Post by Matt on Dec 21, 2013 22:06:30 GMT -5
Just days after winning the World Series, the Cardinals front office made a major announcement today. "We've come to the realization that our fans want to watch Cardinal baseball. We sold out almost all of our home games last season and always had extra ticket inquiries that we couldn't fulfill. We decided at this point in time would be a great time for us to expand the seating in the stadium."
Sportsman's Park has been open since 1876 and has a capacity of only 30,500. "We've wondered how long we could get away with a small capacity, and now is the time we need to make the change. The fans have spoken." When asked how big of an expansion they were going to do, the GM just smiled and replied "it will be a little bigger." Smaller expansions were debated, but when cost of each of those were discussed, it made more sense to make one huge expansion instead of it happening in stages.
Adding nearly 15,000 seats to the stadium, to bump the seating capacity to 45,000, will be a huge revenue boost for the Cards. "We've got a nice core of youth, but also some veterans who are earning their money. Increasing revenue with little cost to the fans was what we were looking for right now." The GM also added, "A bigger capacity means that ticket prices could drop a little going into next season so the fans can make sure they like the view from the new seats,"
Fan favorite Stan "the Man" Musial loves the idea. "Adding nearly 15,000 seats to a stadium that was full almost every night makes sense. I personally challenge the fans to sell out the stadium when the construction is finished," said Musial.
Adding 14,500 seats doesn't come without a cost though. After contacting the commissioner's office, the following payments have been agreed upon:
1955: $5,175,000
1956: $9,775,000
1957: $9,775,000
1958: $9,775,000
The total cost of construction is $34,500,000. The above payment plan is dependent on how much the Cardinal front office comes up with for a down payment. "We're still double checking our finances for next season. We signed quite a few guys to some big extensions, so we have to make sure we can pay them before we spend any extra on the stadium," said Carpenter. "We don't want to expand everything and put a bad product on the field because we overspent on construction.
"When it's all said and done, we're here for the fans. The more that can see us play each day, the better that will be for everyone involved," said current 2B Red Schoendienst.
Construction will start and continue through the 1955 season and be finished in time for the 1956 campaign. "We wanted to get this done as soon as we could," added Carpenter, "we're counting on it being done in time for the '56 season to help out our fans so they can attend games more.
Expanding the stadium will benefit both the fans and the organization. Rookie Ken Boyer added "playing in front of 30,000 crazy fans each night was fun. Now I get to look forward to 45,000? That's just nuts. Also most of the players realize that down the road this will also help out the team by making more money, as long as we do our jobs each day on the field so the fans keep coming."
Stay tuned for any further developments!
Sportsman's Park has been open since 1876 and has a capacity of only 30,500. "We've wondered how long we could get away with a small capacity, and now is the time we need to make the change. The fans have spoken." When asked how big of an expansion they were going to do, the GM just smiled and replied "it will be a little bigger." Smaller expansions were debated, but when cost of each of those were discussed, it made more sense to make one huge expansion instead of it happening in stages.
Adding nearly 15,000 seats to the stadium, to bump the seating capacity to 45,000, will be a huge revenue boost for the Cards. "We've got a nice core of youth, but also some veterans who are earning their money. Increasing revenue with little cost to the fans was what we were looking for right now." The GM also added, "A bigger capacity means that ticket prices could drop a little going into next season so the fans can make sure they like the view from the new seats,"
Fan favorite Stan "the Man" Musial loves the idea. "Adding nearly 15,000 seats to a stadium that was full almost every night makes sense. I personally challenge the fans to sell out the stadium when the construction is finished," said Musial.
Adding 14,500 seats doesn't come without a cost though. After contacting the commissioner's office, the following payments have been agreed upon:
1955: $5,175,000
1956: $9,775,000
1957: $9,775,000
1958: $9,775,000
The total cost of construction is $34,500,000. The above payment plan is dependent on how much the Cardinal front office comes up with for a down payment. "We're still double checking our finances for next season. We signed quite a few guys to some big extensions, so we have to make sure we can pay them before we spend any extra on the stadium," said Carpenter. "We don't want to expand everything and put a bad product on the field because we overspent on construction.
"When it's all said and done, we're here for the fans. The more that can see us play each day, the better that will be for everyone involved," said current 2B Red Schoendienst.
Construction will start and continue through the 1955 season and be finished in time for the 1956 campaign. "We wanted to get this done as soon as we could," added Carpenter, "we're counting on it being done in time for the '56 season to help out our fans so they can attend games more.
Expanding the stadium will benefit both the fans and the organization. Rookie Ken Boyer added "playing in front of 30,000 crazy fans each night was fun. Now I get to look forward to 45,000? That's just nuts. Also most of the players realize that down the road this will also help out the team by making more money, as long as we do our jobs each day on the field so the fans keep coming."
Stay tuned for any further developments!
