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Sprindale Minor League Sports Complex and Minor League Baseball Stadium

mcheiss

By mcheiss
in Northwest Arkansas

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Aporkalypse City

Aporkalypse

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Wichita makes more sense. I looked at their website and their stadium is pretty rinky-dink, built back in 1936 and redone in 1990 but really it looks pretty unimpressive. I tried to figure out who owned it and couldn't find it. That's really the trick, convincing the ownership to sell or move. The Arkansas Travelers are owned by community stock and essentially could never be moved because of this, kind of like the Green Bay Packers' setup. I would guess Wichita would be the best target right now unless another franchise opened up by moving up to AAA or higher.

Something to think about: San Antonio is going after the Florida Marlins with gusto right now and is really the main contender for the club should they leave Miami. If they were able to bring in Major League Baseball to San Antonio, there would be no need for their Texas League franchise to continue to exist. That might open up an avenue for NWA.

Still, I'm not sure about AA baseball in NWA. I don't like the idea of direct competition with UA sports (baseball early in the season and football late) and I think it might be detrimental to UA baseball which is really doing well right now (14-1 and ranked 7th and 10th nationally) and finished 2nd nationally in attendance last season.

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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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Wichita makes more sense. I looked at their website and their stadium is pretty rinky-dink, built back in 1936 and redone in 1990 but really it looks pretty unimpressive. I tried to figure out who owned it and couldn't find it. That's really the trick, convincing the ownership to sell or move. The Arkansas Travelers are owned by community stock and essentially could never be moved because of this, kind of like the Green Bay Packers' setup. I would guess Wichita would be the best target right now unless another franchise opened up by moving up to AAA or higher.

Something to think about: San Antonio is going after the Florida Marlins with gusto right now and is really the main contender for the club should they leave Miami. If they were able to bring in Major League Baseball to San Antonio, there would be no need for their Texas League franchise to continue to exist. That might open up an avenue for NWA.

Still, I'm not sure about AA baseball in NWA. I don't like the idea of direct competition with UA sports (baseball early in the season and football late) and I think it might be detrimental to UA baseball which is really doing well right now (14-1 and ranked 7th and 10th nationally) and finished 2nd nationally in attendance last season.

Yeah I can understand concerns about hurting the university sports. I admit I'm a little worried that it could hurt some but I do think this area is getting big enough to support some small semi-pro/minor league type teams. I do want to see some other sports not associated with the university played here. Although I wouldn't want them to hurt the university sports. The biggest problem I could see is if the baseball Razorbacks were having a bad year and people might stop going to go see the minor league team instead.

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DickSonstreetDFW Whistle-Stop

DickSonstreetDFW

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Yeah I can understand concerns about hurting the university sports. I admit I'm a little worried that it could hurt some but I do think this area is getting big enough to support some small semi-pro/minor league type teams. I do want to see some other sports not associated with the university played here. Although I wouldn't want them to hurt the university sports. The biggest problem I could see is if the baseball Razorbacks were having a bad year and people might stop going to go see the minor league team instead.

NWA is just about big enough to support both right now.

The biggest thing NWA has going for it is the corporate presence for sponsorship, advertising, etc. NWA has a very wealthy corporate community for any community its size or twice its size even.

I think there will be some competition between UA baseball and this team if it happens, but not to a large degree. They will attract different crowds and baseball attendance overall will jump instead of being split down the middle.

Minor league baseball's biggest trump card over UA baseball is beer.

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masons_dad1 Town

masons_dad1

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NWA is just about big enough to support both right now.

The biggest thing NWA has going for it is the corporate presence for sponsorship, advertising, etc. NWA has a very wealthy corporate community for any community its size or twice its size even.

I think there will be some competition between UA baseball and this team if it happens, but not to a large degree. They will attract different crowds and baseball attendance overall will jump instead of being split down the middle.

Minor league baseball's biggest trump card over UA baseball is beer.

The Arkansas Stars professional indoor football team plays their first game this coming Saturday. Maybe a good indication of how well a professional baseball team will do here is to see how well this team does and how much support they get from locals. I'm waiting until May to take my family to watch the Arkansas Stars take on Beaumont, Texas.

