The Butler BlueSox will remain in the city for the next decade.

The baseball team’s majority ownership group Thursday approved a 10-year lease with the city Parks, Recreation Grounds and Facilities Authority to have the club play at Kelly Automotive Park through the 2024 season.

“The deal is done,” said William “Wink” Robinson, one of the five owners in group. “We’re all extremely excited. Our ownership group was, is and will be committed to keeping the BlueSox in Butler.”

The city’s facilities authority approved the modified version of the lease at its meeting July 16. The deal became official with the approval by Perfect Game LLC, which owns a 60 percent stake in the team.

The authority owns the other 40 percent.

Authority chairman Ed Codi said he was happy the deal is done.

“It’s a fair deal for both sides,” Codi said.

“It now allows us to focus on bringing in other revenue for the stadium.”

The 10-year lease will have the club pay the authority $350 per game for the first two years. That will increase to $400 by the end of the deal.

The BlueSox have been paying about $300 per game this year. The team is scheduled to play 30 games at the park this summer.

The agreement also marks a change in concessions. The authority currently gets 60 percent of concession sales during BlueSox games, with the club taking 40 percent. That figure will drop to 55 percent for the authority with the new agreement.

The BlueSox majority ownership group also will be able to collect a commission on selling advertising at the park, specifically through outfield banners.

The club will get a 45 percent commission on any banners it sells, with the authority receiving 55 percent.

The authority will keep 100 percent of the revenue from banners it sells.

Robinson said the club’s ability to attract advertising to the park will benefit both the team and the stadium.

“We’re the front line,” he said of advertising. “We’ll be able to do package deals. This is good for both parties.”

Robinson said now the group hopes to turn discussions to obtaining the authority’s 40 percent share of the team.

“There are two separate hoops we need to go through,” he said. “That is the second hoop.”

The authority, which stands $243,000 in debt, tried to sell its share last December for $40,000 to the Nonprofit Development Corporation of Butler, which manages the ballpark.

However, the majority group opposed the sale, claiming first right of refusal.

The Prospect League board of directors rejected the sale, claiming it was not in the best interest of the league.

Robinson represents the BlueSox on the board, although he did not vote on the sale.

Codi said at previous board meetings he did not want to sell the stake to the majority group due his fears it would allow the team to relocate.

The BlueSox are the primary tenant for the stadium.

But the authority decided in May to explore selling the club to the majority group for a $75,000 lump sum if it could agree to a long-term lease.

Codi said Friday the authority is still interested in selling the club to the majority group for about that price.

Codi also said another party has expressed interest in the team, but said it has not made any sort of formal offer. He did not name who made the inquiry, but said the majority group is still the preferred partner in a deal.

“We’d give the BlueSox first option to purchase,” he said. “If they want to purchase (the stake) for what was offered, we’d agree to it.”

Robinson said the two sides have yet to have negotiations on a deal, but have had preliminary discussions.