The Islanders were originally an amateur team, but on December 17, 1960, the Sacramento Solons, a longtime PCL stalwart, moved to Honolulu. Minor league baseball was then in free fall, as sparse attendance, major league TV broadcasts, expansion and franchise shifts at the major league level, and retrenchment in farm system support caused the contraction of many minor league teams, and the utter collapse of entire leagues. The Islanders came to Hawaii in part due to these trends. The Solons had been suffering from attendance problems since the arrival of the San Francisco Giants from New York City in 1958. Salt Lake City businessman Nick Morgan bought the Solons and moved them to the Aloha State. Two years later, Morgan sold the Islanders to a locally based group.