The Stars don't have their own indoor football arena and I doubt they'll serve beer at the University's indoor track field where they'll be playing until they get a home of their own.

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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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The Arkansas Stars professional indoor football team plays their first game this coming Saturday. Maybe a good indication of how well a professional baseball team will do here is to see how well this team does and how much support they get from locals. I'm waiting until May to take my family to watch the Arkansas Stars take on Beaumont, Texas.

The Stars don't have their own indoor football arena and I doubt they'll serve beer at the University's indoor track field where they'll be playing until they get a home of their own.

Wow, are they really playing this soon? I guess I thought it would be a little later on. I will be out west this weekend but I really should check it out sometime in the upcoming weeks.

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masons_dad1 Town

masons_dad1

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Wow, are they really playing this soon? I guess I thought it would be a little later on. I will be out west this weekend but I really should check it out sometime in the upcoming weeks.

Here's the Arkansas Stars website. It opens up with a pretty neat little video. The team sounds pretty impressive:

  • Chris "Bull" Charles (University of Arkansas): 6' tall, 467 pounds! - Defensive Line

  • Gary Hobbs (Jacksonville State): 6' 7, 310 pounds - Offensive Line

  • Josh Waggle (Northeastern State, OK): 6' 7, 235 pounds - Quarterback

  • Taron Mahone (Dodge City CC): 5' 6, 150 pounds - Wide Receiver *He better do a lot of Dodge City dodging! :blink:

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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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Here's the Arkansas Stars website. It opens up with a pretty neat little video. The team sounds pretty impressive:
  • Chris "Bull" Charles (University of Arkansas): 6' tall, 467 pounds! - Defensive Line

  • Gary Hobbs (Jacksonville State): 6' 7, 310 pounds - Offensive Line

  • Josh Waggle (Northeastern State, OK): 6' 7, 235 pounds - Quarterback

  • Taron Mahone (Dodge City CC): 5' 6, 150 pounds - Wide Receiver *He better do a lot of Dodge City dodging! :blink:

Hey I think that's the Gary Hobbs who was a Razorback one year. Seems like he played a year here and had some sort of personal problem and left and went to school somewhere else.

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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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Will they ever name something other than the "Arkansas" whatevers? Probably not........because Arkansans show a lot of solidarity...

That's more the modern trend. Why try to make it seem inclusive to only one city when you can try to draw in fans from the surrounding area. Besides Arkansas doesn't really have a big enough city that wouldn't be interested in bringing in fans from outside the immediate area.

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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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There was another article in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette about the future stadium. Just an overview of some of the information. The facility would have a 8,500 capacity but only around 5,500 to 6,500 for baseball. It will apparently be located near the intersection of Watson and 56th in the southwest part of Springdale. It will be just west of I-540 and not too far south of Sunset/Hwy 412. Apparently the news is still that they have someone lined up, all they have to do is build the stadium. There wasn't any official mention if it was a Texas League team. But rumors are still pointing to the Wichita Wranglers.

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nj829 Unincorporated Area

nj829

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Personally, even though UA has a great baseball team, not being from Arkansas, I don't really give much of a rip about going to a game there. I would get tickets though to a minor league MLB affiliate though. I think it's because college ties are so much stronger, and the many people that have re-located here and don't have any tie to the U of A, would prefer going to an AA game vs. UA. With AA teams, you also get the chance to see the major league player rehabbing from injury. Granted it's more common with AAA, but for the Cubs, both Sammy Sosa and Kerry Wood have done rehab in Jackson,TN at the AA affiliate. That's a huge draw to see an MLB'er for $10 vs $75 in the bigs...

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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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are there any renderings of the new stadium, im excited to see what it will look like

I don't think there's been any renderings made public yet. They have HOK Sports Architecture working on the design. They've done some impressive stuff.

