Sprindale Minor League Sports Complex and Minor League Baseball Stadium

[mcheiss]

^

Wow Apork. you're right about some of those comments..Aweful.

Nice to see that Mith went over there and told them off, way to go.

[mcheiss]

Wow, that's a close win!! 17 VOTES

Good to see this is happening, Way to go Springdale.

[razorbackfan]

Wow, that's a close win!! 17 VOTES

Good to see this is happening, Way to go Springdale.

This has been a pretty good week fro NWA...with the Divinity Building, and the stadium, its been a good week.

[mcheiss]

Totally Agree.

[slyder1]

Congratulations to NWA!

[mcheiss]

^

Thanks Slyder, hope to see the Cardinals up here for a game in a few years.

[johnnydr87]

Wow....it sounds like the vote that passed gambling at Oaklawn. I think it also was under 50 votes.

Whenever a vote is that close...it seems a tad fishy.

[Aporkalypse]

^

Wow Apork. you're right about some of those comments..Aweful.

Nice to see that Mith went over there and told them off, way to go.

The worst posts were deleted. Awful stuff.

If they'd supported the team they wouldn't be in this predicament. Three years in a row in last place in attendance is going to get you in this situation. There's been a lot of shifting from classic markets like Shreveport, El Paso, Jackson, and now Wichita to smaller markets like Corpus Christi, Springfield, and now Springdale and the smaller markets are doing much better attendance wise. Complacency and outdated facilities are going to catch up with any minor league team eventually and communities that stay proactive with new facilities are going to do better. Now, if the Wichita team is able to move as we all expect them to it would be ideal to obtain local ownership at some point. That would protect not only from moving the team 20 years down the road but also from the "hands off" ownership and poor management the Wichitans (?) were complaining about.

[edensfall]

YES!!! for once springdale will have something no other city will, besides the jone center, but you guys know what i mean, awsome.

[masons_dad1]

Springdale already has what no other city in NWA has, besides the Jones Center Springdale has the largest non-collegiate sports facilities and the only rodeo and semi-professional hockey team in NWA. The minor league baseball stadium in Springdale will be icing on the cake. I'm glad it's going in Springdale just for the simple fact that Springdale is the "blue collar" town that should have all the sports attractions.

[masons_dad1]

The worst posts were deleted. Awful stuff.

If they'd supported the team they wouldn't be in this predicament. Three years in a row in last place in attendance is going to get you in this situation. There's been a lot of shifting from classic markets like Shreveport, El Paso, Jackson, and now Wichita to smaller markets like Corpus Christi, Springfield, and now Springdale and the smaller markets are doing much better attendance wise. Complacency and outdated facilities are going to catch up with any minor league team eventually and communities that stay proactive with new facilities are going to do better. Now, if the Wichita team is able to move as we all expect them to it would be ideal to obtain local ownership at some point. That would protect not only from moving the team 20 years down the road but also from the "hands off" ownership and poor management the Wichitans (?) were complaining about.

I read an article by a Wichita resident that said the Wranglers low attendance has nothing to do with the teams ranking or the condition of the stadium, since the stadium really isn't that bad. He said the problem was with the residents of Wichita and that there just wasn't any excuse for them to not support their team like that. I can't find the article, but it sounds like the Wranglers would be much better off without Wichita even if they had a brand new stadium.

[ppassafi]

I have no doubt there will be "Ft Smith night" and that sort of thing to try to bring that market into the loop. I expect a lot of people travel from Pine Bluff and Hot Springs to LR to see minor league baseball on occasion as well and really will once the new stadium is built. You'd expect the same in NWA. Of course, how many NW Arkansans bother driving to Tulsa right now? Not many, but I expect the stadium is part of that.

I've always been a Cards fan and I used to enjoy the glory days when Zeile, Lankford, Gilkey, etc came up through LR. At that time AA Little Rock was a much stronger franchise than AAA Louisville and actually led AA in attendance and only a couple of AAA teams were better.

Huh? I highly doubt it...Louisville is nearly tops in AAA attendance every year. Nothing in LR is really comparable to Louisville stuff anyways...

[Mith242]

^

Wow Apork. you're right about some of those comments..Aweful.

Nice to see that Mith went over there and told them off, way to go.

