to the actual game on the field. But we work around those challenges and the city is great to work with in that. We’re looking forward to building further growth in ’26 for sure.”

THE OLD LEFT FIELD PRESS BOX

Fans last year noticed the city was basically completely renovating and re-designing the old football press box down the left field line that had long been rendered unusuable.

There’s basically a completely new structure there that the team will put to good use almost like another suite.

“It’s going to be an additional hospitality space for us,” Creedon said. “Much like the suites, the party deck in right field. It’s going to be available for fans to enjoy during the game. We’re affectionately calling it ‘The Watch Tower’.”

Creedon said there will be a ground level, sececond level and third level to it.

“We’re just waiting for capacity level information,” he said. “And then we’ll make it available for fans to book.

“It’s going to be the best view available in the ball park. Plus it’s going to be new and exciting. It’s wonderful it creates another small group, hosptality space for us that helps the business model.”

In saying that, Creedon heaped praise and gratitude on the city of Nashua for “bringing it back to life.”

“The city team got super creative and are so talented,” he said. “They designed it.”

HOME RUN

Creedon is looking forward to seeing Lowell add some strength to the FCBL.

“The Futures League could not have a team in Lowell, back in LeLacheur, and to have selected the group that we did to own and operate that team,” he said. “We couldn’t have nailed it better than we did. They’re local to Lowell, so they know the community inside and out, all the way, the folks to connect with, the buttons to push, the levers to pull, and they’re hitting all the right notes right out of the gate. We couldn’t be happier with the enthusiasm, the traction they’re getting. It’s fun to watch.”

SEVEN TEAMS, WHAT ABOUT EIGHTH?

Creedon says when it comes to adding an eighth team to even out the schedule, patience is a virtue, although that will be a key discussion point this weekend.

“It never makes sense to rush the growth, because if you do, you pay for that for years,” he said. “We want to learn from our past, and things to align favorably, solidly, so that the (potential) team is set up for success, the community’s set up for success, the owner is set up for success to keep strengthening the league. We’re not going to grow for the sake of growing alone.”

Creeedon says there are “always conversations going on with a handful of communities, owners. Lowell is a big get. But the Futures League, with seven teams, has never been stronger.”

Creedon says the league it’s been a boon for the league to have gotten former three New York-Penn League cities/stadiums, Lowell being the final three. And New Britain, another former professional spot.

“That’s the Futures League’s niche, right?” he said. “We go into once professional ballparks and stadiums, bring the summer collegiate model, and as you see, for example in Vermont, they’re actually experiencing more success in the summer collegiate circuit than they did in the Single A circuit.”

And Nashua is also proof of that, taking over after the Nashua Pride and New Hampshire Defenders saw the end of pro independent league baseball at Holman, with the Silver Knights taking over after a year without a Holman tenant.

“We’re the longest running team in Holman Stadium history,” he said.

NORWICH FUTURE

Remember a year ago when the city of Norwich, Conn. was thinking of selling Dodd Stadium and the property it sits on? That put the now three-time FCBL champion Sea Unicorns’ future in peril, but that is no longer an issue and the team has a lease for this season with some options involved. The independent leagues were said to be knocking on the city’s door, but not so fast.

“Look, we love when we get to compete against the independent leagues,” Creedon said. “It’s really just the story of telling what the Silver Knights and the Futures League is, and compare it to independent leagues. All we have to do is discuss the facts and why the Futures League and sommer collegiate baseball is so successful in New England. Independent ball works elsewhere in the country. In New England, it’s summer collegiate, that’s where the game is. We love telling that story and drawing those distinctions.

“Look, competition makes everybody stronger and makes us up our game. We were fortunate to beat out an independent model in Lowell and in Worcester back in 2014.”

That’s when Creedon and his family came into the league with the Worcester Bravehearts, which they sold two years ago.”

PITTSFIELD FUTURE

Creedon called the situation with the dorman Pittsfield Suns a “challenging situation” with the stands at Wahconah Park condemned, soon to be razed, but is glad the Goldklang ownerhip group is hanging in there with a memorandum of understanding with the city to be the tenant when renovations are completed – whenever that would be.

“We’re excited for the Goldklangs to step back in and negotiate a deal with the city,” Creedon said, adding the group is “in good standing” with the league.

“They’ve been kind of sitting on the bench the last couple of years, so it’s good to have them back,” Creedon said, remembering when he brought the Worcester decision makers to Wahconah for the 2013 FCBL All-Star Game, a pivotal move to getting the franchise and Fitton Field for the FCBL.

PLAYOFFS

Creedon is dying for the Silver Knights to end their three-season playoff drought. With adding a new team to the league, does that mean any playof change? It will certainly be a topic of conversation today through the weekend.

“Honestly, I don’t now,” he said. “I don’t know how the discussions are going to go (today) when we talk about it. We’re going to debate the scenarios and talk it through, and once there’s concensus we’ll announce it. That’s when it gets exciting right, when teams are competing for that final spot. Some players get led in, and some check out. … It’s like which team can keep the most people engaged for the longest, make that run deep in the summer and try to reward the fans with a deep run and a championship.”