Fifth Third Field (Dayton)
| Fifth Third Field | |
|---|---|
  Main entrance to Fifth Third Field |
|
| Location | 220 N. Patterson Street Dayton, Ohio 45402 |
| Coordinates | 39°45′51″N 84°11′6″W / 39.76417°N 84.185°W |
| Broke ground | April 26, 1999[1] |
| Built | March 4, 2000 |
| Opened | April 23, 2000 |
| Owner | Dayton Dragons (Fifth Third Bank) |
| Operator | Dayton Dragons |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction cost | $$23,500,000 ($30 million in 2012 dollars[2]) |
| Architect | HNTB Architects Associated, Inc. |
| Project Manager | Danis Building Construction Company[3] |
| Capacity | 7,230 seats ~1,000 lawn area |
| Field dimensions | Left Field - 320 ft (98 m) Center Field - 400 ft (122 m) Right Field - 320 ft (98 m) |
| Tenants | |
| Dayton Dragons (MiLB) (2000-present) | |
Fifth Third Field is a minor league baseball stadium in Dayton, Ohio in the United States. As in the case of another stadium in Toledo, the Ohio-based Fifth Third Bank purchased the naming rights to the facility. Fifth Third Bank also owns the naming rights to two other minor league baseball stadiums; Fifth Third Ballpark in Comstock Park, Michigan, near Grand Rapids, and Fifth Third Bank Ballpark in Kane County, Illinois as well as a basketball arena on the campus of the University of Cincinnati.
The Dayton park, with a total capacity of 8,200, was built in 2000 for the Dayton Dragons, a Midwest League team and a Single-A affiliate of the nearby Cincinnati Reds. With two-deck seating and large skyboxes, some compare the Single-A field to Triple-A fields.[4]
Dragons games are broadcasted on 980 WONE (AM) - Dayton, and on television at WHIO-TV, Channel 7–CBS.[5]
Contents |
[edit] History
The Dayton Dragons played their first baseball game at Fifth Third Field on April 28, 2000. In attendance was Cincinnati Reds Hall of Famer Johnny Bench, who caught the ceremonial first pitch.
In their inaugural season, the Dragons managed to sell-out every home game of the 2000 season before the season even started.
In 2001, the Midwest League All-Star Game was held at Fifth Third Field in Dayton.
[edit] 2011 Field Renovation
In the 2011-2012 offseason, a new Kentucky Blue Grass playing surface was installed at Fifth Third Field as well as new drainage and irrigation systems.
[edit] Facts and figures
- Voted as one of the top ten hottest tickets to get in all of professional sports by Sports Illustrated.[6]
- The Dayton Dragons' series of 815 consecutive sellouts surpassed the Portland Trail Blazers for the longest sellout streak across all professional sports in the U.S.[7][8]
- Highest single-season attendance: 593,633 (2004, a Midwest League Record) [9]
- Fifth Third Field has 7,320 stadium-style seats. [10]
[edit] Amenities
Fifth Third Field has recently contracted with Skyline Chili to offer cheese coneys at Fifth Third Field. Apart from Skyline Chili, Fifth Third Field has contracted with Graeter's Ice Cream.[11] Along with the contracted food, many nonprofit organizations including churches, fraternal organizations and schools operate the concessions stands.[12] In 2009, The People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) rated Fifth Third Field one of the most vegetarian-friendly minor league ballparks in the United States.[13]
[edit] References
- ^ Jim Bebbington (April 27, 1999). "Ground Symbolically Broken For Stadium". Dayton Daily News. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DDNB&p_theme=ddnb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0F51BB8560BE6573&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM.
- ^ Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–2008. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved December 7, 2010.
- ^ http://www.archiplanet.org/wiki/Danis_Building_Construction_Company,_Dayton,_Ohio,_USA
- ^ "Ballpark reviews". http://www.ballparkreviews.com/dayton/dayton.htm.
- ^ "Televised game schedule". http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/schedule/page.jsp?ymd=20090324&content_id=528859&vkey=schedule_t459&fext=.jsp&sid=t459.
- ^ "Sports Illustrated Rating". CNN. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0704/gallery.hottest.tickets/content.10.html.
- ^ "Dayton Dragons all time prefessional sellout streak MLB". http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110710&content_id=21677950&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb.
- ^ "Dayton Dragons all time professional sellout streak The Washington Post". http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/dayton-dragons-break-record-with-815th-straight-sellout-surpassing-mark-set-by-trail-blazers/2011/07/09/gIQAhzn85H_story.html.[dead link]
- ^ http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/about/page.jsp?ymd=20061214&content_id=148639&vkey=about_l118&fext=.jsp&sid=l118
- ^ http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/team1/page.jsp?ymd=20090308&content_id=520865&vkey=team1_t459&fext=.jsp&sid=t459
- ^ "Contracted food service". http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/ballpark/page.jsp?ymd=20090310&content_id=522188&vkey=ballpark_t459&fext=.jsp&sid=t459.
- ^ "nonprofit concession stand operators". http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/134640.html.
- ^ "PETA Vegetarian Friendly". June 8, 2009. http://dayton.bizjournals.com/dayton/stories/2009/06/08/daily3.html?ed=2009-06-08&ana=e_du_pap.
[edit] External links
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