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www.HartfordBusiness.com • January 30, 2017 • Hartford Business Journal 11 2017 Ballpark Debuts • The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches • New Cleburne Railroaders ballpark • Dunkin' Donuts Park, Hartford • Joker Marchant Stadium, Lakeland (renovations) • Steinbrenner Field (renovations) • SunTrust Park • Willie Horton Field (Old Tiger Stadium site) Play Ball! By Greg Seay gseay@hartfordbusiness.com Y ard Goats fans who flock to downtown Hartford's Dunkin' Donut Park opening day April 13 will eye the mound, in antici- pation of pitchers' arsenals of fastballs, curveballs and sinkers. But there are other hard- and softball pitches that, rather than thrown at batters, are aimed to hit season-ticketholders, spon- sors and fans right between the eyes -- and their wallets. As much as the ballpark will be a venue where a diverse populace shares its appreciation for America's favorite pasttime, it will also be a place where companies pay sponsorship fees for the oppor- tunity to promote their brands and products to thousands of consumers on game days. It will be obvious from the time fans arrive at the stadium main entrance, with its two-story tall "Dunkin Donuts Park'' sign towering overhead. If they miss that, they most likely will lay eyes on the dozens of outfield ad bill- boards and signs paid for team sponsors. Nearly 12 months behind its original opening-day goal last April, the 6,000-seat (8,000 with standing room), $71 mil- lion stadium in the Downtown North, or DoNo quadrant, will be one of eight new minor-league ballparks built or extensively renovated in the last five years, according to Ballpark Digest. The others include in Biloxi, Miss.; Birmingham, Ala.; Charlotte, N.C.; Pensacola, Fla.; and El Paso, Texas. America is home to 159 minor-league ballparks used by 160 teams. Each market aspired, as does Hartford, to leverage their ballparks to spur economic development in the vicinity and surround- ing region. Several have had some suc- cess, said Ballpark Digest Publisher Kevin Reichard. Development in downtown Fort Wayne, Ind., has thrived in the decade since its downtown minor-league park opened, Reichard said. Charlotte opened its down- town ballpark in 2013, and Nashville, Tenn., built its stadium on former state parking lots. Big-league stadiums have also been major economic triggers. San Diego has gotten about $1 billion in development since the Padres' big-league stadium, Petco Park, opened in 2004 Reichard said. Few stadiums, however, have undergone the kind of construction delay and acrimony as has Hartford's venue, he said. "It is pretty unusual,'' Reichard said. "But An embracing, 'carnival' atmosphere coming to Hartford's ballpark the fact that it's a ballpark is almost im- material to this. Anytime you have a city-led development, you could get something like this." Despite the delay, Yard Goats officials say that hasn't dampened enthusiasm -- and financial support -- from its corporate spon- sors like Aetna, The Hartford and Dunkin' Donuts who signed on early and remained with the team through the construction dustup. The ballclub has already sold all of its inventory of outfield signage for the stadium's inaugural season. No sponsors defected amid the turmoil arising from the stadium cost overruns and subsequent acrimonious relationship between the city and the former stadium developer, Centerplan, said Yard Goats As- sistant General Manager Mike Abramson. "We'll probably end up having over 250 sponsors -- big and small,'' said Abramson, who has spent the last four of his 12 years in baseball with Yard Goats owner Josh Solomon's organization. "The way the corporate community has enveloped us has been what we thought, and then some.'' When they were in New Brit- ain, the former Rock Cats had only a handful of corporations as sponsors despite Hartford being only 13 miles aways, and home to several Fortune 500 companies, said Abramson, describing such sponsorships as the "bread and butter of minor-league baseball.'' "The corporate-hospitality opportunities are far greater than they were'' in New Britain, he said. The Yard Goats sold sponsors, he said, not just on the oppor- tunity to leverage their brands via the team, but provide them a vehicle onto which those spon- sors could initiate or deepen their community ties. For instance, Dunkin' Donuts will distrib- ute 33 tickets each game for seats along the dugouts to members of the Hartford region who work with or for community-service organizations, team officials said. The Yard Goats' roster of corporate spon- sors benefit the team in another impor- tant way: They stretch the team's meager marketing-promotions budget. Bartering typically is how the Yard Goats and other minor-league ballclubs get many of their products and services. CTfastrak, for instance, will soon begin promoting its suburban-route schedule to the downtown stadium. Another sponsor, NBC-CT Channel 30, has affixed a camera in the stadium that, on game days, will pro- vide screen shots during the station's live weather and traffic reports. Media blitz Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., one of the city's oldest employers, was one of the "founding sponsors'' for the Yard Goats when they announced their intent to relocate in 2015. For The Hartford, which recently saw a statue replica of its "stag'' logo mounted in the stadium, aligning with the team was more about community support than hawk- ing its property-casualty products, said Michael Dunn, assistant vice president for brand strategy and management, who shep- herded its relationship with the Yard Goats. "This is really more about our commit- ment to the city and the area we call home,'' Dunn said, declining to reveal the dollar- value of its sponsorship. It was also a reason The Hartford didn't abandon the team during the stadium debacle, he said. "We were committed at that point and we remain committed," Dunn said. "It's about enhancing the vitality of the city.'' Beginning April 3, the Yard Goats will It et optatur empedici assusti onsequodita sitis quuntumquod eatissi dias volenitae sitia voles est ut plignient, sus. It et optatur empedici assusti onsequodita sitis quuntumquod eatissi dias volenitae sitia voles est ut plignient, sus. SOURCE: Ballpark Digest