Personally, even though UA has a great baseball team, not being from Arkansas, I don't really give much of a rip about going to a game there. I would get tickets though to a minor league MLB affiliate though. I think it's because college ties are so much stronger, and the many people that have re-located here and don't have any tie to the U of A, would prefer going to an AA game vs. UA. With AA teams, you also get the chance to see the major league player rehabbing from injury. Granted it's more common with AAA, but for the Cubs, both Sammy Sosa and Kerry Wood have done rehab in Jackson,TN at the AA affiliate. That's a huge draw to see an MLB'er for $10 vs $75 in the bigs...

You do bring up a good point. There are probably a number of people that have relocated here that just aren't going to be interested in seeing sports at the U of A unfortunately. It's a shame because there are some sporting events to attend on campus, but it's reality. I'm not saying that a minor league team won't have any effect on the Razorback baseball team. But I think the area has gotten to the point that it can support some semi-pro teams as well the university teams.

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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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There was an article in the Morning News over the weekend about the stadium issue again. Looks like it was mainly just pointing out what's already been said although they did have some interesting info on some of the other stadiums, just some not all, in the Texas League. Here they are in no particular order.

Dr Pepper/7Up Park, Frisco(Texas) Rough Riders, $28 Mil, seats 10,000 opened in 2003, 5.7 Mil area pop.

Hammons Field, Springfield Cardinals, $34 Mil, seats 7,500 with 3,000 additional, opened in 2004, 333K area pop.

Riverwalk Stadium, Montgomery Biscuits, $27 Mil, seats 7,000 with 4,000 additional, opened 2004, 323K area pop.

Whataburger Field, Corpus Christi Hooks, $19.5 Mil, seats 7,700, opened 2005, 381K area pop.

Trustmark Park, Mississippi Braves, $25 Mil, seats 7,200, opened 2005, 443K area pop.

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Aporkalypse City

Aporkalypse

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There was an article in the Morning News over the weekend about the stadium issue again. Looks like it was mainly just pointing out what's already been said although they did have some interesting info on some of the other stadiums, just some not all, in the Texas League. Here they are in no particular order.

Dr Pepper/7Up Park, Frisco(Texas) Rough Riders, $28 Mil, seats 10,000 opened in 2003, 5.7 Mil area pop.

Hammons Field, Springfield Cardinals, $34 Mil, seats 7,500 with 3,000 additional, opened in 2004, 333K area pop.

Riverwalk Stadium, Montgomery Biscuits, $27 Mil, seats 7,000 with 4,000 additional, opened 2004, 323K area pop.

Whataburger Field, Corpus Christi Hooks, $19.5 Mil, seats 7,700, opened 2005, 381K area pop.

Trustmark Park, Mississippi Braves, $25 Mil, seats 7,200, opened 2005, 443K area pop.

Corpus Christi and Montgomery are very comparable metro areas to NWA, IMO.

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Aporkalypse City

Aporkalypse

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I know this includes Fort Smith, but the latest Nielsen DMA rankings have the Fayetteville / Fort Smith TV market at #104, ahead of both Montgomery and Corpus Christi. (And I expect this market to crack the top 100 at some point in our lifetime.)

NWA doesn't include Ft Smith, I guess, but maybe we should be considering Ft Smith in these numbers as I'm sure some people from that area would drive up to go to a minor league game on occasion.

I noticed LR's at #57 - just behind Austin and Buffalo and ahead of Tulsa. Part of that, though, is the huge amount of rural area getting LR TV stations.

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strmchsr77 Burg

strmchsr77

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I'm still waiting for another station to make a move up to NWA and make Ft Smith it's secondary location. :D

This may have been mentioned somewhere else, but I have read that Fox was considering some sort of news program coming soon to NWA. I only hope that they get their damn HD programming going. They better use Fayetteville as their headquarters. I can't stand being second to Rogers like NBC tried.

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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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This may have been mentioned somewhere else, but I have read that Fox was considering some sort of news program coming soon to NWA. I only hope that they get their damn HD programming going. They better use Fayetteville as their headquarters. I can't stand being second to Rogers like NBC tried.

That's the funny think about it. I haven't heard them talking about moving the station to NWA out of Ft Smith but I have heard that there's a chance their news might be somewhat linked to KNWA's. I do think they will get some HD going. Our current FOX tried to get it for the last Superbowl and when it didn't work it sounds like they just gave up and haven't bothered since.

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