Brockton's back: The Rox's 2025 revival season shows promising future, backed by relatable, young front office
- Mike King
- Aug 7
- 8 min read
Updated: Aug 12
Various levels of baseball have been played since the game’s preliminary concepts were conceived in 1839 by Civil War soldier Abner Doubleday in Cooperstown, N.Y., according to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Folks all over the world admire and respect the game of baseball. They grow up playing it, rising the ranks from T-ball all the way to college baseball to see if they can one day be called up to the major leagues. For those who weren’t exceptional enough to find their way into a major league organization, independent baseball is right there for those who don’t want to give up on their baseball dreams.
For baseball players who were not yet willing to give up on their professional baseball careers in the northeast, enter the Brockton Rox.
Founded in 2002 by Bill and Rob Janetschek, Shawn Riley and even actor Bill Murray, the Brockton Rox, located in Brockton, Mass., were a part of the Northern League, Northeast League as well as the Can-Am League until their conversion to amateur/college leagues in 2012. In 2003, the team’s second season, they won the Northeast League Championship and set an attendance record throughout the league with 203,000 fans.
One of the big reasons why the team succeeded so much, aside from the product on the field, is that the front office understood how to run an independent team for the local fans. Financially speaking, Brockton has seen better days. Data from the Massachusetts Housing Data Portal shows that 21%, 16% and 17% of all households in the city are ranked as extremely low, very low and low income respectively. The team promoted fair priced action for the multitude of families around the area who enjoy baseball but may not be able to purchase a premium seat at Fenway Park.
“This is a baseball team, but we’re actually just as much here for the promotions and the theme nights and just providing that family fun,” said Maddy Canning, the social media and promotions coordinator for the Rox. “Our biggest thing is that we are marketing affordable family fun.”
Over the next eight years, the front office slowly deteriorated as the team’s success failed to stay constant. Campanelli Stadium, the Rox’s home park, was emptier with each passing game and ownership and management were losing lots of money. With this in mind, in 2012 ownership decided to ditch professional baseball to move into the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL), a cheaper option that allowed the team name to survive, but caused the team to lose its spark among the community.
One of the biggest reasons the team surrendered its pro ball status was its carelessness with money. According to a College Baseball Daily article from 2011, the ownership group failed to pay their year-end lease payment for Campanelli Stadium. Eventually, Miles Wolff, then the commissioner of the Can-Am League, had to step in and make the payment on behalf of the team. Among this, owners were constantly in disputes over who truly ran the team, causing the internal turmoil to boil over.
After 13 years in the FCBL, a new-look ownership group led by former Red Sox outfielder and Baseball Hall of Famer Jim Rice took over. They purchased a Frontier League team and made the return back to professional baseball.
The first order of business—rebrand back to the Brockton Rox.
The name “Brockton Rox” was just synonymous with the city. Fans remembered the early success of the team and nostalgia started to creep back to the community.
“This is one of the best things to happen to Brockton,” said 61-year-old Joanne Sutherby, a Brockton native and fan of the team. “I work in downtown Brockton, there’s not a lot to be happy about, but this is fantastic.”
Supporters of the team, like Sutherby, were not afraid to let their positive feelings towards the team be heard.
“People are so proud to have us back,” said Canning. “People have rooted for us through everything. Anytime we put something out there is always support.”
For the revival season, the Rox decided to do something out of the ordinary for a baseball team’s front office—they got young, very young. Brockton has the youngest front office of any team in the Frontier League and not a single person in the front office older than 29. Ownership wanted to get younger to be more relatable to the demographic of the city and surrounding areas.
“One of the coolest things about this season is how inexperienced we are,” said intern Matt Tuccinardi. “I’m filling in all over the place all the time, and the people I’m learning from are even still learning about their position, which I think levels the playing field for everyone and puts us all on the same page in the workplace.”
With Rice’s name involved, the ownership group itself has even enticed fans to come out and watch the team.
“I think it’s definitely helped with awareness and just getting the word out that the Rox are back,” said Ticket Sales Account Executive Dustin Branson.
Canning agreed with Branson, showing excitement for what Rice's name could bring to the team in the coming years.
“At the beginning, that was the biggest thing for us. I mean, it’s Jim Rice,” said Canning. “The Brockton community is so supportive of him. He’s from around here and isn’t just a Red Sox legend, he’s a local Red Sox legend. He’s very passionate about this community and providing them a fun space.”
However not just the fans were happy with the team’s return. Local and international players seeking alternative baseball career routes were thrilled to hear that the team was moving back to professional baseball for the 2025 season. For some players, baseball is all they have, and being able to continue their careers in a professional manner is all they need to hear before getting onboard.
