Baseball park in Omaha, NE, home of the College World Series
Charles Schwab Field Omaha
[4]
(formerly
TD Ameritrade Park Omaha
) is a
baseball park
in
Omaha, Nebraska
. Opened in 2011, the stadium serves as a replacement for historic
Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium
.
Charles Schwab Field 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
Men's College World Series
(MCWS)?the final rounds of the
NCAA
Division I Baseball Championship
. The MCWS
[a]
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 the venue, first in 2014 and 2016, and from 2018 onwards. Attempts were made to bring a professional baseball team to the field, but legal troubles prevented this.
[8]
The local
International League
franchise, the
Omaha Storm Chasers
(formerly Royals), opted for a smaller capacity venue at the new
Werner Park
, west of
Papillion
. In 2021, after
Charles Schwab Corporation
acquired
TD Ameritrade
, the park was renamed Charles Schwab Field Omaha.
History
[
edit
]
Groundbreaking for the park occurred on 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 the park 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 the 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 as well as nightly in the parking lots of the park as well as
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 Charles Schwab Field, 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
(now branded as the Omaha Mavericks) and the
University of North Dakota
, both then of the
WCHA
.
[b]
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 the park beginning in October.
[14]
The Mammoths would only play one shortened season in Omaha.
In 2014 and 2016, the 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 the park on June 13, 2019, ahead of the
2019 College World Series
.
[16]
The Royals won the
MLB in Omaha
game 7?3 with 25,454 people in attendance.
[17]
[18]
First game
[
edit
]
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]
First Men's College World Series
[
edit
]
The park hosted its first MCWS (then branded simply as CWS) 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 Gene Klosner 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.
Attendance
[
edit
]
College World Series
[
edit
]
The 2011 CWS, the first played at the 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]
In 2022, the first year in which the word "Men's" was added to the CWS branding,
Ole Miss
took home the Men's College World Series title after sweeping Oklahoma in the finals. The ballpark saw new records set for attendance as the 2022 MCWS set a new attendance record with 366,105 fans over 15 games in Omaha. That past the record of 361,711 fans set in 2021. Sunday's final saw 25,972 fans, which was 1,467 over stadium capacity and the biggest crowd in a MCWS finals game since 2017.
[23]
The attendance record for the MCWS was broken again, for the third consecutive year, in 2023 as the event drew a total of 392,646 fans, an average of 24,559 per game. Both of those numbers are the best in the 73 year history of the event. This was in large part due to good weather (only one game had a weather delay) and the eventual champion, the
LSU Tigers
, playing in eight of the sixteen games. The total attendance in Omaha for CWS events has surpassed 11 million now, and stands at 11,719,319.
[24]
Charles Schwab Field is becoming well known for its lack of home runs leading to the idea that teams must play
small ball
to win.
[25]
Nevertheless,
KJ Harrison
from
Oregon State
hit a grand slam?the first ever in the ballpark during the MCWS?to deep left-center field in June 2017, during a 13?1 win over
Louisiana State University
. The first grand slam in Charles Schwab Field was hit by
Creighton
in a game against
Utah Valley
.
[26]
Creighton
[
edit
]
In 2013, Creighton ranked tenth among
Division I baseball programs
in attendance, averaging 4,041 per game.
[27]
Omaha Nighthawks
[
edit
]
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.
[28]
Big Ten Conference tournament
[
edit
]
The first
Big Ten Conference baseball tournament
to be played at the 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.
[29]
The
Indiana Hoosiers
defeated the
Nebraska Cornhuskers
, 8?4, to claim the Big Ten title. The tournament was once again hosted at the park in 2016. Beginning in 2018, the Big Ten Conference arranged for the park to host its tournament every season until 2022.
[30]
See also
[
edit
]
- ^
The event's official name has been "NCAA Men's College World Series" since no later than 2008. However, the NCAA did not consistently use the word "Men's" in the event branding until 2022.
- ^
Both Omaha and North Dakota now play in the
National Collegiate Hockey Conference
.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"Omaha Stadium Proposal ? Stadium FAQs"
. Archived from
the original
on 2010-11-02
. Retrieved
2009-06-08
.
- ^
"Project Report"
(PDF)
. MECA. 2009-03-24. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 2010-11-02
. Retrieved
2009-06-08
.
- ^
1634?1699:
McCusker, J. J.
(1997).
How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda
(PDF)
.
American Antiquarian Society
.
1700?1799:
McCusker, J. J.
(1992).
How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States
(PDF)
.
American Antiquarian Society
.
1800?present:
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
"Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800?"
. Retrieved
February 29,
2024
.
- ^
O'Brien, Maggie (2009-01-19). "Stage set for stadium prep work".
