Omaha: Considering building a new DT ballpark

[Maitre D]

Good thing we renovated our suburban stadiums.


Wouldn't want to become jsut another Omaha.

[49r]

Omaha Royals will consider other proposals

Stein announced Tuesday that the Royals and the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority failed to secure an agreement for the ballclub to be tenants in Omaha's new downtown baseball stadium.

The team is now ready to consider proposals from Sarpy County and cities outside the metro area.

Looks like they would rather be in the suburbs.

[LenexatoKCMO]

Looks like they would rather be in the suburbs.

I would say it looks more like they weren't wanted downtown.  You would think Omaha would have learned from Wichita's mistakes. 

Perhaps Glass will decide to move them to Arkansas too, so he can have both the AA and AAA teams to watch in his backyard instead of watching the actual MLB team. 

[kcjak]

I can't believe a city would spend $140 million on a new stadium (anywhere, downtown or not) and not have the minor league team as a tenant.  While the CWS was the reason for building a new stadium, the 7-10 days or whatever of busy dates, tourism, business, economic spinoff, etc. that event brings doesn't seem enough to pay it off any time soon.  They'll need a lot of filler dates.

I don't know all the specifics to the negotiations, other than what I read on here, but I get the feeling that the ower of the ORoyals wouldn't be too sad if the team relocates to a city that offers some financial benefits to him.  Regardless of what Sarpy County has in the works, the team is still the Omaha Royals and it's a matter of whether the locals support them, or not.  If the KC Royals packed up and moved to a new stadium in Lee's Summit, Olathe or Platte City I doubt attendance would increase just because of the location change.

And regarding Wichita's team, it's not like they weren't wanted downtown - no one wanted to replace Lawrence Dumont stadium, especially when people were already complaining about a sales tax increase to fund the new downtown arena.  The Wranglers struggled with attendance for many years and when you've got an untapped, fast-growing market offering incentives, it's hard not to move.  Unfortunately, I see the ORoyals pulling the same thing in Omaha and in a few years the tenant in the downtown ballpark will be a Northern League, Frontier League or whatever League....and have impressive attendance.

[shinatoo]

How about Columbia, Mo, Wichita, or Topeka?

[KCMax]

How about Columbia, Mo, Wichita, or Topeka?

Too small for AAA. You need an airport that can get you to Tacoma, Sacramento and New Orleans. I don't think Columbia's flights go that far.

[KCPowercat]

jak..not totally off the wall...just look at the speedway in kck.  how much money and land is eaten up band only used two weekends a year?

[LenexatoKCMO]

Too small for AAA. You need an airport that can get you to Tacoma, Sacramento and New Orleans. I don't think Columbia's flights go that far.

Plus, Topeka and CoMo may be a little too close to home.  You don't want your AAA team competing for the same rooftops as your major league team.  Its one thing to put it in an area where the locals probably also come to a handful of big league games each year but you don't want it close enough where people could potentially get season tickets to either club.  If your in Sedalia, do you buy a ticket package with the big league club or the CoMo club? 

[KCMax]

Plus, Topeka and CoMo may be a little too close to home.  You don't want your AAA team competing for the same rooftops as your major league team.  Its one thing to put it in an area where the locals probably also come to a handful of big league games each year but you don't want it close enough where people could potentially get season tickets to either club.  If your in Sedalia, do you buy a ticket package with the big league club or the CoMo club? 

I would agree with that notion except that the Atlanta Braves top affiliate is moving to Gwinnett County, a wealthy suburb of Atlanta.

[ShowME]

I'd be happy to trade the Major League Royals for the AAA Royals if they're looking for a quality suburban ballpark if it meant the "major league" Royals played in a downtown stadium.

[kcjak]

Stein would jump at the chance to go to a market that would offer an instant attendance spike AND get some sweet deal on a new stadium and/or rent.  But Topeka doesn't have the population base or growth to be viable and I'm not sure CoMo/Jeff City is quite there, either.  I think places like Orlando, Jacksonville or San Antonio would be good, and a Mexican AAA team doesn't seem too far off, although maybe not with the Omaha team.

jak..not totally off the wall...just look at the speedway in kck.  how much money and land is eaten up band only used two weekends a year?

