busch stadium april 10, 2006

S P E C I A L
A D V E RT I S I N G
S EC T I O N
Cover photos by Dan Donovan
BUSCH STADIUM
APRIL 10, 2006
1A
Busc h S t a d i u m
S P E C I A L A D V E RT I S I N G S E C T I O N
The new Busch Stadium: A league apart
Ballpark blends modern details with tradition
T
Dan Donovan
hey may share the same
name, but all comparisons
end there.
The new $365 million Busch
Stadium, opening today (April 10)
at 3:10 p.m. when the St. Louis
Cardinals take the natural grass
field for their 2006 season opener
against the Milwaukee Brewers,
replaces the old Busch Stadium,
the hallowed cement edifice that
opened May 12, 1966. The new
Busch Stadium will offer Cardinal
fans sight lines, amenities and
overall game-day excitement unlike
anything they’ve experienced.
In short, the new Busch Stadium
far exceeds anything its predecessor could hope to offer.
APRIL 10-16, 2006
STREET & SMITH’S SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL
❘
WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM
3A
S P ECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
Busch Stadium’s open view invites fans outside the ballpark on Clark Street to catch the action.
“It’s comparable to someone being an MVP
in AA baseball,” says Cardinals’ President Mark
Lamping. “When you match that MVP to his
AA peers, it’s a good comparison. But when you
compare the minor league MVP to a Major
League MVP, it’s not even close. That’s how different the two Busch Stadiums are.”
The two ballparks, however, do share another
trait apart from the Busch name tag. Just as
the now-demolished Busch Stadium became
part of the city’s identity since opening in 1966,
the Cardinals designed and built the new Busch
Stadium to capture the character and personality of the “Gateway to the West” and its storied
baseball franchise. But this time around, Busch
Stadium will offer an array of new sights,
4A
sounds and tastes to enthusiastic fans as they
root for their beloved Redbirds.
The new Busch Stadium is built mostly
on the parking lot directly south of the old
ballpark’s location. In fact, the two were literally only a few feet apart at one time during
the construction of the new park and before the
demolition of the old stadium. And while the
new ballpark allows fans to enjoy many of the
same conveniences related to parking and interstate access to a Cardinals’ game, its relationship to the urban surroundings also is radically
different.
The most stunning change, apart from the
buildings’ exterior (brick and steel for the new
stadium, concrete for the old stadium), is repo-
Busch Stadium
sitioning the majority of the seats to face northeast, providing fans inside the ballpark a spectacular, wide-open view of the downtown skyline,
including the world-famous Gateway Arch. The
amazing sight, Lamping explains, is made possible by the absence of significant obstacles in
the outfield, particularly in left field. In addition,
the northeast corner of the ballpark site is 40
feet higher than the southwest corner.
That elevation change, coupled with the
“sunken” playing field, allows pedestrians along
newly reopened Clark Street, as well as tenants
of commercial and residential property in the
proposed, adjacent Ballpark Village (see related
article, page 6A), to have a magnificent view
into the ballpark. Clark Street has been “reconnected” from 8th Street to Broadway following
the old stadium’s demolition, helping to define
the new ballpark’s northern boundary.
The new Busch Stadium also will bring the
comforts of air-conditioned space and gourmet
food to some fans. But every fan will be able to
experience service upgrades in several key areas,
including wider concourses all around, elevators and escalators between levels and perfect
baseball sight lines for all seats in the ballpark
– all obvious improvements over the old Busch
Stadium.
Every fan also will benefit from improved
concessions, family entertainment options and
restroom conveniences that were impossible to
provide in the old Busch Stadium due to its age
and restricted configuration. Mix in the unique
standing room and group gathering areas that
will give fans limitless opportunities to roam
the ballpark and take in spectacular views of
the action on the field, and you have a baseball game-day experience that could never be
matched at the old Busch Stadium.
STREET & SMITH’S SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL
❘
WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM
“Our goal was fairly simple,” says Lamping,
who grew up as a Cardinals’ fan. “We wanted
to provide the best possible baseball experience
and, at the same time, have the ballpark be a
reflection of the community and our fan base.
In a sense, it’s a traditional ballpark, but it
certainly uses the most modern technology and
materials.”
Lamping notes that the ballpark had to be
traditional in some ways, especially with the
Cards’ long-time loyal fan base and the franchise’s century-old history.
“It had to look ‘forward’ in terms of amenities and, at the same time, honor and recognize
the past,” he says. “I feel confident we’ve met
those objectives.”
