Pro Baseball Possibly Returning to Kinston (Fayetteville, Wilmington: college, to live in, restaurants)

[michealbond]

New pavilion opens at Grainger Stadium ahead of Wood Ducks first home game

The team will play their first regular season home game against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans at Grainger Stadium in Kinston.

It's also the opening of the latest improvements to the stadium.

The Mother Earth Hospitality Pavilion, which has been built along right field, was officially opened during a ceremony this morning.

The 10,000 square foot, two-story area has covered bars on each level where fans can enjoy the game.

[Phil A. Delphia]

Wood Ducks rally, win marathon game in home opener | WCTI

Opening night at Grainger proved to be more like a football game: 33 hits, 30 runs. DEWD's won 16-14...

[Phil A. Delphia]

There'll be a Wood Ducks vs Woodpeckers rivalry, as Fayetteville has selected their new name and logo for the incoming Buies Creek Astros.

https://www.milb.com/milb/news/new-f...os/c-300116060

[BrighterDays]

Originally Posted by Phil A. Delphia

There'll be a Wood Ducks vs Woodpeckers rivalry, as Fayetteville has selected their new name and logo for the incoming Buies Creek Astros.

https://www.milb.com/milb/news/new-f...os/c-300116060

Odd that they selected the name Woodpeckers when Wood Ducks are already in the same league. Since Wood Ducks fans cheer "Let's go Woodies!" does this mean Fayetteville fans will cheer the somewhat inappropriate "Let's go Peckers!" in order to distinguish themselves from the Kinston team?

[Phil A. Delphia]

https://www.milb.com/down-east/news/...ns/c-302484330

DEWD'S to lower prices on several basic food and beverage items, plus add more specialty items to the menu.

[BrighterDays]

Wood Ducks have announced Corey Ragsdale as their new manager for 2019:
https://www.jdnews.com/sports/201901...e-2019-manager

The team has also hired a new radio announcer for this season: Matt Present, who was broadcaster for the Lynchburg Hillcats last season.
https://www.milb.com/down-east/news/...on/c-302077926

[Phil A. Delphia]

Originally Posted by LM117

Wood Ducks break attendance record at Grainger Stadium

https://ballparkdigest.com/2019/09/0...ce-by-average/

*Keep in mind, attendance is tickets sold, not the actual amount of people in the stadium during a game. That number is far less than tickets sold.*

Two years after selling 2000 tickets per game, the Wood Ducks moved only 1651 tickets per game in 2019. This ranks the DEWD'S at 134th out of 160 affiliated minor league teams (Rookie leagues through AAA; Gulf Coast and Arizona leagues not included). Of the 26 teams ranking lower than Kinston, 12 are rookie league teams, and 9 are from the Florida State League, which is miserable at putting people in seats. The other five full season teams ranking lower than Kinston are: Mobile (team is moving to Huntsville next season); Beloit, WI; Kannapolis (getting a new stadium and team name next season); Burlington, Iowa; and Hagerstown, MD (still working towards getting a new ballpark as part of a downtown revitalization plan).

Carolina League attendance per game in 2019 (with overall ranking included):

57th Frederick Keys 4392
62nd: Winston-Salem Dash 4272
71st Wilmington (Del) Blue Rocks 3731
73rd Fayetteville Woodpeckers 3632
78th Myrtle Beach Pelicans 3377
82nd Potomac Nationals 3262
95th Carolina Mudcats 2847
105th Salem Red Sox 2565
127th Lynchburg Hillcats 1858
134th Down East Wood Ducks 1651

Keep in mind that the Ducks made the playoffs this season, and Potomac is moving to Fredericksburg next season. I don't foresee Fayetteville losing too many sales in season two. It's a great facility, and perfect entertainment for military families.

