Worcester Business Journal

10 Worcester Business Journal | March 16, 2020 | wbjournal.com M E E T I N G S & G O L F G U I D E FOCUS A meeting with a view BY GRANT WELKER Worcester Business Journal News Editor Polar Park* Worcester Club with capacity for 400 people and a rooftop space with field views Durham Bulls Athletic Park Durham, N.C. A full bar and space for up to 250 people First Horizon Park Nashville, Tenn. This season will feature a new 500-capacity venue and a year-round restaurant Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark Oklahoma City Concourse can fit up to 4,000 people Dunkin' Donuts Park Hartford 7,000 square feet with full-service bar BB&T Ballpark Charlotte, N.C. Capacity for 350 people and rental including event staff Ballpark City Details Ballpark conference spaces More minor league ballparks are featuring year-round meeting space for businesses and other functions. *Planned to open in April 2021 Sources: Respective teams A key effort to keeping Polar Park busy year- round will be enticing business meetings and industry conferences to the stadium E ven in the minor leagues, to- day's ballparks don't just serve to host baseball games. A growing trend is to use the space as oen as possible when games aren't being played – and to play off the novelty of hosting a business function or other event at a baseball stadium. It's one component of how Worcester's $132-million Polar Park baseball stadi- um is being designed, with a banquet space to be called the DCU Club able to fit up to 400 people at a spot above the park's infield. A roof deck atop an office building just beyond the le field wall will be able to fit 500 as well, between indoor and outdoor spaces. Both spots are meant to be used year- round, something to benefit the soon-to- be Worcester Red Sox with an additional revenue stream and the neighborhood by having more events take place there. It'll be a stark change from the team's current home, McCoy Stadium in Paw- tucket, R.I., which was built in 1942 and last renovated two decades ago. e only year-round space is the locker rooms, where the team has converted for birth- day parties and similar outings. "All those uses will certainly be multiplied in Worcester," said Dan Rea III, the WooSox executive vice president for real estate development and business affairs. e WooSox were already events-minded before settling on a re- placement for McCoy. e team created a new dedicated office for events about five years ago and now holds upwards of 75 events a year, Rea said. "It's certainly an additional business that we want to run well and run in a productive fashion," he said. Meeting at the ballpark For an increasing number of minor league baseball teams, particularly at the higher levels with larger stadiums, hosting events when baseball isn't being played is a way to bring in additional revenue and better utilize a space that would otherwise sit empty. Such events make ever-costlier stadiums more eco- nomically viable, along with concerts, beer festivals and other gatherings. Banquet rooms can seat hundreds at $16-million Durham Bulls Athletic Park in North Carolina and the $75-million First Horizon Park in Nashville. At the $34-million Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, the Oklahoma City Dodgers use an entire concourse for events fitting up to 4,000 people. e Pensacola Blue Wahoos in Florida rent out their locker rooms for baseball-themed events. "You've got such a unique venue," said Micki Shier, the director of events planning for Huntington Park and the Columbus Clippers, a team in the Ohio capital playing in the same league as the WooSox. e $70-million Huntington Park has one indoor space available year-round seating a few hundred, attracting both conferences because of the park's proxim- ity to a convention center and major ho- tels, as well as the bridal industry. ere is outdoor space available any time the team is playing on the road, and the team has even hosted weddings on the field. "People still come here aer 10, 11 years and say, 'I didn't realize you could do this,'" Shier said. e $150-million Las Vegas Ballpark, which opened last spring, doesn't try to compete with major hotels and conven- tion centers in a city among the busiest in the industry. But it hosts meetings, re- ceptions and parties for watching games for the Vegas Golden Knights hockey team and Oakland Raiders football team, who begin playing in Las Vegas this fall. In Alabama, the Birmingham Barons play in a ballpark designed to be used year-round. e $64-million Regions Field, which opened in 2013, has a ball- room with more than 6,000 square feet and a 4,500-square-foot lounge space. e Barons host about 150 non-baseball events every year, said Jennifer McGee, the team's senior director of hospitality and events. In an Atlanta suburb, the $64-million Coolray Field hosts 40 to 50 events each year beyond baseball, including wed- dings, showers and other events. "e baseball field is what separates us from hotel ballrooms or convention cen- ters," said Dave Lezotte, the media rela- tions manager for the Gwinnett Stripers. A ballpark view can impress a client or keep employees engaged, he said. Even relatively new parks are adapting to the industry shi. First Horizon Park had only a banquet room for around 100 people when it opened in Nashville in 2015. e ball- park is adding a year-round tent in right field this season to fit around 500 people. at'll be joined by a new full-service restaurant and bar inside the park with views of the baseball diamond, and accessible even when games aren't being played. "We're optimistic that it's going to do really well. ere's a big need for it," said Adam Nuse, the team's general manager.

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