Building a ‘Field of Dreams’
Lamping says the teamwork and collaboration among the major players in building the
new Busch Stadium has been at an extremely
high level throughout the project. Companies
such as Hunt Construction Group and Kwame
Construction Management (who teamed up for
the project), Clayco Inc., HOK Sport, Delaware
North Sportservice, and Daktronics – to name
just a few – each played a critical role in getting
the new Busch Stadium ready for opening day.
Lamping also makes special mention of the
local workers who labored on the new ballpark.
“We couldn’t be more proud of the skilled
men and women who have built the ballpark,”
he says. “We had more than 300 suppliers and
3,000-plus people who worked on the project
[some are still working on it]. We’ve interacted
closely with everyone along the way, and it was
no surprise to discover the overwhelming majority are Cardinal fans, people from the area who
took great pride in what they were doing.”
APRIL 10-16, 2006
Busc h S t a d i u m
“It’s been very exciting for me personally,
because this is something we’ve been working
on for almost eight years,” says DeWitt III, a
member of the family that shares team ownership. “At first, we looked at a zillion different
ways to retrofit the old Busch Stadium, and we
did add many upgrades to it over the years. But
they were mostly incremental improvements
– you couldn’t change the fact that it had been
built originally to accommodate both football
and baseball.”
To stay on the 2006 opening day timetable,
Dan Donovan
Lamping points out that a craftsperson on
an office building project can certainly do great
work, but they hardly get the chance to show off
their work to friends and family. The same isn’t
true of a ballpark like Busch Stadium.
“It’s great to see the excitement in their
anticipation of showcasing the work they did,”
he says. “And that genuine pride supports the
very high level of quality that’s woven into the
building.”
Because of a tight timetable resulting from
having to wait for the 2005 season to end
Larry Staate
Busch Stadium’s architecture borrows
from the surrounding community.
In this case, the ballpark’s steel draws
inspiration from St. Louis’ historic Eads
Bridge (inset).
Local architectural influences
Way before the contractor dug the first hole
or hoisted the first steel girder into place, the
Cardinals ownership and front office knew that
whatever they did to replace the existing Busch
Stadium, it would have to be very, very special.
Bill DeWitt III, Cardinals vice president of
business development and leader of the stadium design process, remembers that as far back
as 1998, the thinking immediately turned to the
day a new stadium would be built in St. Louis.
APRIL 10-16, 2006
the Cardinals had to start planning the building before the financing was in place. DeWitt
III called the entire design process a “labor of
love,” which, for a time, no one was sure would
even happen.
Once they closed on the financing at the end
of 2003 (the Cardinals are the first Major
League Baseball club to finance their own
ballpark since the Giants began construction on
SBC Park in 1997), the team’s basic idea was
to design a site plan that included a panoramic
downtown view, including the city’s landmark
Dan Donovan
before demolishing the old stadium, the new
ballpark won’t be completely finished until July.
“That was our plan all along,” Lamping
says. “The construction phasing results in the
majority of the ballpark being ready on opening
day, but a small portion [approx. 6,000 seats]
would not be ready until the summer. The phased
approach was necessary given the site we chose.
We couldn’t start building a portion of the new
ballpark until the old ballpark came down.”
While the Cardinals expect a sellout season
(they were approaching one at press time),
and had stopped selling season tickets by late
February, Lamping is especially proud to say
that 170,000 tickets, valued at more than $4
million, were set aside for charitable organizations.
“We’ve had a very aggressive program to get
free tickets into the hands of charitable organizations and deserving young Cardinal fans,”
Lamping says. “It really is important to the
Cardinals ownership and the entire organization
to give back to the community that has supported the team so faithfully over the years.”
The new Busch Stadium is driving the Cards
to a season sellout.
STREET & SMITH’S SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL
❘
WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM
5A
S P ECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
Gateway Arch. Of course, that meant leaving the
outfield wide open. But there were on-the-field
baseball considerations as well.
“We also heard from our fans, who wanted
more of a traditional balance between offense
and defense. We read hundreds of e-mails and
letters from fans who did not like the short outfield wall dimensions of some of the newer parks
around the league,” DeWitt III says. As for the
overall look of the building, the Cardinals refer
to it as a “classic” design – a building that harkens back but also uses the best modern materials and technology.
DeWitt III explains that three local architectural landmarks provided inspiration for the new
Busch Stadium design. First, Busch Stadium’s
complex steel work was inspired by the historic Eads Bridge, which spans the Mississippi,
connecting St. Louis with East St. Louis, Ill.