Rankings for all 11 NC affiliated minor league teams:

6th Charlotte Knights 8544
12th Durham Bulls 7668
51st Greensboro Grasshoppers 4710
62nd Winston-Salem Dash 4272
73rd Fayetteville Woodpeckers 3632
95th Carolina Mudcats 2847
99th Asheville Tourists 2761
121st Hickory Crawdads 2084
134th Down East Wood Ducks 1651
141st Burlington Royals 1216
145th Kannapolis Intimidators 1133

South Carolina:

45th Greenville Drive 4849
58th Charleston RiverDogs 4367
68th (North) Augusta Green Jackets 3920
72nd Columbia Fireflies 3720
78th Myrtle Beach Pelicans 3377

Other notables: Richmond, with its godawful stadium, still ranks 23rd with 6255 tickets sold per game. Norfolk is 33rd with 5304. Braves' top-level team Gwinnett Stripers were the second worst drawing AAA team with 3169 tickets sold per game. The now defunct New Orleans Baby Cakes drew only 2939. They'll be playing in Wichita next season. Those two teams were the only AAA teams drawing less than 4800 per game. The Braves left Richmond for Gwinnett, an Atlanta suburb, because of facility issues. Richmond intends on building a new stadium, which should put them in position to return to AAA. The Braves own most, if not all of their affiliates, but none of their minor league teams draw well, despite having great talent in their system. Makes me wonder how Minor League Baseball at the corporate level feels about MLB owners being indifferent about drawing well in their minor league investments (not to mention how bad of a draw the Florida State League is, but it's mainly Spring Training facilities for several MLB teams). The DEWD'S are owned by the Texas Rangers, and are contracted to Kinston through 2031. I like going to the games in Kinston. It's an easy drive, it's cheap, competitive, and we certainly don't have a difficult time getting out of the stadium and back on the road; but honestly, the DEWD'S games lack the energy I've found at other minor league parks I've been to (over 20 of them). ECU baseball''s atmosphere can be electric at times, and it's the older folks, not the students, who create the most buzz. No matter the small improvements made to Grainger Stadium and to Kinston itself, I cannot envision the Wood Ducks becoming a 2500+ per game draw over the course of the next 12 years, and can't fathom that the Texas Rangers will ever be able to care as much as the locals do about having a top fan experience at the A ball level. They're fine, but uninterested owners. Their money-maker is in Arlington, Texas. Kinston is just a tool on their utility belt. I'm hoping that at some time in the future that MLB teams will divest themselves of minor league ownership. They're not really interested in the best part of the minor league experience, from the fans' point of view anyway. I don't blame them for their indifference, but I'm just not trusting it's for the best. I'm aware that the DEWD'S wouldn't even be here if it weren't for the Rangers, but maybe the minor league market should not include major league owners. The result will most likely be that Kinston would be without a team. Quite frankly, it's probably how it should be. Kinston can't sustain a team as well as other towns could. A local owner wouldn't be able to make a profitable go of it, and the distant owner doesn't really care if anyone shows up at all. Clearly not that many do...

[BrighterDays]

Originally Posted by Phil A. Delphia

https://ballparkdigest.com/2019/09/0...ce-by-average/
The DEWD'S are owned by the Texas Rangers, and are contracted to Kinston through 2031. I like going to the games in Kinston. It's an easy drive, it's cheap, competitive, and we certainly don't have a difficult time getting out of the stadium and back on the road; but honestly, the DEWD'S games lack the energy I've found at other minor league parks I've been to (over 20 of them). ECU baseball''s atmosphere can be electric at times, and it's the older folks, not the students, who create the most buzz. No matter the small improvements made to Grainger Stadium and to Kinston itself, I cannot envision the Wood Ducks becoming a 2500+ per game draw over the course of the next 12 years, and can't fathom that the Texas Rangers will ever be able to care as much as the locals do about having a top fan experience at the A ball level.

