Grand Junction Jackalopes on the Move

Photo by Matt Finnigan, Stadium Journey

The Grand Junction Jackalopes are relocating from the Grand Valley. League president Mike Shapiro said efforts were made throughout this year to keep the team in Grand Junction, but plans fell through recently.

The franchise began as the Butte Copper Kings in 1978, then played in Casper, relocating to Grand Junction as the Rockies in 2011. The club’s new destination has not been revealed at this time.

The team played home games at Suplizio Field and rebranded as the Jackalopes in 2023 when the Pioneer League shifted to an MLB Partner League. The move might come as a shock to many outside the area, but Shapiro shared his thoughts with local ABC affiliate KJCT.

“I think it was a little bit of everything that contributed to this unfortunate situation. “And the overarching issue is the financial performance of the club... One metric is that the league’s attendance average is about 2,100 a game. Regularly, Grand Junction has been at 1,200 a game. And you can see that disparity on an average-out basis. It just doesn’t pencil out for financial profitability, which, again, unfortunately, the team has been losing money every year ... and attendance drives financial performance in this baseball business.”

Shapiro added other concerns, including a lack of seating and fireworks nights, the stadium lease, the relationship with the city, and insufficient shading at Suplizio Field. The city only allowed three fireworks during the 2025 season; one night was a rainout and could not be rescheduled.

There were also conflicts with scheduling with the JUCO World Series. The JUCO World Series dates forced the Jackalopes to play all 48 home games between June and August, putting the team on the road for the last two weeks of the season.

Grand Junction officials are already exploring replacement options and have received interest from potential new tenants. City Parks and Recreation Director Ken Sherbenou told Yahoo Sports that having the Jackalopes play at the ballpark was “something sustainable.”

“We’re going to be interacting with possible replacement teams as well as possible users to come in and fill that gap,” said Sherbenou. “We have already been contacted by a couple of potential users. So there’s definitely interest out there.”

The Jackalopes looked at playing all or some home games at The Diamond at Hamilton Ballpark, home to the Colorado Mesa University baseball team. Talks broke down due to scheduling and facility conflicts between the two sides.

The league is expanding to Modesto, California, and is in discussions with the city of Long Beach, California, to field a team for next season. In July, the Northern Colorado Owlz relocated to Colorado Springs and rebranded as the Sky Sox.

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