Amid Pelicans negotiations, Myrtle Beach spent $300k to keep team. Here’s why

In a year of curveballs and contention, Myrtle Beach paid outside companies more than $320,000 for consultations and services related to the Pelicans minor league baseball team.

The money was among fees paid by the city to third parties last year. However, it appears that the payments are only a partial list, and it is unknown if the money related to the Pelicans is the total amount.

After a previous lease failed in Horry County Council, Myrtle Beach City Council ultimately voted to keep the Pelicans in the city for another 30 years last June.

A list of city spending shared with Myrtle Beach City Council shows that, behind the scenes in the 2025 fiscal year, the city brought on four outside companies for projects related to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans Ballpark, totaling approximately $321,900.

Most of the money – roughly $205,000 – went to architectural and engineering services, but an additional $116,900 funded lease negotiations.

The largest payout went to Ska Consulting Engineers, which received roughly $168,800 for engineering and design. The multidiscipline engineering firm specializes in healthcare, higher education, municipal, multifamily and parking projects.

Myrtle Beach also paid Machete Group Inc., a company focused on developing sports complexes and surrounding districts, about $116,900 for stadium lease negotiations.

After negotiations, the Pelicans team will pay the city $850,000 annually for the first 20 years and $950,000 every year for the remaining 10 years under the approved lease agreement. To get to that agreement, Horry County agreed to pay $8.25 million of the $20 million required for Pelicans Ballpark renovations.

The lease agreement also allows city manager Fox Simons to negotiate with Horry County for its 30% interest in the stadium.

“Residents, businesses and property taxes will not go to fund any of this,” Simons said at the time. He estimated the county’s portion of the land is valued around $2 million.

Myrtle Beach also hired EwingCole Inc., another architecture and engineering firm, in the 2025 fiscal year. The company received more than $26,700 for designing and planning services.

For additional surveying and engineering services, the city contracted local firm Development Resource Group LLC.