Comparing the deal being negotiated by Heartland Community College in the Bloomington-Normal part of Illinois, it certainly looks like it.

Randy Reinhardt of the Bloomington Pantagraph writes that Mike Veeck‘s Frontier League team is recommended for the nod.

OK.

Same league.

A deal with a junior college.

What was the offer?

The stadium in the heart of Illinois will cost $12 million.

MCC’s was pegged at $10 million, maybe more, but that’s the figure the Crystal Lake college started with.

3,000 to 3,500 chair-back seats in Normal. 2,000 more possible in picnic area.

3,000 bleacher seats were proposed for MCC’s.

“Heartland would contribute $3.5 million it already has set aside for athletic facilities, and Veeck’s ownership team would pay for the rest. The town of Normal would contribute sales tax rebates and infrastructure costs,”

the article says.

I don’t remember the Crystal Lake City Council’s being willing to contribute anything.

Of course, we don’t know how the baseball promoter will come up with his money. Maybe his arrangement with Heartland will be as flaky as the one agreed upon by the McHenry County College Board.

But, maybe there will be a stop-loss of $3.5 million, that is, maybe the college board will be smart enough to make Veeck’s company pay for anything over that amount.

The college was planning to spend $3.5 million on a new stadium anyway.

We’ll see.