Location | 1200 Mike Fahey Street Omaha, Nebraska |
---|---|
Coordinates | 41°16′01″N95°55′55″W / 41.267°N 95.932°W Coordinates: 41°16′01″N95°55′55″W / 41.267°N 95.932°W |
Owner | City of Omaha |
Operator | Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority |
Capacity | 24,505 (expandable to 35,000) |
Record attendance | 28,846 (June 18, 2015) (LSU vs. TCU) [1] |
Field size | Left Line – 335 ft (102 m) Left Center – 375 ft (114 m) Center Field – 408 ft (124 m) Right Center – 375 ft (114 m) Right Line – 335 ft (102 m) [1] |
Surface | Kentucky Bluegrass |
Scoreboard | 34x54=$5.29 million (281 trillion colors) |
Construction | |
Broke ground | January 21, 2009 [2] |
Opened | April 18, 2011 (Open House) |
Construction cost | US$131 million ($151 million in 2020 dollars [3] ) |
Architect | HDR Inc. DLR Group Populous |
General contractor | Kiewit Corporation |
Main contractors | Nemaha Sports - Field Contractor/Construction |
Tenants | |
Creighton Bluejays (NCAA) (2011−present) Omaha Nighthawks (UFL) (2011−2012) Omaha Mammoths (FXFL) (2014) |
TD Ameritrade Park Omaha [4] is a baseball park in Omaha, Nebraska. Opened in 2011, the stadium serves as a replacement for historic Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium.
TD Ameritrade Park has a seating capacity of 24,000, with the ability to expand to 35,000 spectators. [5] The ballpark was expected to cost US$128 million [6] to construct and is located near the CHI Health Center Omaha. The park turned a profit of $5.6 million in its first year of operation, easily covering its debt payments. [7]
It is the home field of the Creighton University Bluejays baseball team, and the host venue of the College World Series—the final rounds of the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship. The College World Series has been held in Omaha since 1950, and will continue to be hosted there through at least 2035. The Big Ten Conference has also held its baseball tournament at TD Ameritrade Park, first in 2014 and 2016, and from 2018 through 2022. Attempts were made to bring a professional baseball team to TD Ameritrade Park, but legal troubles prevented this. [8] The local Pacific Coast League franchise, the Omaha Storm Chasers (formerly Royals), opted for a smaller capacity venue at the new Werner Park, west of Papillion.
Groundbreaking for TD Ameritrade Park occurred January 21, 2009. [6] It was announced on June 8, 2009, that TD Ameritrade, a company based in Omaha, will carry the naming rights for the new stadium. [9] The official announcement came from TD Ameritrade's Chief Executive Officer Fred Tomczyk on June 10, 2009. [10]
On April 15, 2010, it was announced that the Omaha Nighthawks, the local franchise in the United Football League, would play their first season in Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium and then move to TD Ameritrade for 2011 and beyond. The football gridiron was laid along a line extending from home plate down the first base line into right field. [11] The United Football League suspended all play midway though its 2012 season and then dissolved afterwards, marking the end of professional football at TD Ameritrade Park.
In December 2010, it was announced that Omaha would host a six-day multi-genre music festival in July called Red Sky Music Festival. Concerts were to be held all day in the parking lots of CenturyLink Center and TD Ameritrade Park. Each night there was to be a main concert held inside TD Ameritrade Park and CenturyLink Center. The festival lasted just two years, 2011 and 2012. [12]
The original Hammond organ from Rosenblatt Stadium has been restored and is used during games at TD Ameritrade, although musician Lambert Bartak (retired after the 2010 CWS, died in 2013) would not be the organist. [13]
On February 9, 2013, the ballpark hosted outdoor ice hockey at the "Mutual of Omaha Battles on Ice." The first game featured the junior Omaha Lancers and the Lincoln Stars of the USHL. The second game was a collegiate matchup between the Nebraska–Omaha Mavericks and the University of North Dakota of the WCHA.
In May 2014, it was announced that a franchise in the new Fall Experimental Football League, called the Omaha Mammoths, would play their home games at TD Ameritrade Park beginning in October. [14] The Mammoths would only play one shortened season in Omaha.
