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| John Hammons hopes to attract a Class AA club to share the stadium in Springfield, Mo. |
Athletic department officials at Southwest Missouri State University estimate that the opening of the new $32.5 million Hammons Field earlier this month will mean a $200,000 windfall this year for the school.
Local hotel magnate John Hammons developed and financed the project for the school and hopes to attract a minor league baseball team to share the venue. Hammons has long maintained that a Class AA team would be playing in the ballpark in 2005, but no deal has been struck.
For the 2004 Southwest Missouri baseball season, 1,600 season tickets were sold, more than doubling last season’s total. All 27 suites were sold for the season, at $5,000 each, and as of last week, the stadium had been filled to capacity since opening.
Ticket sales topped $200,000 before the ballpark even opened, a figure Southwest Missouri said is at least three years ahead of projections. Last year, at the team’s previous home, the school posted $50,000 in ticket revenue.
Southwest Missouri, for 16 dates at Hammons Field, will pay $100,000 rent in a one-year lease plus turn over 25 percent of ticket revenue beyond $100,000. The rent payment is believed to be the highest for any college baseball program in the country.
Hammons will retain all other ballpark-related revenue, but two traditional ballpark revenue streams will not exist at Hammons Field. Hammons has said there will be no advertisements on the facility’s outfield walls and that naming rights will not be sold.
Southwest Missouri, since 2000, had paid at least $1,000 a game to play 10 miles south of campus at Price Cutter Park, home of the Frontier League Springfield-Ozark Ducks. Southwest Missouri averaged only 1,019 fans a game last season, despite having a team that ultimately advanced to the College World Series.
Hammons Field is four blocks north of the campus.
The Southwest Missouri clubhouse at Hammons Field is dedicated to Boston Red Sox third baseman Bill Mueller, an alumnus, for his six-figure donation to the school. In addition, Barco Media LLC this fall will finish installation on what is believed to be the largest scoreboard in a non-MLB ballpark, 20 feet tall by 26 feet wide.
Hammons Field 
City: Springfield, Mo.
Tenant: Southwest Missouri State University baseball
Owner and operator: John Q. Hammons Cos.
Architect: Pellham Phillip Hagerman Architects
General contractor: Killian Construction Co.
No. of seats: 8,076 (capacity: 10,000)
No. of suites/club seats: 27/385
Projected cost: $32.5 million
Funding: 100 percent from local businessman John Hammons. The city, which owns the land, sold bonds to cover construction costs. Hammons will make the monthly bond payments in lieu of rent payments. The bonds are due in full by June 1, 2028.
Concessionaire: Ozark Food & Beverage Inc.
Pouring rights: Coca-Cola
Scoreboard provider: Barco Media LLC
Turf provider: MJM Services Construction Inc.
Seat provider: Hussey Seating Co.
Opening day: April 2
| Company (work performed) |
| Advanced Concrete Technology (concrete) |
| Advantage Sports Co. (artificial turf for training area) |
| Anderson Engineering Co. (lot survey) |
| APAC (asphalt paving) |
| Bowman & Drussa Inc. (fire protection) |
| Brooks Plastering Inc. (drywall) |
| Builder’s Glass & Products (aluminum, glass and glazing) |
| Carnahan-White Fencing (chain-link fence) |
| Carroll Seating Co. (lockers) |
| Commercial Hardware Inc. (finish hardware, hollow metal frames) |
| Conco Quarries Inc. (base stone) |
| Connelly Mechanical Contractors Inc. (mechanical) |
| Connelly Plumbing Co. (plumbing) |
| Custom Manufacturing & Polishing Inc. (steel handrails) |
| Discount Termite & Pest Control (termite control) |
| Doing Steel (structural steel) |
| Great River Engineering Co. (surveying) |
| Harness Roofing Inc. (roofing) |
| Home Court Athletics (flooring) |
| Jack F. Dales & Associates (fire extinguishers, toilet accessories) |
| Kennedy Contractors (site grading) |
| McMillin Caulking Inc. (membrane waterproofing) |
| Mid-States School Equipment Co. (wall and rail padding) |
| Midland Masonry Contractors Inc. (masonry) |
| Midwest Coating Co. (painting) |
| Midwest Door Co. (overhead coiling door) |
| Otis Elevators Co. (elevators) |
| Ozark Flag Distributors (flagpole) |
| Palmerton-Parrish Inc. (soil testing) |
| Prestressed Casting Co. (precast concrete) |
| PT Systems Inc. (post tension) |
| Rich Kramer Construction Co. (millwork) |
| Riteway Concrete Products Co. (precast steps) |
| Rose’s Down Home Cleaning (cleaning) |
| Sechler Electric Co. (electrical) |
| Securitas Security Services USA Inc. (security service) |
| Shine Bright Cleaning (cleaning) |
| Welhener Awning (awnings) |
| Wickman’s Gardens (landscaping, irrigation) |
| Wilkerson’s Commercial Flooring (ceramic tile, resilient flooring, carpet) |
| Williams Construction Inc. (metal building) |
| Zarcon Inc. (suspended ceiling) |
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| Sources: Killian Construction Co., SportsBusiness Journal research |
