The MLB Cardinals and Ballpark Village developer Cordish Cos. said that a 20,000-square-foot entertainment area outside Busch Stadium "will be known as Fox Sports Midwest LIVE! as a result of a multiyear naming rights agreement," according to Tim Bryant of the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. Cardinals officials "declined to disclose the dollar value of the naming rights deal." FS Midwest telecasts beginning next season will "originate at a new studio at Ballpark Village, across Clark Avenue from Busch Stadium." FS Midwest "expects to produce more than 300 Cardinals and Blues shows a year at the new studio, which will be situated between the Cardinals Nation restaurant and Budweiser Brew House." Officials said that the studio, on the second floor of Ballpark Village's first building, will "provide viewers a shot of the stadium's interior behind the anchor desk." FS Midwest Dir of Media Relations Geoff Goldman said that in addition to pre- and postgame telecasts for Cardinals games, the new studio "will be used for pre- and postgame shows for Blues road games." Bryant notes during hockey season, a Blues-themed backdrop "will be installed behind the 1,215-square-foot studio's anchor desk." Blues pre- and postgame shows, plus between-period programs for home games "will continue to originate at Scottrade Center." Goldman said that the Ballpark Village studio will be the FS Midwest's "first permanent studio presence" since the net launched in St. Louis in '96. Bryant notes a stage, a 40-foot LED screen, a 200-seat restaurant and LED ribbon message boards "will be features of the two-level Fox Sports Midwest LIVE! space." A retractable glass roof "will cover the area" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 12/13).
