TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, home of the College World Series, contains seats that have an “obstructed view of home plate because of the placement of the stadium’s luxury suites,” according to Mike Patterson of Omaha WORLD-HERALD. The building housing the 30 luxury suites “juts out just far enough that upper-deck fans in four” of the $131M stadium’s 24,505 seats have “difficulty seeing home plate while sitting in a normal position.” CWS of Omaha President Jack Diesing Jr. said that he has “never sat in the seats but is aware of the situation.” Diesing said that there is “probably little that can be done to remedy the situation,” but added that the seats will “most likely be a topic of discussion at the post-CWS meetings.” Diesing: “Outside of cutting a hole in the building, I don’t know what we can do. There’s a possibility that we just don’t sell those seats, but I’m against that because you can still see most of the facility. … It will be one of those things we’ll look at to see if we want to do something different next year. Building this stadium is like building a house, and some things might need to be tweaked” (Omaha WORLD-HERALD, 6/22). In Omaha, David Hendee talked to several CWS season-ticket holders "about the locations of their seats compared" to Rosenblatt Stadium, which hosted the event from 1950-2010, and there was "some grumbling." However, even the upset fans "acknowledged Omaha's new ballpark as a glittering diamond" (Omaha WORLD-HERALD, 6/21).
A DIFFERENT FEEL: In N.Y., Pat Borzi writes some detractors of TD Ameritrade Park Omaha believe that leaving Rosenblatt Stadium “cost the tournament the carnival feel that made it such a popular event, especially for out-of-state fans who made Omaha an annual pilgrimage.” Tailgating “remains a CWS staple; pop-up canopies and portable gas grills dot the parking lots east of the ballpark, near the Missouri River.” But overnight parking “is prohibited in stadium lots, as are recreational vehicles.” CWS attendance through Tuesday “averaged 21,615 per game, slightly ahead of the same point last year.” However, Borzi notes some crowds “appeared smaller because fans watched from the concourses instead of their seats.” Despite the differences for fans, players and coaches “love the amenities” of the new park (N.Y. TIMES, 6/23).