Yeah I thought I'd say a little something. But I did try to avoid getting involved at some of the other places I checked out.

I read an article by a Wichita resident that said the Wranglers low attendance has nothing to do with the teams ranking or the condition of the stadium, since the stadium really isn't that bad. He said the problem was with the residents of Wichita and that there just wasn't any excuse for them to not support their team like that. I can't find the article, but it sounds like the Wranglers would be much better off without Wichita even if they had a brand new stadium.

Yeah some of the stuff I read made it sound like people just liked the college baseball team a lot better.

[Mith242]

This certainly is good news. Although I guess I'm trying not to get too excited just in case Wichita is able to get it's act together and try to hold on to their team. I have my doubts they will but you never know.

[KJW]

This certainly is good news. Although I guess I'm trying not to get too excited just in case Wichita is able to get it's act together and try to hold on to their team. I have my doubts they will but you never know.

Mith, a couple of things:

1 It sounds as though voter turnout was heavier than expected (even though the "expected" rainstorms never materialized until overnight).

2. I'd wondered if there was any promotion at all on the vote. The "County Line" liquor stores had messages promoting the vote on their marquees and I also saw a billboard facing southbound traffic, just past the County Line liquor store (and the line itself) on Business 71 in north Springdale. (I also saw a liquor store on 112 just before I-540 with a similar marquee message.)

3. It's interesting that no recount is planned whatsoever. The opposition leader to this said essentially that "the people have spoken".

After all the stupid stuff in the 2000 elections it was nice to see such a gentlemanly reaction.

4. Wish I'd seen your response on the Wichita paper web site.

[cowbreath]

I should have posted this earlier somewhere, but I'll tie it in with my response here. My reaction here is mixed. Asking taxpayers for funding is always tricky. With such a split in voting (like the presidency) you have about half the city upset that it has to pay its own money to something it doesn't like. It might be a good investment for the city. Minor League baseball has definitely been a growing successful fad. However, I'm really concerned about this steroid stuff in the Majors and how that might affect the Minors.

I would say baseball has been in an elaborate cover-up of steroids for many years which might easily be connected to Bud Selig himself. However, people don't want to believe that much of baseball's integrity has been maligned, so that helps the coverup. I think for most fans it will be a choice between a blue pill or a red pill. At this point many would choose to be naive, but with more evidence in the future who knows if there will be a backlash. I believe a backlash is only a slight chance, but if a evidence of a large scandal appears anything less that backlash would be regrettable morally.

So my concerns is how good is this investment at this time. Since the steroid issue has not been brought in for this situation I would assume most fans are choosing naivety or forgetting what baseball may have become. Sure baseball is more about entertainment and revenue and drinking beer on a nice afternoon or night, but isn't it sad that America isn't demanding truth and consequences? Ok enough for soapboxes. Pushing aside American morality and the steroid stuff, I just hope the tax on this stadium does not extend any farther.

[CellarDoor135]

My god the people of Wichita are pissed. Oh well, watching the clip from their local news, the stadium looked like something a large high school would play on. I'm sure the wranglers would much rather live here in NWA than dying Wichita, Kansas anyways. Seems like their economy is not exactly on the upside of things. Good for Springdale, (Unofficially).

[mcheiss]

This certainly is good news. Although I guess I'm trying not to get too excited just in case Wichita is able to get it's act together and try to hold on to their team. I have my doubts they will but you never know.

I'd like to see them raise $10 Million for the team in 30 days!!

I've been reading and it looks like Wichita Officials have already told their city council that they aren't interested in buying back the team.

[KJW]

I'd like to see them raise $10 Million for the team in 30 days!!

I've been reading and it looks like Wichita Officials have already told their city council that they aren't interested in buying back the team.

Travelerocity blog says this could become the best sports rivalry in Arkansas and open the door for other such rivalries.

It also says the Travelers are going to have jerseys with "North Little Rock" on them?!?!

[Aporkalypse]

I'd like to see them raise $10 Million for the team in 30 days!!

I've been reading and it looks like Wichita Officials have already told their city council that they aren't interested in buying back the team.

All it would take is one wealthy buyer to buy the team. LR and NWA could easily find that kind of patronage. The Stephens family paid that much for the land they donated for Dickey-Stephens Park. I just don't think that Wichita really cares that much about keeping the team, to be honest. I don't think they think it's worth the effort.

