BISCUIT BASH: New team CEO, mayor celebrate new ownership of team during ceremony
New Montgomery Biscuits CEO Mike Carney cuts the ribbon in a special ceremony on Wednesday signifying the new ownership. Several other dignitaries including city of Montgomery mayor Steven Reed (second from left) were on hand for the celebration at Riverwalk Stadium. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
On-Deck Partners CEO Mike Carney and the Montgomery Biscuits welcomed the public to a fan fest at Riverwalk Stadium on Wednesday.
Carney, who recently purchased the Double-A franchise of the Tampa Bay Ray, was joined atop the first base dugout for a ceremonial ribbon cutting with Montgomery mayor Steven Reed and other local officials to signify the team’s new ownership before staging a two-hour fan fest that featured free food and beverages.
“Please come up and introduce yourself to me,” Carney told the crowd. “I want to know about Montgomery, I want to know about the local community, I want to know about the local culture. That’s why we’re here tonight is for connection.”
Carney has been on the job roughly six weeks since the purchase of the team, retaining most of the front office staff as they prepare for the upcoming 2026 minor league season.
“We’ve been very active,” he said. “We’re in the middle of a new construction project at the ballpark. We hope to have that by Opening Day. And we’ve got a few other things in motion.”
Carney’s plan is to make Riverwalk Stadium the focal point of the downtown entertainment district, calling the capital city a “really strong concert market” in his quest to add music and other forms of entertainment to the area, both in addition to the baseball team and during the months where there is no baseball.
“We’re expanding the (front office) team,” Carney said. “There’s one person that we’re hiring right now on the sponsorship side. And we’ll take this season to be able to really understand the operation on the ground but we’re not here to disrupt the team. We’re going to be adding where we think it makes sense to add. We’re just so impressed by what the team has done, we want to add to that.”
The Biscuits also released their 2026 promotional schedule on Wednesday and general manager Mike Murphy said there are subtle changes in the promotional and ticketing aspects of the team under OnDeck Partners.
“Initially, from the promotion calendar release and the ticket release, there’s going to be some things that our fans will notice,” Murphy said, “more from a marketing standpoint. There are some physical things in the ballpark that we’re looking at enhancing -- creating some new hospitality areas and enhancing some of our suites. Those are some of the first things that people will notice, but there’s going to be so much more from the experience that Mike brings from his experience in Major League Baseball.”
Murphy also praised the Major League experience of new chief operating officer Jeff Wilen, who replaces Brendon Porter.
Carney said much of the team’s marketing starts long before January, so he left much of the planning for the 2026 season to Murphy and his staff.
“I think where we’re going to be able to add benefit is collaborating across our various clubs,” Carney said, “but that process started a long time ago. We want to be advisers to the local team. We’re not here to tell them what promotions to put on what days. ‘Murf’ is a pro at that. But what we can say is maybe there are certain other game-day events we can bring in that may be new here.”
The Montgomery Biscuits open the 2026 season in Pensacola on April 3. The home opener is April 7 against Columbus.