“It’s everything, man. It’s super important,” said Trey Ciula-Hall, a Brockton native and corner infielder for the Rox. “If it wasn’t for this team, I don’t know what I would be doing. I’d probably be working at a desk job somewhere.”
Ciula-Hall’s teammate Zach Eldred, the 2025 American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings National Position Player of the Year, shared similar thoughts on the importance of the team, and independent baseball leagues as a whole.
“It’s pretty huge because the [MLB] draft got cut short about 25 rounds and they took an entire section out of Major League Baseball, so a lot of guys who should probably be getting shots at affiliated baseball aren’t getting the shots they deserve,” said Eldred. “To be able to have an outlet, that’s a huge thing for these guys. Especially guys that come from smaller programs where they aren’t going to get the looks that SEC and ACC guys get. We get guys that come in after the draft that are hungry for more baseball, so it’s pretty important.”
The importance of independent baseball has not gone unnoticed for these players. Even team bus drivers can see the impact it has on young, hungry players.
“I think that it’s very important for them because they are looking forward to the next level,” said Mark, the bus driver for the Ottawa Titans of the Frontier League. “They’re good kids.”
Now that the team had officially announced its returned to pro baseball in 2025, the front office had to make sure they didn’t flop for the fans.
One of the biggest things that the front office wanted to highlight is making fun and affordable nights, ideally for families near the area — to truly sync the Rox of today with their values of their inception.
“It’s a cheap night. You can bring your kids out to the ballpark for as much as it would cost to park at Fenway,” said Canning. “Every night has several kinds of deals. We have value packs for a bunch of our theme nights.”
Anything that can help a family save money at the ballpark, the Rox support it. However it’s not always supposed to be about baseball, and a huge part of why they are able to capture the attention of younger audiences has to do with the theme nights the team hosts.
“It’s such a big thing in the offseason,” Canning said. “We sit down for weeks and months. It’s not only what themes are we doing, it’s when are we doing them. For example, we wanted to do ‘Summer Party,’ so we have to keep on track of when are the schools getting out.”
Canning also acknowledges that the community itself is a great place to get ideas for theme nights at the ballpark.
“You have to know your community. Cape Verdean is a huge community around here, so a huge Cape Verdean event, we’re going to host that next week,” she said.
She admitted that sometimes, you just need to keep your eye out in popular culture. With recent reemerging popularity of The Sopranos, one of television’s most critically acclaimed shows of all time, Canning found a big-time opportunity to fuse baseball with wise guys.
“Sopranos night was huge. Steve Schirripa threw out the first pitch, and he’s not from around here and nobody directly engages with him but it was such a cool thing that we brought here that people could enjoy,” she added.
On top of promotions and social media exposure, Brockton’s young front office also wants to make sure that tickets are being targeted to the right demographics.
“As we get bigger crowds, we will bring in more people [to the ticketing office],” said Branson. “I’m focused on bringing in a lot of big groups, and nights like tonight where we have Country Night and tomorrow where we have Irish Night. You try to focus on those niche markets.”
Throughout this whole rebrand and return to pro baseball for the Brockton Rox, one thing has been constant—Brockton. The community never left, but rather eagerly awaited the team’s return for years.
“It’s everything,” said Quinn Alexander, director of broadcasts for the team. “It’s a place that’s so used to having professional baseball. Especially given Worcester losing its team very recently and with the Rox being out of pro baseball for so long, there’s a demand for it right now and we’re trying to fill that demand.”
Being from the area, Ciula-Hall thrives in the Brockton Rox atmosphere. He’s one of the first to sign autographs for any fan at home games and also works as a substitute teacher in the local school system. He proudly admitted that kids from school will often come to see him play, and it gives him a great deal of worth to the team and community.
“The community is great and it’s everything to me,” said Ciula-Hall. “I love seeing people come out and building relationships with them, building relationships with schools in the area and going to check on the kids. It’s been awesome.”
Members of the front office have observed Ciula-Hall's love for the community throughout the season.
“He loves being a part of the community, he’s a fan-favorite and he’s always willing to help out to drive fan engagement,” Branson said. “Having him has been huge, and having a Brockton kid play for the Brockton Rox, it’s pretty crazy.”
Alexander doubled down, explaining just how big of an impact this return season has been for Ciula-Hall and Brockton.
“It’s everything,” Alexander said. “It’s a place that’s so used to having professional baseball. Especially given Worcester losing its team very recently and with the Rox being out of pro baseball for so long, there’s a demand for it right now and we’re trying to fill that demand.”