The Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers opened the new Werner Park to a sell-out crowd of 6,533 on Saturday, and the new TD Ameritrade Park, home of the College World Series, will open on Tuesday for a college game between Nebraska and Creigton in front of an expected sell-out crowd of 24,000. But will spending nearly $181 million on dual ballparks to replace Rosenblatt Stadium work out in the long run? Read more here.
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I’ll hold off further judgment until later in the season as well. But from what I’ve read, a lot of Omaha residents are not happy (and not willing) to trudge out to the suburbs to see the Storm Chasers.
I do understand there could have been a perception problem playing in Ameritrade, but they could have the same problem playing in front of 3K fans at Werner. Obviously the Storm Chasers got a sweet deal from Sarpy County, so that’s why they moved, but having a 24K stadium in downtown Omaha with no full season tenant just seems silly.
Brian
It is silly, but I guess time will tell. I plan to make a quick trip out there to experience both ballparks and the market situation first hand.
Alan
All they could pull in for opening night was 6533 ? Ouch! If this is truly a “sellout”, what happened to the 8K minimum for AAA ballparks ?
I can really see Werner Park becoming a white elephant very quickly. I am still amazed that the city and team couldn’t come to a lease agreement on the downtown ballpark. Building two AAA+ ballparks in the same metro area just seems silly …
Brian
Yes, there should be a little concern that there was not a bigger turnout, considering it was the grand opening and the ballpark can accomodate up to 9,023 people. Also, the link to the photo we posted yesterday shows a lot of empty seats, and it looked like the game was already going on. That said, it is early in the season, and the weather has not been very good, so let’s see how they do when June rolls around.
It’s too bad they were not able to work out a deal to play at TD Ameritrade, but playing in a 24,000-seat facility on a nightly basis should give any owner a little angst. Even if they would have led Triple-A ball in attendance, the park would have only been half full on average, which would have likely created a serious atmosphere and perception problem.
Alan