They were founded on July 29, 1996, by Chico Heat Professional Baseball LLC, with former supermarket entrepreneur Steve Nettleton and his wife Kathy serving as principal owners.

[2] The team played at Nettleton Stadium, which is located on the campus of California State University, Chico.

Steve Nettleton will return as a principal owner along with former Major League Baseball executive and Chico native Pat Gillick.

The Heat defeated the Medford Rogues 2 games to 1 to capture the inaugural GWL Championship.

This year, the entire Heat team faced the best of the Great West League, a departure from the normal format.

[5] The Heat faced the Rogues for the second straight season in the GWL Championship, this time falling to their rivals 2 games to 0.

On January 11, 2019, Heat founder and majority owner Steve Nettleton died at age 79 following a long battle with Parkinson's Disease.