Wichita lands AAA baseball team and new stadium

[cjseliga]

Looks like Oakland is leaving Nashville for Las Vegas and their new ballpark in Summerlin.

It's seems Houston will be going back to Round Rock and Texas taking the new AAA team in San Antonio.

That leaves Fresno and Nashville left, with the Brewers and Nationals dooking it out. If I was either team, I would be trying to sign with Nashville ASAP, they have a great new ballpark, large market, frequent flights, in the central time zone.

Interesting that the Sounds were already the Brewers AAA affiliate from 2005-2014, does familiarity bring them together again, or does Washington swoop in there?

[cjseliga]

Originally Posted by cjseliga

Looks like Oakland is leaving Nashville for Las Vegas and their new ballpark in Summerlin.

It's seems Houston will be going back to Round Rock and Texas taking the new AAA team in San Antonio.

That leaves Fresno and Nashville left, with the Brewers and Nationals dooking it out. If I was either team, I would be trying to sign with Nashville ASAP, they have a great new ballpark, large market, frequent flights, in the central time zone.

Interesting that the Sounds were already the Brewers AAA affiliate from 2005-2014, does familiarity bring them together again, or does Washington swoop in there?

Guess I was a little off:

The final AAA affiliation musical chairs:
* Mets: Las Vegas to Syracuse
* Nationals: Syracuse to Fresno
* Astros: Fresno to Round Rock
* Rangers: Round Rock to Nashville
* Athletics: Nashville to Las Vegas

* Brewers: CSP to San Antonio (as part of a franchise move)

[pioneer88]

Looks like this new stadium is gaining steam. Wichita has really been taking steps to better connect their city with the river. There are some nice pieces there now but this development has an opportunity to be a game changer. I'm hesitant in some ways to be overly optimistic but I think there is a real demand for housing downtown (River Vista etc) and the Delano area has a lot going for it.



https://www.kwch.com/content/news/Ne...498952291.html

https://www.kansas.com/news/business...220805660.html

[widespreadfan]

Has anyone bought season tickets yet?

[widespreadfan]

Minor league baseball in other places I have lived has been a big deal. Nashville has an AAA team and they built a new ballpark downtown several years ago. Many of the home games sellout. I think that landing an AAA club is a shot in the arm to further the momentum of the Wichita metro area.

[Defiant6]

Originally Posted by remsleep

I don't get all the hype. It is minor league baseball, does anyone really care? The crowds will be small and I fail to see how this is some kind of game changer for the city. It certainly is not worth spending millions of taxpayer dollars. Wichita seems so desperate to be something that they will fall for anything.

More people care than you realize. If Wichita wants to remain a viable city, these quality of life projects are a must. You think Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Omaha, and Des Moines skipped out on those things? Absolutely not! If Wichita wants to compete and try to keep its younger people as part of its population from being lured away to those cities, then you have to come up with the things that will make them stay here. There are more things happening in downtown Wichita than you realize as more and more development is popping up.


This past week, a major bank in Wichita just announced a $51 million dollar headquarters expansion which will include a brand new office tower downtown. It won't be super tall as I think it's supposed to be 10 to 15 stories tall. Still, that is a MAJOR win for Wichita as there hasn't be ANY kind of new tower or office building built in downtown Wichita in decades! Cargill just recently completed a new downtown headquarters of one of its major divisions and it shows the major interest and activity happening in Wichita. Major chains of restaurants and stores that once laughed at the idea of coming to Wichita are now actually coming in. There is just lots of momentum that is finally taking shape. What I find interesting is that the bank that's building a new headquarters and that division of Cargill both looked at locating to other cities and ultimately decided to stay. Had this been the late 1980s or into the 1990s, both of those companies would've said goodbye to Wichita.


Those companies and the people working and now living downtown are very excited about the new baseball stadium and continued development happening in and around downtown and is a very big reason they decided to stay in the city. I'm very happy at what I'm seeing happening in Wichita as I once hated the city with a passion, but things are changing and have changed a lot since that time.

[widespreadfan]

We lived in Nashville in the mid 1990's. They had a New York state born, Harvard educated mayor. He had a vision for Nashville. He pushed for a new downtown arena to be built and then an NHL expansion team came. The he helped the city recruit the NFL's Tennessee Titans away from Houston and they built a football stadium. At the same time private funds were raised to build a new downtown library and symphony concert hall. A few years later a new convention center was built. Now Nashville is one of the fastest growing cities in the country. Point being investment in public infrastructure does pay off. That being said I miss the old Nashville and friends there complain about higher property taxes and rising crime. We love Wichita being the size it is and love the pride residents have in the City. I recognize that the new baseball stadium is a step forward. I just hope Wichita is careful with growth and does not loose the charm it has now. On a personal note I love college football and would love to see the city and Wichita State University come together to bring college football back to the city.