Venue Detail
Omaha Storm Chasers
Revenues From Sports Venues Pro Facilities Report
February, 2011
Omaha Storm Chasers
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1202 Bert Murphy Ave Omaha, NE 68107-2253 Phone: 402-734-2550 Fax: 402-734-7166 URL: www.omahastormchasers.com
Owner
Union Pacific Railroad, Warren Buffet, Walter Scott
League
Pacific Coast League American Conference, North
Venue
Rosenblatt Stadium, 1202 Bert Murphy Ave, Omaha, NE 68107-2253 Owner: City of Omaha Managed by: Owner Built: 1948 Capacity: 23,145 Permanent concession stands: 11 Concessionaire: Centerplate Suite caterer: Centerplate Soft drink: Coca Cola Beer: Multiple
Ticket prices
Season tickets range from $300 to $400 Single tickets range from $6.00 to $10.00
Attendance
2007 average attendance: 4,803 2008 average attendance: 5,375 2009 average attendance: 5,456
As Omaha leaders prepare to build a new ballpark for the College World Series, the Triple-A Storm Chasers are building their own venue in Sarpy County. The team was known as the Royals until it began its 2011 season.
The deal negotiated between Sarpy County and the Storm Chasers has resulted in a new ballpark at a cost not to exceed $20.3 million.
According to a copy of the lease agreement, Sarpy County owns the new ballpark and leases it to the Storm Chasers for 25 years.
The team manages the ballpark, collects concession revenue and determines if there's a fee to park at the facility. The team also is allowed to sell naming rights. Revenue from the naming rights is shared between the organization and the county.
Under terms of the agreement, the Storm Chasers contribute $2.35 million to the construction, and pay $450,000 annual rent for the first five years. The rental payments increase after five years, based on the inflation rate.
The total cost of the project will not exceed $26 million. The additional cost would finance road improvement and land acquisition. The team also agreed to pay $2 million cash and $350,000 for pre-development expenses. The team also will share half of any naming rights fees over $300,000.
The ballpark has a unique outfield wall with plenty of nooks and crannies like Boston's historic park. Team executives and the ballpark's designers believe that it will create a home-field advantage.
“We had a lot of fun designing the project,” Stan Meradith of DLR Group told the Omaha World Herald. “Baseball is one of the few sports that doesn't have the field geometry as one of the rules. We think that it's really important to make this a special place.”
While the ballpark has been designed with fans in mind, the most unusual element from a competition perspective will be the outfield wall. And foremost among the wall's list of nuances is the concave portion of right field.
Rather than bending out in a gentle arc from the right-field corner to center field as is typical in most parks, the newspaper reports that a portion of the wall in right center bows back in toward the playing field. Before starting its concave portion, closer to straightaway right field, the wall has a sharp angle. After the concave portion of the wall, it bends out again before a straight section spans center field.
“It's unique from a baseball perspective,” Royals General Manager Martie Cordaro told the newspaper. “And from an outfielder's perspective, it's going to create an advantage for our players. There's going to be a whole new outfield coming into play every four days against us.”
The seats in left field sit atop another interesting feature, the “third” dugout. Fans can rent the field-level location on a nightly basis.
“Fans will be able to see the game from a manager's and player's perspective,” Cordaro told the World Herald.
Back in the left-field corner, just off the foul pole, is the “home run porch,” the only outfield bleacher seating in the park and just a few steps from an outfield bar. It holds 400 to 450 fans. (Baseball, Facilities, Financial, MinorLeagueVenueReport, Professional Sports)