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48 | HARTFORD BUSINESS JOURNAL • OCTOBER 2, 2017 Sports Impact Baseball Professional baseball returns to Hartford By John Stearns jstearns@HartfordBusiness.com Despite cost-overruns, construction delays, lawsuits and controversy leading up to the opening of Dunkin' Donuts Park, the new baseball stadium in downtown Hartford opened with a bang in April 2017, selling out many games and garnering rave reviews for its big-league ambiance. The park's tenant and Double-A Colorado Rockies affiliate, the Hartford Yard Goats, were rebranded from the New Britain Rock Cats after leaving New Britain following the 2015 season and 32 seasons in the Hardware City, first as the Red Sox. The Goats played all games outside Hartford in 2016 while the stadium was mired in delays and construction problems, but seemed to have caught fans' fancy, even if they might have been overshadowed by their $71-million home. The team and stadium gave cachet to a fringe part of downtown, seating up to 6,600 people for 70 home games and giving the city someplace hip to catch a game, enjoy a night out with family, friends, colleagues or customers and foreshadowing the possibilities for a downtown renaissance gaining steam with new apartments, UConn's new campus and more. "Anytime you're putting that many feet on the street it helps all the businesses of downtown," said H. Scott Phelps, president of the Connecticut Convention & Sports Bureau (CTCSB). "Getting that many people into the city is always a plus." Oz Griebel, president and CEO of the MetroHartford Alliance, said the ballpark and team provide a sense of community at the game. Fans go to see talented players and Major League Baseball prospects, "but it's a place to be, it's a place to feel comfortable," see a neighbor, meet someone new, he said, noting the fans reflect the community's diversity. "It's important for the economy, the parking and people going to dinner before the game … it's clearly important to the local vendors who are in there, it's clearly important to the people who live in the area and the city" and people hired there, he said. Bob Murdock, director of sports marketing and director of national accounts-affinity markets for CTCSB, noted that Dunkin' Donuts Park hosted national collegiate teams from the U.S. and Japan this year, "so you're getting international attention through baseball for Hartford in this case, something we wouldn't have had. Just broadening the exposure for the state and for Hartford." The Yard Goats' void in New Britain was quickly filled by the New Britain Bees, an unaffiliated team in the Atlantic League, keeping professional baseball alive in the city, where the stadium doesn't have the flair of Dunkin' Donuts Park, but is a comfortable, fan- and family-friendly facility opened in 1996 and recently refreshed. Professional baseball in Hartford and New Britain are part of a rich sports menu in the area, Griebel said. "In the aggregate and collectively, with a lot of collaboration, we've done an excellent job of providing a very rich spectator sport option," he said. TEDESK.COM/25 From one 25-year-old CT Business to another — Happy Anniversary, HBJ! At Transfer Enterprises we started our business with the same work ethic. We have spent the past 25 years in this community outfitting our customers with the ideal office space to work, interact, and be inspired. What started with two veterans and much determination has grown into the largest office furniture showroom in New England and we have you, the customers, to thank. Thank you for letting us be your office solution provider — Great work starts with a great office. T R A N S F ER E N TER P R I S ES , I N C . M A N C H E S T E R , C T ANNIVERSARY Veteran Owned Since 1992 —Theodore Roosevelt "Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." Josh Solomon (above) is owner of the Hartford Yard Goats. He pioneered the decision to move the New Britain Rock Cats minor league franchise to Hartford. The Atlantic League's New Britain Bees now play in New Britain Stadium. Dunkin' Donuts Park cost Hartford taxpayers $71 million, but the end product has been widely heralded.