On the plus side, Kinston does have a long contract with the Rangers and a chance to improve in the coming years. The product on the field was certainly great this year, with the Wood Ducks having the best overall record in the Carolina League. It is hard to say why they do not draw better. Some speculations I have: 1. I know that some fans were not pleased with dumping Kinston from the name of their team and using the strange Down East moniker (Down East being located well to the east of Kinston) 2. The general economic conditions in eastern NC being worse than the rest of the state, which leads me to 3. I think raising their ticket prices this year was a bad move.

Personally I enjoy attending Wood Ducks games and I love the old ballpark there. I would attend more if I could either get less expensive single game tickets or purchase a mini-plan of discounted tickets (for example purchase 20 tickets for $5 each that can be used anytime during the season).

Hopefully the Rangers and local management will work to draw more fans in some fashion. Drawing only 1600 average for the top team in the league is just pitiful.

[michealbond]

Quite the breakdown you have there Phil!!

It is odd. But I did have the thought that attendance would go back down. It's basically the same attendance numbers as their 2010 Kinston Indians days.

**edit** I stand corrected. their average attendance as the Wood Ducks has been lower than their last few years as the Kinston Indians. And I believe attendance was one of the reasons why they left Kinston in the first place. That's pretty pitiful. Those are in line more with a Coastal Plain League team than minor league.

I thought Kinston would have done just as well in the CPL and Greenville would have done better with a Carolina League team.

I do hope they have better ticket options. This whole Sunday-Wednesday & Thursday-Saturday dynamic pricing is not it. All weekend tickets this year were $11 a piece. That seems pretty crazy to me. I"m in the Triangle and could go any day of the week to a Durham Bulls game for as low as $8.99 and a Carolina Mudcats game for as low as $7.

I want that area to have a team. I know the "contract" for the Wood Ducks is valid for the next 12 years...But I'm sure contracts can be broken.

Not sure the Rangers want to continue to be the very bottom of the league in attendance for the next decade.

[cjseliga]

Originally Posted by michealbond

I want that area to have a team. I know the "contract" for the Wood Ducks is valid for the next 12 years...But I'm sure contracts can be broken.

Not sure the Rangers want to continue to be the very bottom of the league in attendance for the next decade.

Having followed MiLB and the business of it for over 20 years now, I think Kinston was the easy answer to get a team up and running in the Carolina League, ASAP. Fayetteville obviously had a deal in place to build a brand new downtown stadium before the two Cali teams moved to the east coast, so they spent only 2 seasons up in Buies Creek.

Another thing to consider, besides playing in a very old historic ballpark, without all the "bells and whistles" the new ones have, is the market size and amount of disposable income in the area. The Fayetteville metroplex has 374,585 people, yes it's a highly transient city, due to Ft. Bragg, but it also has a huge veteran retirement population, due to the mild winters and the VA hospital care right there.

I'm not sure how many people are in the Kinston metroplex, I know the city has about 20,000. I would guess Kinston is probably one of the smallest metro areas with a full-season MiLB team (Low-A and above). Would a new downtown ballpark, like the one in Fayetteville and Kannapolis (opening next April) increase attendance, probably, at least for a few years before the honeymoon period is over, but where do you come up with the $40 million+ to pay for it. I'm sure the city/county has better uses of $40 million+ than pay for a new MiLB ballpark for a team owned by their MLB parent!

Not sure if they will move or not, before the lease is up in 2031. They (the Rangers) might just see the Wood Ducks as a write off and a perpetual money loser. I don't see too many cities in the SE, that already don't have an affiliated MiLB team, throwing money around to build a new stadium for a Carolina League team.

The only good-sized market in NC that doesn't have a MiLB team yet, is Wilmington with about 263,429 people in their metro area. Many might remember awhile back, the Braves wanted to move their High-A team from Lynchburg, VA to Wilmington, but only if the city would pay to build them a brand new stadium and the deal eventually fell through. I'm not saying the city of Wilmington won't change their mind one day and build a brand new riverfront downtown ballpark to entice the Wood Ducks to relocate there, but that might be a long shot to ever happen!