Completed in 1874, the Eads Bridge is the first
U.S. bridge to use steel and cantilevered construction.
Next, the new building’s color scheme (and
some architectural elements) borrows from
the rich, warm colors of St. Louis’ historic
Wainwright building, designed by architect Louis
Sullivan and completed in 1893.
Finally, Busch Stadium’s arched openings
recall the nearby Cupples Station Warehouses,
which have been offering their warm red brick
facades and intricate details to the neighborhood since the turn of the century.
“While all three of those inspirations are
important, Busch Stadium doesn’t really look
like any of them specifically, but you can see the
influences,” he says. “The main overall theme
for the new ballpark is the visual harmony
between brick and steel.”
For the initial design, the Cardinals turned
to HOK Sport, part of Kansas City, Mo.-based
HOK, one of the nation’s premier architectural
firms. HOK Sport initially completed design
development then turned the design concepts
over to HOK’s St. Louis office, which became
the architect of record and worked tightly with
the general contractor, Hunt Construction Group,
in what is called the “design-build” process.
According to John Loyd, the owners’ representative for the Busch Stadium project, in more
traditional sports building situations, the owners hire the architect to produce drawings with
some level of detail, so the building typically is
completely designed and then put out for bids.
The owners put the construction team together,
and the project commences.
“In that case, the owner continues to be
responsible for field coordination issues that
come up and cost overruns as well,” says Loyd.
“They hire a construction manager who works
for a fee but has no financial risk.” From the
owners’ perspective, that approach can be
fraught with risk, Loyd explains.
For the new Busch Stadium, the Cardinals’
ownership chose design-build, a technique where
the general contractor hires the architect, manages the design process and takes responsibility.
“So the liability shifts to the contractor at the
early stage, as does the design process,” he says.
In some cases, the owners might feel they give
up the design way too early in the process, Loyd
notes, so for Busch Stadium, the owners used an
additional dimension, called design-build bridging, hiring HOK Sport to oversee ongoing design.
“At that point, we had identified everything
that was important to the team, both from the
baseball standpoint, the fan amenity standpoint,
and the revenue generation standpoint,” says
Loyd, who counts Busch Stadium as his fifth
major league project, including Cleveland’s
Jacobs Field and Pittsburgh’s PNC Park (also
6A
Busch Stadium
New Busch Stadium will create a new neighborhood, Ballpark Village, right next door.
Ballpark Village:
In the shadow of Busch Stadium
hen the St. Louis Cardinals built a
W
stadium, they built a new neighborhood, too.
Part of Ballpark Village includes a plaza
where fans can gather before and after the
games. Entertainment and retail venues
in other Cordish-developed sites include
ESPN Zone, Hard Rock Café, Barnes &
Noble, Gold’s Gym and five-star hotels.
“You draw on elements you find in the
community,” says Blake Cordish, vice
president of The Cordish Company. “We
believe there needs to be some grounding of
authenticity in the Ballpark Village design.
It also comes in the form of tenants. Part
of our tenant search will be to seek out
local and regional operators. We often
work to create new concepts that come
from a basis within the community.”
One aspect that makes Ballpark Village
unique is its location – directly adjacent to
left field in the new Busch Stadium. Left
field is completely open to the city, allowing
for great views into the game when the new
buildings are built.
“Probably the best comparables are
Wrigley Field in Chicago and Camden
Yards in Baltimore,” DeWitt III says. “At
Wrigley, they built rooftops on top of the
buildings beyond the bleachers to catch a
glimpse of the action. Likewise, beyond
right field in Camden Yards they have that
warehouse which has great views of the
game. But in both cases, the opportunities
are limited by the fact that these buildings were never designed originally for
the purpose of watching a baseball game.
What’s great about this site is that we get
to design our own rooftops and balconies
from scratch so that they become integrated into the baseball viewing experience.”
In the Cardinals’ case, that soon-tobe new neighborhood is called Ballpark
Village, a $300+ million mixed-use retail/
entertainment and residential district being
developed in a 50-50 partnership with The
Cordish Company, the Baltimore-based real
estate developer. Overall, Ballpark Village
will cover six city blocks that will connect
directly to the new Busch Stadium. Ballpark
Village will feature retail/entertainment
space, residential units, office space and
parking. In addition, the Cardinals will
locate their team museum – one of the best
in all of baseball – in the Ballpark Village.