In 2014 and 2016, TD Ameritrade Park hosted the Big Ten Conference's baseball championship. A four-year contract was soon reached to hold the tournament there from 2018 through 2022. [15]
On June 21, 2018, Major League Baseball announced that a regular season game between the Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers would be played at TD Ameritrade Park on June 13, 2019, ahead of the 2019 College World Series. [16] The Royals won the game 7–3 with 25,454 people in attendance. [17] [18]
The first regular season college baseball game was played on April 19, 2011, between the Nebraska Cornhuskers and host Creighton Bluejays. The ceremonial first pitch was thrown out by TD Ameritrade CEO Fred Tomczyk. It was a game of many firsts for the park including first balk and first hamster races. The Cornhuskers won 2–1 in front of a paid attendance of just over 22,000 (a sellout) and a scanned attendance of just over 18,000, making it the most attended game of the collegiate regular season. [19]
During its first season, the Missouri Valley Conference baseball tournament was held at the ballpark in late May, the third time Creighton had hosted the event. [20]
TD Ameritrade Park hosted its first College World Series in June 2011. Participants were South Carolina Gamecocks, Florida Gators, Vanderbilt Commodores, Virginia Cavaliers, North Carolina Tar Heels, California Golden Bears, Texas A&M Aggies, and Texas Longhorns.
Before the opening game of the CWS between Vanderbilt and North Carolina on Saturday, June 18, the ceremonial first pitch was delivered by former President George W. Bush. Omaha Little Leaguer Henry Slagle had the honor of handing the ball to President Bush as his Memorial Park Little League team greeted the former president on the field. Before the pitch, his father, former President George H. W. Bush, who played for Yale in the first CWS in 1947, delivered a video message christening the new facility. Omaha's own Geno Klobner sang the stadium's first CWS national anthem prior to the game. Attendance for the first game was set at 22,745, standing room only, fans. The first CWS pitch at the new park was thrown by UNC's Patrick Johnson to Vanderbilt's Tony Kemp at exactly 1:11 PM Central Daylight Time. Vanderbilt's Connor Harrell hit the first CWS home run in the park in the sixth inning of the game, a two-run blast over the left field wall, as the Commodores went on to beat North Carolina 7–3.
The first CWS finals in the new ballpark began on Monday, June 27, at 7 PM between the South Carolina Gamecocks and their SEC Eastern Division Rivals, the Florida Gators, in front of 25,851 fans.
Other worthy notes about the park's first CWS were the Southeastern Conference's Eastern Division South Carolina, Florida and Vanderbilt completing a podium clean sweep, and the 2011 CWS All-Tournament Team being comprised completely of players from the SEC East.
This was also the first year in which the new BBCOR Composite baseball bat (Batted Ball Coefficient of Restitution) standard was ushered-in. Meant to reduce the speed of the ball off the bat while lessening the potential for injury to players, particularly pitchers. The new bat also proved to negate the long ball which has caused critics to claim that the new park is too large for the toned-down bats and makes the exciting home run ball a thing of the past in the CWS. Also, pitchers were held to a strict 25 second clock between pitches for the first time in the history of the College World Series. The pitch clock was instituted in an effort to shorten the games. In 2011, the average total session (game) time was 3:10 with the longest game at 4:25, the shortest at 2:38, the Championship game at 3:21 and only one of the 14 sessions took over four hours to complete.
The 2011 CWS, the first played at TD Ameritrade Park, consisted of 14 sessions with a total attendance of 321,684 for an average session attendance of 22,977. The 2011 total was both the highest since 2005 and 2,294 spectators more than the 2010 per-game average of 20,683. [21] [22]
The 2013 CWS, also consisted of 14 sessions with a total attendance of 341,483 for an average session attendance of 24,392 (both all-time highs for the CWS).
TD Ameritrade Park is becoming well known for its lack of home runs leading to the idea that teams must play small ball to win. [23] Nevertheless, KJ Harrison from Oregon State hit a grand slam—the first ever in the ballpark during the College World Series—to deep left-center field in June 2017, during a 13–1 win over Louisiana State. The first grand slam in TD Ameritrade Park was hit by Creighton in a game against Utah Valley. [24]
In 2013, Creighton ranked tenth among Division I baseball programs in attendance, averaging 4,041 per game. [25]
The Omaha Nighthawks competed in TD Ameritrade Park in the former United Football League. The highest attendance for a Nighthawks game at TD Ameritrade Park was 17,697, for the October 15, 2011 game against the Las Vegas Locomotives. The lowest attendance, almost exactly a year later on October 17, 2012, was 2,234, with the Locomotives also the opponent. [26]
The first Big Ten Conference Baseball Tournament to be played at TD Ameritrade Park was held in 2014. The championship game of that tournament was attended by 19,965 spectators, which remains a record for single-day attendance at an NCAA conference tournament game. [27] The Indiana Hoosiers defeated the Nebraska Cornhuskers, 8–4, to claim the Big Ten title. The tournament was once again hosted at TD Ameritrade Park in 2016. Beginning in 2018, the Big Ten Conference arranged for TD Ameritrade Park to host its tournament every season until 2022. [28]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to TD Ameritrade Park Omaha . |
The College World Series (CWS) is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The CWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Baseball Championship tournament—featuring 64 teams in the first round—which determines the NCAA Division I college baseball champion. The eight participating teams are split into two, four-team, double-elimination brackets, with the winners of each bracket playing in a best-of-three championship series.
Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium was a baseball stadium in Omaha, Nebraska, the former home to the annual NCAA Division I College World Series and the minor league Omaha Royals, now known as the Omaha Storm Chasers. Rosenblatt Stadium was the largest minor league baseball stadium in the United States until its demolition.
The Creighton Bluejays, or Jays, are the athletic teams that represent Creighton University, a Jesuit/Catholic University in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. They compete in NCAA Division I in the Big East Conference.
The NCAA Division I Baseball Championship is held each year from May through June and features 64 college baseball teams in the United States, culminating in the eight-team College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska. Vanderbilt is the 2019 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament champion, defeating runner-up Michigan 8–2 in Game 3 to win the 2019 College World Series championship finals.
Lambert James Bartak was an American organist, best known for playing at the College World Series.
Morrison Stadium is a 6,000-seat soccer-specific stadium located between 17th and 19th Streets to the north of Cass Street, on the east side of the Creighton University campus in the NoDo neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska. The main entrance and ticket window is located on the west side, at the intersection of California and Florence Blvd. . The stadium is home to the Creighton Bluejays men's and women's soccer teams.
Sports in Omaha, Nebraska are supported by a high attendance at events and tax support from the City of Omaha. Omaha, Nebraska is home to several professional sports teams and modern sports venues.
The University of Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team, sometimes referred to as the Diamond Hogs, are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and are coached by Dave Van Horn. The program started in 1897, and is in its 96th season of play in 2019. Arkansas is one of only four schools in the SEC to turn a profit from its baseball program in recent years, along with SEC Western division rivals LSU, Mississippi State and Ole Miss. Many large schools such as Iowa State, Colorado, and Wisconsin have dropped their baseball programs because of financial losses.
The Creighton Bluejays baseball team represents the Creighton University in NCAA Division I college baseball. Creighton competes as a member of the Big East Conference and plays its home games at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha. Creighton's baseball team played its first Big East season in 2014. They are coached by Ed Servais who is entering his 12th season as head coach of the Bluejays. His record at Creighton is 389–230.
Werner Park is a minor league ballpark near Papillion, Nebraska, a suburb southwest of Omaha. Opened ten years ago in 2011, it is owned by Sarpy County and is the home of the Omaha Storm Chasers of the Triple-A East, and USL League One soccer club Union Omaha.
The 2011 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament began on Friday, June 3, 2011 as part of the 2011 NCAA Division I baseball season. The 64 team double elimination tournament concluded with the 2011 College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska on June 29, 2011.
The 2011 Omaha Nighthawks season was the second season for the United Football League franchise.
The 2012 UFL season was the fourth and final season of the United Football League. Four teams began what was originally scheduled to be an eight-game schedule beginning September 26, 2012. The league ceased operations on October 20, 2012, after four weeks, extensive financial problems and dismal attendance figures. At the time of the cessation, the Las Vegas Locomotives had compiled a perfect season to date.
The 2013 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament began on Friday, May 31, 2013 as part of the 2013 NCAA Division I baseball season. The 64 team double elimination tournament concluded with the 2013 College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, which began on June 15 and ended with the final round on June 25. The UCLA Bruins swept the Mississippi State Bulldogs in a best-of-three series to win the NCAA National Championship, the university's first in baseball and the 109th national title in all sports.
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The 2015 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament began on Friday, May 29, 2015, as part of the 2015 NCAA Division I baseball season. The 64-team double-elimination tournament concluded with the 2015 College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, which began on June 13 and ended on June 24 with the Virginia Cavaliers upsetting the defending champion Vanderbilt Commodores 4–2 in the decisive Game 3 and thereby avenging their CWS Finals loss to Vanderbilt the previous year.
The 2017 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament began on June 1, 2017 as part of the 2017 NCAA Division I baseball season. The 64-team, double-elimination tournament concluded with the 2017 College World Series (CWS) in Omaha, Nebraska. The CWS started on June 17 and ended on June 27.
The 2019 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament was a tournament of 64-teams to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I national champion for the 2019 season. The 73rd annual edition of the tournament began on May 31, 2019 and concluded with the 2019 College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska which started on June 15 and ended on June 26.
The 2021 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament is the 74th edition of the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship. The 64-team tournament began on Friday, June 4, 2021, as part of the 2021 NCAA Division I baseball season and will conclude with the 2021 College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, starting on June 19 and ending on June 30.
The 2021 College World Series is the final stage of the 2021 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament scheduled for June 19–30 at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha. This marks the 74th edition of the College World Series and 71st time the event is being held in Omaha, Nebraska after the 2020 tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.