The City of Ames can't even get behind and support business progress and its going to support a High A team?
I am old enough to have seen them kill 3 different plans to build shopping and entertainment off of 35.
ISU baseball team
- Thread starter qwerty
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The City of Ames can't even get behind and support business progress and its going to support a High A team?
I am old enough to have seen them kill 3 different plans to build shopping and entertainment off of 35.
You wanted to build a park the same size as Principal in a town where half the population is gone for the majority of the season.
It's so easy to say can't. Those are the people that fail by not trying. I'm just spitballing ideas that could help make it possible.
Modern Woodmen Park in Davenport holds 4,000. It was voted minor league ballpark of the year last year. It is pretty nice and has ferris wheel and other attractions for younger kids (plus you get a really nice view of ballpark, river and downtown when at top of wheel).
Modern Woodmen Park - Wikipedia
edit: they remodeled in 2004 and added suites, etc. Those are nice (have been in several times) and used extensively as the owner keeps them affordable.
Problem is mlb is downsizing its minor league operations.
There is spitballing ideas and there's being a realist. Your plan is for the City of Ames to build a 10-12k seat stadium that we have already cut to less than 5K; all to lure an unknown MLB franchise... The same MLB that wants to cut minor league teams again this time from 90 to 60.
All so Iowa State can bring back a program no one supported, wasn't any good, and would lose well over 3 million a year. Oh and they would lose even more than that because they would have to rent out the stadium around the Ames Professional Cyclones team.
Until the NCAA moves the baseball season from the spring to the summer there is 0 chance ISU brings back baseball. And even then it is unlikely.
It's easy to say can't when Pollard has said it isn't going to happen. Baseball is not possible while JP is here. He's said it isn't coming back. This discussion has been re-hashed just about every year when basketball ends and spring football is over. I get it, it's a dead time and we need something to talk about, but it would be better to present arguments for something that might be possible. Baseball will not be coming back to ISU.
People say it's "Money" but I even wonder, if someone showed up with $25 million, to get things going, then offered $3 million a year to keep it a float, if the AD would even go for it. I know for me personally, I would hope the AD would convince them to put that money into the existing sports we have and push a lot of it to We Will.
I've said those numbers were wrong repeatedly, but you and others just keep hammering on it. Move on already. Of course I don't expect them to build an over realistic capacity stadium. My mistake was not knowing what a realistic capacity was. I also didn't do an environmental impact study. Better get the hounds and pitch forks out.
So my info is out of date but I was an officer for the paintball team in the early 2k's. All the club sports teams at that time were part of the Sports Club Council (SCC). Funding for the teams were done as a combination of individuals paying their own way, hair brained fundraising ideas and SCC. Most of the funding for our club team came out of our own pockets and we would rent out the paintball field to greek houses and other student orgs to raise a little money. SCC funding was a once a year thing were every club team would send 1 or 2 reps into an auditorium in Beyer Hall to present a proposal for funding to the rest of the sports clubs. Sometimes you could get some funding for major things like we did when we built the paintball field out by the baseball field on the old tennis courts.
I'm assuming that process hasn't changed much in the last 20ish years.
I'm not sure if everyone realizes what the facilities at major D1 baseball programs are like. They are better than most minor league facilities and a far cry from Cap Timm Field. There's no way ISU has the funds to compete. My son played at Arizona State, and they averaged over 3,000 in home attendance and often had over 4,000 for weekend conference games. Here's a video tour of their facilities. The locker room looked like an MLB locker room, and had air conditioned indoor batting cages and bullpens.
I would love for them to bring back baseball at ISU, but I don't see it happening in my lifetime due to the funding, the weather, and Title IX.
I would love for them to bring back baseball at ISU, but I don't see it happening in my lifetime due to the funding, the weather, and Title IX.
And the company buying up teams already owns the icubs, no way they’re letting one in Ames.
Modern Woodmen Park in Davenport holds 4,000. It was voted minor league ballpark of the year last year. It is pretty nice and has ferris wheel and other attractions for younger kids (plus you get a really nice view of ballpark, river and downtown when at top of wheel).
Modern Woodmen Park - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
edit: they remodeled in 2004 and added suites, etc. Those are nice (have been in several times) and used extensively as the owner keeps them affordable.
Our team in Wisconsin plays in the same league as QC. Stadium holds 5900 and our area's population is just over 400,000.
The gameday operations run circles around anything at Jack Trice.
Doing an environmental impact study would be the most feasible part of this endeavor.
Probably the worst coverage the Register ever gave Iowa State was baseball. One time, Iowa State swept a double header from the Hoks and the Page 1 of the Peach the only photo was of the only Hok homer and a headline for the photo and story that read "Hawkeye Happiness." Someone cut that out and put it in the den of our floor with a bunch of expletives and our next meeting we voted to cancel our floor's subscription to the Register in protest.
Not only lose $3 million a year, but siphon away precious NIL money from other sports. Look at Texas. They spend over $20 million on NIL, have $200 million on resources for its athletic department and still lost 17-9 to UTRGV, can’t beat A and M, Texas State and struggled against Baylor.
So softball seems to be competing. Where's the difference. Guessing their NIL isn't overwhelming.
Because MiLB reduced operations, more players are taking NIL deals, getting developed and staying committed to college. Most of the money flows into football, but some of it is going to baseball. Some conferences are like low A baseball now. College softball is pretty popular in the Midwest right now.
