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That does look like a great area in Greenville, SC. But unless we can get the Stallings family, Minges Family, and the Taft folks to foot the bill, most of the construction costs will have to be on the taxpayers dime.
To get more support, I think this stadium will have to be billed as a multi-purpose facility. Baseball games, concerts, even football and soccer games could be played here.
I would only support a stadium if a team can be secured to a very long term, penalized to death if they break it, lease. The last thing Greenville needs is some big elephant downtown that is not being used and falls into disrepair.
I don't understand why anybody would want this anyway. The majority of MLB teams have trouble filling the stands. Minor league teams don't stand a chance of filling the stands. Baseball is not the glory game it once was.
Lets say I am a young working professional, or college student off for the summer, or a parent with a middle school child. What can I do for entertainment during the summer here? Nothing. A minor league team would be a regional draw. It would give people something to do. Especially the segment of the population who doesn't have any interest in Pirate sports.
I think it would be great for Greenville to have a minor league baseball team. I've been to games in Kinston; Zebulon; Greensboro; Winston-Salem (where I live now). It's a budget-friendly activity and the minor league teams due a great job engaging the crowd with lots of fun (yeah, cheesy) activities. My daughter is no baseball fan (isn't really into any sports), but she has asked to go to another game. I would think Greenville could support an A-level team.
Last time I went bowling (5 years ago) it cost me $31 for two people to rent shoes and bowl two games. You could buy 4 or 5 tickets for that amount at a minor league baseball game. It's an extremely cost-friendly entertainment option.
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"48 years in MD, 18 in NC"
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Location: Greenville, NC
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MrBojangles
A minor league team would be a regional draw. It would give people something to do.
The region will not support a minor league team. If it would then there would still be a team in Kinston. The Kinston Indians were having a good night when a couple of thousand people showed up. Single A teams cost an average of $5 million. Double A are $7.4 mill. Triple A are $10 mill.
The region will not support a minor league team. If it would then there would still be a team in Kinston. The Kinston Indians were having a good night when a couple of thousand people showed up. Single A teams cost an average of $5 million. Double A are $7.4 mill. Triple A are $10 mill.
But they had to go to Kinston. People are already coming to Greenville for various reasons. They can just add a ball game as one more thing to do in Greenville. Nobody wants to go to Kinston unless they absolutely have to.
I think a minor league team could do well in Greenville. ECU had the #27th best attendance for 2013. The highest attendance for any university in North Carolina. In fact, we averaged 33% more fans per game than NC State and 67% more fans per game than UNC. Keep in mind that ECU had a "so-so" season, while UNC and NC State are currently in the World Series. People love baseball here and would support a minor league team. I know college vs. minor league success isn't a true comparison, but i think its worth nothing.
I think a minor league team could do well in Greenville. ECU had the #27th best attendance for 2013. The highest attendance for any university in North Carolina. In fact, we averaged 33% more fans per game than NC State and 67% more fans per game than UNC. Keep in mind that ECU had a "so-so" season, while UNC and NC State are currently in the World Series. People love baseball here and would support a minor league team. I know college vs. minor league success isn't a true comparison, but i think its worth nothing.
While they would support it, I think your stats need to take in that ECU baseball is the only game in town. If people want to watch baseball at a good level, they can watch college. That's not true in Raleigh/Durham.
Now, I think Greenville could support a team, but I also think it would decrease college attendance.
In looking at the minor league map, I can envision one possible scenario: Greenville would like a team; Hagerstown, Md most likely will get a new stadium as part of their downtown revitalization; there are a glut of teams in the Piedmont; perhaps the SAL team can move to Greenville from Hagerstown, which can be the new home of the current Burlington team. This would keep the same number of teams in NC, but spread them out a little more. Hate to shut out Burlington, but there are teams in Durham, Greensboro, and Winston-Salem. It just seems like an over-saturation of minor league options, lowering their own values. The Burlington team is short-season rookie ball, and Hagerstown is a better location for an Appalachian League team. Greenville would actually fill in a huge geographical gap in the SAL, making those bus rides from Salisbury, Md to Savannah less tiresome for the players. Burlington already only gets two-and-a-half months of pro ball, so they would be as well or better off with an indy or college league team.
This is all, of course, my own personal fantasy!
I still like this idea, or maybe getting the team from Kannapolis to move to Greenville. Their attendance is down, possibly from Charlotte having a stadium downtown now, rather than down near the border.
I can see Greenville putting up attendance figures in the high-middle - around 3K per game - of the SAL. (Click on the Average per game column to organize the stats):
Here's the deal as I have heard it from the folks in Wilmington....
From a national perspective minor league clubs are looking at Wilmington and Greenville as hot spots for minor league baseball expansion...the move by the Kinston Indians to the Mudcats was part of these minor league clubs looking at markets and potential. Its no different than regular baseball expansion economics.
Wilmington is/was the priority market in the East, but the voters turned down a stadium proposal that involved raising taxes...Greenville is the secondary market but also has no place to play and minor league baseball is done with trying to play in college parks where no alcohol can be served...that failed in Wilmington before.
So it's not about the market, the market is there and it would support a team, its about a stadium and where and how it would be built. I think it has to go hand in hand with a hotel downtown and ECU expansion is necessary to build up the area. There needs to be a 10 year plan in place to accomplish the effort, similar to what has happened in Charlotte downtown where the site was chosen and it took years to work out the details. The good thing (for Greenville) is no other market in ENC will support a team (based on the data) except Wilmington, which is a completely different market.
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The majority of MLB teams have trouble filling the stands. Minor league teams don't stand a chance of filling the stands. Baseball is not the glory game it once was. 