You're right, but at least the speedway has hundreds of thousands of people each day of those weekends.  One race day = 4 days of College World Series crowds.

I'd be happy to trade the Major League Royals for the AAA Royals if they're looking for a quality suburban ballpark if it meant the "major league" Royals played in a downtown stadium.

Now that's an interesting conversation piece...

[KCMax]

Sarpy gets inside track with the Royals

Sarpy and the Royals will sign an agreement today to negotiate a contract to move the Royals into a new ballpark at an undisclosed site in the suburbs.

[eomaha.com]

And MECA (Metropolitan Entertainment/Convention Authority... responsible for Qwest Center and now the new downtown ballpark) is apparently content to turn their backs on the wishes of the Royals ("CWS alone will pay for the stadium") and purportedly intend to lure an independent league baseball team instead.

We're going to end up with the suburban 'T-Bones' ... and an empty 'Kauffman' downtown (outside of 10 days of CWS).


In other news... US Olympic Swimming decided they will NOT come to Omaha in 2012 (really wanted to)... due to new scheduling suddenly conflicting with the CWS.

[KCFutbol]

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=38

Groundbreaking scheduled for new downtown ballpark.

[KCMax]

Royals, Sarpy County reach tentative deal

Sarpy County has struck a deal with the Omaha Royals that would move the Triple A baseball club to a proposed new ballpark in the suburbs.

Kermit Brashear, the county's negotiator, announced the tentative deal Tuesday. The 25-year lease and use agreement awaits only the formal approval of the Sarpy County Board.

Within minutes of a private briefing on the deal, officials got some public feedback on the plan - not all favorable....

Some in the crowd questioned the wisdom of building a stadium in tough economic times.

[kcjak]

That's a shame - I don't think the Omaha market would support both the Royals AND a minor league bball team, if one plays in the new downtown stadium.  I can see the minor league stadium having a significantly better draw than the Royals, with Sarpy County eventually being stuck with an empty stadium.

[WSPanic]

That's a shame - I don't think the Omaha market would support both the Royals AND a minor league bball team, if one plays in the new downtown stadium.  I can see the minor league stadium having a significantly better draw than the Royals, with Sarpy County eventually being stuck with an empty stadium.

I don't think any minor league team is going to play in the downtown stadium. It's 24K seats - not really a good venue for minor league ball.

[GRID]

I don't think any minor league team is going to play in the downtown stadium. It's 24K seats - not really a good venue for minor league ball.

Omaha is retarded if they end up doing this.  They are a AAA market and they are going to screw that up and build some tbones type venue?

Most AAA cities are large cities with stadiums that seat around 20k.

Maybe Omaha is just out of its league trying to be a AAA city.

[WSPanic]

Omaha is retarded if they end up doing this.  They are a AAA market and they are going to screw that up and build some tbones type venue?

Most AAA cities are large cities with stadiums that seat around 20k.

Maybe Omaha is just out of its league trying to be a AAA city.

I think the ridiculous part is building a 24K seat stadium for a two week tournament.

Most AAA stadiums are not 20K and it would be silly to build a stadium that big for a AAA team. Of the 16 AAA affiliates in the PCL, 10 of the stadiums are between 9K and 13K. Rosenblatt and Portland are the only ones over 15K.

[GRID]

I think the ridiculous part is building a 24K seat stadium for a two week tournament.

Most AAA stadiums are not 20K and it would be silly to build a stadium that big for a AAA team. Of the 16 AAA affiliates in the PCL, 10 of the stadiums are between 9K and 13K. Rosenblatt and Portland are the only ones over 15K.

Well, Portland is one of the only cities I have seen a game in, so I assumed they were all that size.

I have see most the AAA stadiums and they seem much larger than the Tbones stadium, but I guess they are not.