Omaha World-Herald
. p. 01B.
- ^
"Creighton to play at new ballpark"
. Omaha World-Herald. 2009-10-27. Archived from
the original
on 2012-09-06
. Retrieved
2009-10-27
.
- ^
a
b
McIntire, Brian Mastre, Ann.
"Ground Breaking For New Stadium"
.
www.wowt.com
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link
)
- ^
"TD Ameritrade Park profitable in first year"
. Omaha World-Herald. 2012-01-06. Archived from
the original
on 2012-01-16
. Retrieved
2012-01-06
.
- ^
"Pro ball downtown? Unlikely in '12"
. Omaha World-Herald. 2011-09-14. Archived from
the original
on 2012-09-05
. Retrieved
2011-09-18
.
- ^
O'Brien, Maggie (2009-06-09).
"Welcome to TD Ameritrade Park"
.
Omaha World-Herald
. Archived from
the original
on 2012-09-05
. Retrieved
2019-09-18
.
- ^
"Stadium gets its name"
. Omaha World Herald. 2009-06-10. Archived from
the original
on 2012-07-13
. Retrieved
2009-06-10
.
- ^
"Some Omaha fans will be on top of the action with tight configuration"
. Omaha World Herald. 2010-04-21. Archived from
the original
on 2011-06-16
. Retrieved
2010-04-21
.
- ^
Coffey, Kevin (October 20, 2012).
"Red Sky Music Festival finished, but MECA promises stadium concerts"
.
Omaha World Herald
. Archived from
the original
on June 24, 2013
. Retrieved
June 20,
2013
.
- ^
"Organ transplant for new ballpark"
. Omaha World Herald. 2011-03-05. Archived from
the original
on 2011-03-07
. Retrieved
2011-03-05
.
- ^
Planos, Josh (2014-07-31).
"FXFL unveils Omaha Mammoths"
.
KETV
. Retrieved
2019-09-18
.
- ^
Nyatawa, Jon.
"After extension, Big Ten baseball tournament finds a home in Omaha"
.
Omaha.com
. Retrieved
2018-05-29
.
- ^
Nohr, Emily (June 21, 2018).
"Omaha will host its first MLB game when Royals, Tigers meet day before 2019 CWS opening ceremonies"
.
Omaha World-Herald
. Retrieved
November 11,
2018
.
- ^
"Lopez's first MLB homer sparks Royals in Omaha"
.
MLB.com
. June 14, 2019.
- ^
"Baseball Reference.com: Detroit Tigers at Kansas City Royals Box Score, June 13, 2018"
.
- ^
"Ballparks Dry Run Goes Well"
. Omaha World Herald. 2011-04-19. Archived from
the original
on 2011-04-23
. Retrieved
2011-04-20
.
- ^
"2011 State Farm MVC Baseball Championship Central"
. Missouri Valley Conference. May 28, 2011. Archived from
the original
on February 3, 2013
. Retrieved
June 20,
2013
.
- ^
"General CWS Records"
(PDF)
.
NCAA.org
. p. 36. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 2012-05-16
. Retrieved
14 June
2012
.
- ^
"Men's College World Series Notes ? MCWS Championship Finals #2 ? June 28, 2011"
(PDF)
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 2016-03-04
. Retrieved
14 June
2012
.
- ^
"Ole Miss wins CWS as event draws record crowds"
. Sports Business Journal. 2022-06-27
. Retrieved
February 17,
2023
.
- ^
"College World Series breaks attendance record for third straight year"
. 26 June 2023.
- ^
"At College World Series, go small or go home"
. Archived from
the original
on 8 December 2015
. Retrieved
18 June
2013
.
- ^
Creighton Baseball [@CU_Baseball] (June 20, 2017).
"@SportsCenter So...this is awkward... #GoJays"
(
Tweet
) – via
Twitter
.
- ^
Cutler, Tami (June 11, 2013).
"2013 Division I Baseball Attendance ? Final Report"
(PDF)
.
Sportswriters.net
. NCBWA. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on July 28, 2014
. Retrieved
July 20,
2013
.
- ^
Pivovar, Steven (2012-10-17).
"Las Vegas still has Nighthawks' number"
.
Omaha World Herald
. Archived from
the original
on 2012-10-21
. Retrieved
2019-09-18
.
- ^
Merriman, Sean (2014-05-25).
"B1G baseball tournament breaks attendance record"
. Big Ten Network
. Retrieved
2019-09-18
.
- ^
"Big Ten baseball tournament back at TD Ameritrade Park"
. KMTV. 2019-05-22
. Retrieved
2019-09-18
.
External links
[
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]
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