“Other teams have done projects near
new ballparks, but I really think this is
a unique site,” says Bill DeWitt III, the
Cardinals’ senior vice president for business
development. “We’ve done all of the concept planning, and we feel very good about
it. Everyone who has seen the plan can’t
wait for construction to begin.”
DeWitt III says that the Cardinals and
Cordish hope to break ground later this year
and complete the first phase of Ballpark
Village, the largest phase, by the start of
the 2008 season.
Ballpark Village will be bordered by
Clark Street to the south, Walnut to the
north, and 8th Street and Broadway from
west to east.
“When it is completed, Ballpark Village
will create new activity in the downtown
area, even on non-game days,” adds DeWitt
III. “The excitement will be there 365 days
a year.”
constructed using the design-build process). “We
then handed it off to Hunt Construction [Group]
and HOK in St. Louis to complete the ballpark,
while retaining HOK Sport to make sure the
ongoing design met the original design intent.”
Among others, that job fell to Jim Chibnall,
HOK Sport’s project designer for Busch
Stadium. In the early stages of design concept
development, Chibnall, a 21-year HOK veteran,
traveled from Kansas City to St. Louis four days
a week for the first six months. Chibnall says
those early design sessions focused on a key
phrase: urban redevelopment.
“The key was when we built the new park, it
left this great parcel of land to the north of the
park,” says Chibnall. “The Cardinals owned it,
and wanted to reclaim that land for the city of
St. Louis as redevelopment. We were creating
more than a ballpark, we were creating a framework for a new community.”
Chibnall says an entire series of master
design plans began to suggest a ballpark that
STREET & SMITH’S SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL
❘
WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM
was built tight to the street, much like the way
the city of St. Louis is built.
“We also wanted to create the three walls,
but open the north end to the view of downtown
and the Arch,” says Chibnall. “Those view corridors are very important and were set down early
in the process.”
Chibnall had a special interest in the project,
as the St. Louis native grew up a Cardinals’ fan,
taking the “Redbird Express” to games at the
old Busch Stadium in the early 1970s.
“I grew up watching major league baseball in
Busch Stadium, and on one level, I hated to see
it go,” he says. “But it served its purpose, and
did a wonderful job as the Cardinals home field.
It was time to move on. For me personally, this
project has been a dream come true.”
On the flip side, having played such a key
role in the ultimate design of the new Busch
Stadium, Chibnall believes that the new ballpark,
along with the surrounding neighborhood that
will someday be Ballpark Village, is going to be
wonderful not just for the fans, but for the city
as well.
“It’s going to become a very powerful restrengthening of the city of St. Louis,” he says
proudly. “The whole connection between the
ballpark and the city is very, very dramatic.
People coming through this new development,
along Broadway and seeing the ballpark, will be
impressed. It’s going to change the way people
perceive baseball in St. Louis.”
Sid Perkins, construction manager for Hunt
Construction Group, the design-builder and
general contractor for the project, agrees with
Chibnall, adding that the project overall has
been positive all along the way.
“It’s been an excellent construction project,
even though we faced some great challenges
driven by the real estate considerations,” says
Perkins, whose next assignment will be in
Flushing Meadows, NY, home of the New York
Mets proposed new ballpark. “We had to build
about a quarter of the entire footprint inside the
old stadium.”
Perkins says good weather contributed to
construction timeline success, as did the negotiated labor agreement with local unions. Hunt’s
program also set and met goals for including
minority and women-owned local businesses in
the project.
Perkins also had praise for the design-build
bridging strategy, which Hunt favors.
“It’s a better process for us as builders, and
for the owners too, since they really are not
managers of architects,” says Perkins, who has
spent three years working on the Busch Stadium
project. “It works equally well for both sides.”
Perkins describes the ballpark’s exterior brick
skin as an interesting aspect to the project. To
speed up construction, 60 percent of the brick
was trucked in on panels that were built off-site
in Milwaukee by a small family-owned company
called ICP. The other 40 percent was hand-laid
by local masons. “It’s virtually impossible to tell
the difference between the panels and the handlaid sections, because the precast panels were
carefully constructed to include details that are
not typical of the panelized process,” Perkins says.
BofA: Financing … and more
When Cardinal ownership needed to get
the right financing package in place for Busch
Stadium, it turned to Charlotte, N.C.-based
Bank of America. According to Jim Nash, managing director, Sports Finance and Advisory
Group of Bank of America, St. Louis is an
important market for Bank of America.
“Of course, we like to see things happening in
markets where we do business,” Nash explains.
