The Long Beach City Council unanimously approved the effort to bring a new independent professional baseball team to the city on Tuesday, including a collaboration between the Long Beach Baseball Club and Long Beach State to make Bohl Diamond at Blair Field its home. The team aims to begin play in the 2026 season, which would begin next May.

The team will be the newest addition to the Pioneer Baseball League (PBL)—an MLB Partner League with 12 teams across the Western U.S. The franchise is backed by Innovation Baseball Partners (IBP), a group that includes members of the Oakland Ballers ownership team.