Denham Springs & Livingston Parish

[Antrell Williams]

I think the Juban Crossing location will be much better. (or in BR lol)

[cajun]

Couldn't happen anywhere west of Airline HWY because LSU seems to have soaked up so much attention from sports fans in the area. I kinda doubt that it would be any better in Port Allen or Denham Springs.

I do think that Livingston is lacking with parks and rec infrastructure. A new stadium or sports complex would be beneficial to them if it could be used by a high schools, rec leagues, and a minor league team.

[itsjustme3]

It might not be this but something big like this will get built in Livingston. The area is primed to explode with the soon to be 3rd lane on I10. It's where the next white flight will expand to.

[Antrell Williams]

At least this may open us up to the possibility of major league ball (in my wishful mind). With this hopeful proposal why doesn't EBR collaborate with them to bring it to west of Catfish town like mentioned or near an upgraded Memorial stadium on I-110. Sorry if I seem to be boosting up BR, I would love for Livingston to get it, I just like talking about the subject.

Edited March 1, 2011 by Antrell Williams

[dan326]

It seems like they're trying to get a development at each interstate intersection in Livingston which I why they want the park at the Livingston intersection. I'm kinda sceptical that they'll ge tthis ball park but I guess we'll see. I'd like for them to build the park in Baton Rouge, but like Cajun said I think any sports too close to LSU will fail.

[Antrell Williams]

That's true. Just seems like they might be able to fill the stands better in a city with tens of thousands of baseball fans. But Livingston may take advantage of this and really support it, this is a pretty good thing for the parish. Hell

That's true. Just seems like they might be able to fill the stands better in a city with tens of thousands of baseball fans. But Livingston may take advantage of this and really support it, this is a pretty good thing for the parish. Hell, the whole metro.

[richyb83]

For a long time I have been saying BR would have trouble supporting a minor league team bec it's an LSU town..tonight a mid-week record was just set with 7,903 fans for the LSU/SE Louisiana game! I don't see that kind of crowd for a minor league game...

The land for the ball-park is being donated at Livingston/I-12; so Grimmer thinks he will take the easy road having it built way out there..that will be it's downfall...he needs to reconsider Mandalay's request at Juban Crossing! Or Walker or even Satsuma would work much better IMO... some fans from EBR will come out to support the team as well JMO.

[all2neat]

If it were built off of juban or even walker I could see it working out, otherwise it will be too far of a drive for people to bother showing up.

[itsjustme3]

For a long time I have been saying BR would have trouble supporting a minor league team bec it's an LSU town..tonight a mid-week record was just set with 7,903 fans for the LSU/SE Louisiana game! I don't see that kind of crowd for a minor league game...

if the minor league team is as dominant as the LSU baseball team then yes they will. How many people do the Zephyers average per week? New Orleans sure as hell isn't a baseball town

Edited March 7, 2011 by itsjustme2

[Antrell Williams]

if the minor league team is as dominant as the LSU baseball team then yes they will. How many people do the Zephyers average per week? New Orleans sure as hell isn't a baseball town

Exactly my thought, and we're much more of a baseball city.

[all2neat]

I think a lot of the issues with the Zephyrs drawing well is it's in Southern Louisiana, outside, in the summer and also the location. The area of town is very run down and to a lot of people they won't go just because of where it's at.

[itsjustme3]

I think a lot of the issues with the Zephyrs drawing well is it's in Southern Louisiana, outside, in the summer and also the location. The area of town is very run down and to a lot of people they won't go just because of where it's at.

A) the zeyphers do draw well.

B) their stadium is not in a bad part of town. I've never felt unsafe while there.

[all2neat]

A) the zeyphers do draw well.

B) their stadium is not in a bad part of town. I've never felt unsafe while there.

A) the zephyrs are in the bottom third of PCL teams, averaging 5600 for 2010. We have a AAA team but drawing closer to a AA team. Granted the team has sucked of years past but I remember a couple years ago attending playoff games with only 3k in the stadium,,.... for a playoff game! We used to draw very high however after the Astro's no longer were the parent team the attendance started to diminish.

