Fifth Third Field (Dayton, Ohio)

Fifth Third Field

Main entrance to Fifth Third Field
Location 220 North Patterson Boulevard
Dayton, OH 45402
Coordinates 39°45′51″N 84°11′6″W / 39.76417°N 84.18500°W / 39.76417; -84.18500Coordinates: 39°45′51″N 84°11′6″W / 39.76417°N 84.18500°W / 39.76417; -84.18500
Owner City of Dayton
Operator Mandalay Sports Entertainment
Capacity 7,230 seats
~1,000 lawn area
Record attendance 9,507 (June 19, 2009)[1]
Field size Left field – 320 ft (98 m)
Center field – 400 ft (122 m)
Right field – 320 ft (98 m)
Surface Grass
Construction
Broke ground April 26, 1999[2]
Built March 4, 2000
Opened April 23, 2000
Construction cost $23,500,000
($32.3 million in 2016 dollars[3])
Architect HNTB
Architects Associated, Inc.
Project manager Construction Process Solutions Ltd.
Structural engineer Fink Roberts & Petrie, Inc.[4]
Services engineer Woolpert LLP[5]
General contractor Danis Building Construction Company[6]
Tenants
Dayton Dragons (2000–present)
A-10 Tournament (2005, 2007, 2009)

Fifth Third Field is a minor league baseball stadium in Dayton, Ohio, which is the home of the Dayton Dragons, a Midwest League team and a Single-A affiliate of the nearby Cincinnati Reds. 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. In 2011, the Dragons broke the all-time professional sports record for most consecutive sellouts by selling out the stadium for the 815th consecutive game, breaking the record formerly held by the Portland Trail Blazers.[7][8]

The Dayton park, with a total capacity of 8,200, was built in 2000 for the Dragons. With two-deck seating and large skyboxes, some compare the Single-A field to Triple-A fields.[9]

Dragons games are broadcast on 980 WONE (AM) – Dayton, and on television at WHIO-TV, Channel 7–CBS.[10]

History

The Dayton Dragons played their first baseball game at Fifth Third Field on April 27, 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.

Fifth Third Field has hosted the Midwest League All Star Game twice: in 2001 and 2013.

In 2005, 2007, and 2009, the venue hosted the Atlantic 10 Conference Baseball Tournament. In 2005, Rhode Island won the tournament, in 2007, Charlotte won, and in 2009 Xavier won.[11]

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.

2014-2015 video enhancements

In 2014, over $1.2 million was spent upgrading Fifth Third Field's entertainment control room and adding HD cameras throughout. In 2015, the existing video board was replaced in the off-season with a new 2,054 foot 13HD video board that was three times brighter than the previous board, twice the height and 2½ times the width. Described as featuring the clearest picture ever used on any board in a Minor League Baseball stadium, the board, at the time of installation, was the tallest and widest in a single A facility and in the top five in terms of size for any Minor League Baseball stadium. As of 2015, only three out of 30 Major League Baseball stadiums sported a board of this type.[12]

Facts and figures

Amenities

Fifth Third Field has contracted with Donatos Pizza to offer individual cheese and pepperoni pizza's at Fifth Third Field. Apart from Donatos Pizza, Fifth Third Field has contracted with Cold Stone Creamery to offer hand dipped ice cream available at a free standing cart on the third base side of the stadium as well as individual ice cream cups available at most concession stands. Along with the contracted food, many nonprofit organizations including churches, fraternal organizations and schools operate the concessions stands.[20] 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.[21]

References

  1. ↑ Nichols, Tom (June 20, 2009). "Record Crowd Sees Votto Homer, But Dragons Lose". Minor League Baseball. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  2. ↑ Bebbington, Jim (April 27, 1999). "Ground Symbolically Broken For Stadium". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  3. ↑ "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Athletic Facilities". Fink Roberts & Petrie, Inc. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Dayton Minor League Baseball Stadium". Woolpert LLP. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Danis Building Construction Company". Archiplanet. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Dragons Break All-Time Sports Sell-Out Record". Minor League Baseball. July 9, 2011. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Dayton Dragons Break Sellout Record". WHIO (Dayton). July 19, 2011. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  9. ↑ Merzbach, Brian. "Fifth Third Field". Ballpark Reviews. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Televised Game Schedule". Minor League Baseball. March 24, 2009. Retrieved March 24, 2009.
  11. ↑ "Atlantic 10 Conference Baseball Record Book". Atlantic 10 Conference. pp. 12–3. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 16, 2012. Retrieved February 16, 2012.
  12. ↑ Clark, David (February 11, 2015). "Dayton Dragons getting giant HD video board". Cincinnati.com. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Sports Illustrated Rating". Sports Illustrated. April 1, 2007. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  14. ↑ Meale, Tony (July 10, 2011). "Dayton Dragons Set Consecutive Sellout Record". Major League Baseball Advanced Media. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Dayton Dragons All Time Professional Sellout Streak". The Washington Postdate=July 9, 2011. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
  16. ↑ "Past Attendance". Minor League Baseball. December 14, 2006. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  17. 1 2 "About Fifth Third Field". Minor League Baseball. March 8, 2009. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  18. ↑ "Baseball Minor League to Dbq". City of Dubuque. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  19. ↑ Vecsey, George (July 2, 2011). "For One Minor League Baseball Team, Never an Empty Seat". The New York Times. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
  20. ↑ Katz, Marc (June 15, 2009). "Groups Work Dragons Games to Raise Money". Dayton Daily News. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
  21. ↑ "Fifth Third Field Among Most Vegetarian-Friendly". Dayton Business Journal. June 8, 2009. Retrieved March 4, 2014.

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