A few years ago in Fort Wayne, Indiana, there was a controversy over moving a minor league baseball team from the north side of town to a brand spanking new ball park that the team's ownership wanted to be built smack dab in the middle of downtown Fort Wayne. Many of Fort Wayne's publics were outraged at the idea for a variety of reasons. One such reason was that the team's north side home, Memorial Stadium, which was dedicated in 1993 would be torn down and turned into a parking lot if the team were to move. Many people didn't understand why the team could not just stay at memorial stadium, let alone why they had to demolish it if the team were to leave.
The team and it's ownership indicated that some of their reasons for moving the team downtown were to re-vitalize the relatively "dead" downtown and give the fans a better overall experience by building the new and more modern baseball stadium which would be so much better than the "old" stadium. While those reasons were to some extent true, I am going to try to answer some of the questions of what the Fort Wayne team and it's ownership were really trying to accomplish by switching stadiums.
If you haven't figured this out yet, money is the name of the game. Where is the money in building a new stadium? Nowadays a big chunk of change is tied up in the naming rights. Look at Lucas Oil Stadium, home to the Colts, future Final 4 games, and this years Super Bowl. (I hope I can use those words w/o getting fined) Lucas Oil's naming rights are huge money. Lucas Oil is paying the Colts over 6 million dollars a year for 20 years for the naming rights. In case you are bad at math, that is over 120 million dollars in guaranteed money for the Colts. Not to shabby. Why would Lucas Oil pay so much to put their name on something? ROI is why. According to an article in Sports Business Journal, Lucas Oil's return on investment over the course of two years (2010/2011) is estimated to be 73 million dollars, just from the stadium naming deal. That's right, essentially they are spending 12 million dollars and getting 73 million in return.
How does this relate to the stadium in Fort Wayne? Well, Memorial Stadium did not have a naming rights deal for one. That means the teams ownership group, Hardball Capital, was losing money every year they kept the team at Memorial Stadium. In my opinion, the owner's desire for a naming rights deal that would guarantee the team more money was one of the key factors in the move.
Enter Parkview Health, a well known and respected hospital and health group in the Fort Wayne area. Heck, my sister and I were both born there so of course I have to speak well of it. Hardball Capital and Parkview made a naming rights deal, the park was built, and Parkview Field was born. The money involved? Well of course a Midwest League Single-A baseball team in Fort Wayne isn't going to pull as much money as the Colts, but they still agreed to a 10 year 3 million dollar deal with Parkview. $3,000,000 they were not getting in the previous ten years. That $300,000/yr should come in handy, especially now that the novelty of the new stadium has worn off and attendance has fallen off with it. Don't get me started on that.
VIDEO: News segment about the brand new Parkview Field
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