[Aporkalypse]

I read an article by a Wichita resident that said the Wranglers low attendance has nothing to do with the teams ranking or the condition of the stadium, since the stadium really isn't that bad. He said the problem was with the residents of Wichita and that there just wasn't any excuse for them to not support their team like that. I can't find the article, but it sounds like the Wranglers would be much better off without Wichita even if they had a brand new stadium.

I don't know, the stadium was built in 1934 with some minor (less than $ 10 million renovations) almost 15 yrs ago. It wasn't as bad as Ray Winder but was about to be far and away the worst TL stadium. I think you're right about the main problem of Wichita not supporting them, though. The college team there outdrew them 3-fold.

Huh? I highly doubt it...Louisville is nearly tops in AAA attendance every year. Nothing in LR is really comparable to Louisville stuff anyways...

Cities like Louisville and OKC are nice and all but the amount of things to offer that you don't have in a Tulsa, Little Rock, or Birmingham isn't all that much. You're not exactly in Dallas or Atlanta, buddy.

Look at AA and AAA attendance and you'll notice a lot of AA teams doing better than most AAA teams, though not most. At the time, the Cards organization really struggled with Louisville and didn't like their delapidated stadium and poor attendance. It was so bad the big prospects were hopping from AA straight to the majors and bypassing Louisville altogether. The attendance issue is why the Cards moved their AAA franchise to Memphis which had a nice new ballpark in Autozone Park. Since then you built a new stadium and attendance improved considerably, as usually is the case.

[Mith242]

All it would take is one wealthy buyer to buy the team. LR and NWA could easily find that kind of patronage. The Stephens family paid that much for the land they donated for Dickey-Stephens Park. I just don't think that Wichita really cares that much about keeping the team, to be honest. I don't think they think it's worth the effort.

Yeah or else they'd be averaging more than 2,000 a game. I just get the impression they like the college baseball team a lot more.

[Mith242]

Travelerocity blog says this could become the best sports rivalry in Arkansas and open the door for other such rivalries.

It also says the Travelers are going to have jerseys with "North Little Rock" on them?!?!

That is odd, they'll still be called the Arkansas Travelers but have North Little Rock on the jerseys and not Arkansas. Also noticed people from central Arkansas already taking a few shots at us already. The Chicken Pluckers? Looks like someone is ready to get the rivalry going.

[Aporkalypse]

Yeah or else they'd be averaging more than 2,000 a game. I just get the impression they like the college baseball team a lot more.

I think the UA will still beat out the Springdale team in attendance but I think both are viable. Nobody in college baseball is outdrawing the Hogs and I still bet the Springdale team averages 4000.

I think part of it is the whole stadium issue. Apparently theirs is downtown in a great location but ultimately it's the most outdated stadium in the league (not counting Ray Winder as it's closing) and only one (Tulsa) is really close. The atmosphere is most of the product you're offering in minor league baseball and theirs is a problem. The Wichitans blame the Riches but they can't change the venue. The city should've realized the situation a long time ago and took action to prevent it by adding more than just a fresh coat of paint.

The Travelers were at the top of the Texas League every year when I was a kid and now they're near the bottom. A lot of that is a run-down stadium in a town with a shiny new arena and entertainment district. I bet attendance triples next year, though, because of the new stadium and location. The atmosphere and product are going to be several-fold improved.

[KJW]

I think the UA will still beat out the Springdale team in attendance but I think both are viable. Nobody in college baseball is outdrawing the Hogs and I still bet the Springdale team averages 4000.

I think part of it is the whole stadium issue. Apparently theirs is downtown in a great location but ultimately it's the most outdated stadium in the league (not counting Ray Winder as it's closing) and only one (Tulsa) is really close. The atmosphere is most of the product you're offering in minor league baseball and theirs is a problem. The Wichitans blame the Riches but they can't change the venue. The city should've realized the situation a long time ago and took action to prevent it by adding more than just a fresh coat of paint.

The Travelers were at the top of the Texas League every year when I was a kid and now they're near the bottom. A lot of that is a run-down stadium in a town with a shiny new arena and entertainment district. I bet attendance triples next year, though, because of the new stadium and location. The atmosphere and product are going to be several-fold improved.

It's front page news now in Wichita...not so this morning...