B) The area immediately around the stadium (ie. Saints Practice Facility and Zephyr Field) are nice however the surrounding area is very run down. Personally I love going to the games and do go to about a dozen games a year, however, some individuals I talk to do not bother because of aforementioned reasons. The areas around it do look a little rough and run down. It doesn't mean you are not safe, right or not, "old and rundown" has that stigma about it.

[Antrell Williams]

What happened with the Astros and how did that affect Zephyr attendance? I hate baseball so I don't follow anything in any league.

[all2neat]

They decided to switch their farm team to (I think) Round Rock (Austin) Texas. A lot of people in the area are Astros fans so it worked very well. I remember going to UNO for the games during the summers and the place was almost always packed. a lot of people went because they could see their favorite teams stars of tomorrow, now you get Florida Marlins players which most people including myself could care less about the Marlins. They have been bounced around MLB being a farm team of the Brewers and Mets in the past separating two different times being the Florida farm team.

[Antrell Williams]

So the MLB teams have another team one step down from major league?

[itsjustme3]

Several steps down. Triple A, Double A and something else I believe.

[all2neat]

MLB has AAA, which is what the Zephyrs are,

AA, which I believe is what this proposed team would be

A, which is usually in smaller cities around 100k.

Within AAA there are many leagues, the Zephyrs are part of the Pacific Coast League. Think of them as the NL vs AL.

They also have many independent leagues, leagues in Mexico and a variety of countries. Of all the pro sports in America, Baseball has by far the largest and most elaborate farm system. The NBA is trying to mimic it starting with NBA-DL, NFL tried with NFL-Europe.

http://en.wikipedia....league_baseball

I'm not against this, however, I am against the location. I see no reason why BR couldn't put down the LSU glasses and get on board a pro sports team. There is a lot more money involved with pro sports and you don't have to make massive contributions to TAF to buy tickets to a game. I doubt BR could support a MLB team right now, but with population gains one day the market may become viable. Having a minor league team in the area is the first step with this process. Who knows, if the population keeps shifting this way one day we may be cheering on the Baton Rouge / Louisiana Hornets or a MLB team (more likely)..

Edited March 10, 2011 by all2neat

[Antrell Williams]

I've always been wanting BR to get a MLB team. You mean move the Hornets to BR or making up a name for the minor league?

[all2neat]

I've always been wanting BR to get a MLB team. You mean move the Hornets to BR or making up a name for the minor league?

I was thinking hypothetically one day in 40 years the hornets would need a new stadium and it would be possible that BR then would be the better location. By then I'm hoping we are thinking more regionally versus us versus them.

[Antrell Williams]

Instead of the Hornets moving to BR, I'd like to see us get a team, like New York has multiple teams.

[dan326]

...

Edited March 12, 2011 by dan326

[itsjustme3]

Instead of the Hornets moving to BR, I'd like to see us get a team, like New York has multiple teams.

lol. And unicorns for everyone too.

[Antrell Williams]

Haha, Green Bay kept the Packers for this long, and our media market is larger than there's.

[richyb83]

Thanks for breaking that down all2neat before I could get the chance

I would like to see BR with sports teams as much as anybody; but so far the track record has been unsucessful to say the least...

The Baton Rouge RiverBats Independent Semi-Pro baseball team played at Golsby Field (next to Memorial Staduim) and was lucky to get 250 people in the stands.

The Arena Football Baton Rouge Bayou Beast lasted only a few years at the Centroplex/Assembly Center

Semi-Pro Hockey KingFish were fairly popular for a time but nothing special; the league cut some teams...

If New Orleans cannot keep the attendance avg over 14,000+ for Hornets games in the next few years; then either Seattle or Kansas City would be the leading candidate for their franchise...Post-Katrina BR had a few opportunities to host some NBA games for the Hornets and failed miserably with poor attendence; while OKC got their chance & games were sell-outs; so they were awarded a new franchise(Thunder). With 30 teams currently in the NBA some say the market is over-saturated; so there will be no more expansion; if anything 2 teams could be terminated.

While the Saints really stunk back in 05'...all of the empty seats in Tiger Stadium were an embarrassment; I was at the Bears game and there was barely 30,000 in the stands...it seemed like the Saints may end up in San Antonio or even L.A....thankfully the NFL was committed to the NOLA recovery and the team started winning.