One of the best things about the new Beloit Snappers ballpark is the fun begins an hour or two before first pitch!
This is by design: ABC Supply Stadium sits along the Rock River on the edge of Beloit's revitalized downtown, which is filled with numerous bars and restaurants a short walking distance from the ballpark. Since the people behind the redevelopment also financed the stadium, the team encourages fans to grab a drink or a bite to eat in the neighborhood before or after the game. A few of the newer establishments may be a bit too trendy for some tastes or too expensive for some budgets, but there are still a few mom & pop stores sprinkled around the area if you know where to look or are willing to walk an extra block or two.
While we love the new downtown location, the decision to build there (as opposed to out by the interstate, for example) has proven to be controversial with some, who have expressed concerns about parking availability around the new ballpark. The best we can tell, parking wasn't too much of an issue when we visited this weekend... although the crowds on Friday night and Sunday afternoon were admittedly a bit underwhelming (less than 1,000 fans each game). Since a large percentage of Snappers fans are seniors (or a little out of shape ;)) we hope the situation will continue to be okay on the busier nights, and the team has said they are working to make more parking spots available in the months ahead.
After grabbing a beer and a burger downtown, a short walk takes you to the stadium: a classic, no-frills, pile of bricks-- a perfect addition to the riverfront as well as a shout-out to the city's industrial past. The main entrance opens up to center field, allowing you to see the action on the field seconds after walking through the gates. Immediately to your right are the bullpens, which get you so close to the players you can practically listen along to their conversations. To the left is a food truck area, followed by a bar along the right field line and then the main seating section. The concourse wraps around the entire stadium, giving people the ability to watch the game from any spot in the park.
The old cliche that there's not a bad seat in the house truly applies to ABC Supply Stadium; everyone is right on top of the field with no obstructed views. The brick grandstand looks great, and is home to concession stands, massive bathrooms, a gift shop and suites on the second level. Please be warned the lines at the concession stand were unfortunately pretty long... during our visit we had better luck walking out to right field for food and drinks than waiting around by the grandstand. Food and drink prices were high, but perhaps not outrageously so. The selection was pretty amazing, and everything we tried was pretty good too.
If there was an area where the Snappers may have dropped the ball a bit during the opening homestand it was with in-game entertainment. The most glaring issue was with the scoreboard-- which was only able to show the score, inning number, balls & strikes and a few crowd shots in-between innings. No replays, player names or statistics-- and when the Snappers took a no-hitter into the 8th inning Friday night it's unclear as to how many people in the crowd were aware. The between-inning promotions were also pretty uninspired... the only ones we remember now were the Condiment Race and Snappy running with the kids across the outfield. The in-house MC's did their best to try to get the crowd engaged in the game, but the call-and-response routine unfortunately fell flat in a two-thirds empty stadium.
The good news is these issues can be easily fixed. We were told the scoreboard was just in need of a software update, which should be completed soon. And we're sure the Snappers staff has been focused these past few months on just getting the new stadium opened mid-season... there will be plenty of time to come up with fun and creative between innings stunts during the offseason to help keep casual fans entertained throughout the game.
What may be more difficult to do is figure out how to get more fans to show up to this $37 million ballpark. The Snappers drew more than 3,200 fans for their home opener, 1,700 for Saturday night fireworks... but only averaged 997 fans a game during the rest of ABC Supply Stadium's inaugural homestand. Hopefully this can be improved during the offseason by putting more thought into the promotions schedule and selling more advanced tickets. Fingers crossed that the higher prices that inevitably come with opening up a new stadium (as well as some of the lingering annoyance about the name change) are not enough to drive fans away for very long.
Overall enthusiasm for the team still seems to be extremely low as well. Growing up in Beloit it was rare to see any indication outside of the Pohlman Field neighborhood that there was a minor league baseball team in town. That surprisingly seems to still be the case today; even in the downtown bars and restaurants there is zero acknowledgement that the Snappers play their games just a couple minutes away. We think something as simple as throwing up a few signs with the Snappy logo pointing fans towards the stadium or advertising pregame drink specials at a couple downtown dives would go a long way towards creating excitement around Beloit's hometown team.
What all Snappers fans should take heart in is the organization now appears to have one of the best and most experienced leadership teams in all of minor league baseball. If a problem can be solved, these guys are in a great position to do it. No one said that running a successful operation in one of MiLB's smallest markets was going to be easy... but this beautiful new downtown stadium is a hell of a start!