APRIL 10-16, 2006
Busc h S t a d i u m
Delaware North offers fans some great new
dishes, but the ballpark staples will remain.
“We see Busch Stadium as more than just a
ballpark. It’s also an economic development project, a strong public-private partnership. And it’s
all very positive for St. Louis. Ballpark Village
will be an economic benefit, with more organic
growth.”
Bank of America has been a long-time corporate sponsor with the Cardinals, as well as
connecting with the community and the region,
Nash says. In fact, the new Busch Stadium offers
its Bank of America Club, a special ticketed area
along the upper left field line that will accommodate from 2-250 fans. For $90 ($110 for premium games), fans in the Bank of America Club
receive game tickets (sold in increments of two),
a 2½-hour all-you-can-eat buffet, Budweiser beer,
Coca-Cola products and reserved indoor/outdoor
seating.
“The Cardinals have a terrific tradition, and
the fans are deserving of the best place to watch
a game,” Nash says. “Busch Stadium helps the
team be competitive long term, because it will be
advantageous as they try to attract new players.”
Nash also says Bank of America holds Bill
DeWitt Jr. and the Cardinals’ ownership group in
high regard.
APRIL 10-16, 2006
S P E C I A L A D V E RT I S I N G S E C T I O N
“Bill was very active and influential in the
financing process,” he says. “It was a complicated transaction that required a lot of hard
work and creativity from team management,
the lawyers, and the bankers.”
On the business side, Bank of America and its
Sports Finance Group have a core competency
of financing stadiums and arenas, so being part
of the Busch Stadium project makes perfect
business sense.
“We will continue to work with the ownership group and the community deserving of this
new ballpark,” he says. “It’s been a pleasant
experience throughout, and it’s what we like to
do.”
Most of all, Nash says he’s been coming to
St. Louis for years to take in Cardinal games,
and he says you won’t see a city where more
families have passed down the love of their
local Redbirds.
“One of the fun things for me at the old
Busch Stadium was you would invariably see
more three-generation groups of fans at the
game more than anywhere else,” Nash says.
“That says something about the organization
and the community.”
Of course, wandering around the concourse,
you might run into the Bank of America name
here and there.
“I think you might see a Bank of America
ATM machine or two in the ballpark,” Nash
says with a laugh.
Corporate offices coming in ‘06
HOK Sport and Hunt Construction Group, of
course, had plenty of company in building the
Staging Concepts gave Busch Stadium
an innovative “lift.”
new Busch Stadium. As noted by Mark
Lamping, more than 300 separate entities had
a hand in transforming the new ballpark from
concept to reality.
For example, Clayco, a full-service real
estate development, architecture and engineering, design/build and construction firm with
offices in St. Louis (headquarters), Chicago and
Detroit, served as the owner’s representative
and cost and constructability consultant for
the Cardinals on the ballpark and also is the
design-builder for the Cardinals’ new corporate
offices.
In the latter role, Clayco began work
in December ’05 on the build-out for the
Cardinals’ corporate offices in the new
Busch Stadium. Scheduled for completion in
November, the 40,000-square-foot project
includes office space and conference rooms for
team management. While the offices are being
completed, the Cardinals are working out of
temporary space Clayco built for them at 100
S. 4th St.
Behind the scenes
Of course, building the major components
of a new ballpark like Busch Stadium is a
Aluminum ornamental railings
cover 34,000 lineal feet.
STREET & SMITH’S SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL
“We’ve enjoyed a long, positive relationship
with the Cardinals,” says Kirk Warden, Clayco
vice president and Institutional Business Group
leader. For example, Clayco managed renovation projects at the old Busch Stadium. Clayco
serves as the capital improvements manager at
the Edward Jones Dome, home of the St. Louis
Rams, and also built the Rams’ corporate headquarters and training facility. Outside St. Louis,
Clayco has completed training facilities and
corporate offices for the Atlanta Falcons and
Baltimore Ravens.
“We’re design-building the Cardinals’ corporate offices because it is more in line with the
types of projects we’ve been doing,” Warden
says. “In fact, we hope to continue with smaller
corporate sports projects in lieu of large stadium projects, it’s a good niche for us. We would
rather focus on smaller athletic training facilities, recreational centers, mid-size arenas and
baseball parks. It’s just a better fit.”
While Warden says Clayco naturally is
quite proud of its business relationship with
the Cardinals, the firm is equally proud of the
collaborative effort the firm has built with the
Cardinals in constructing nine neighborhood
ballfields in and around St. Louis (see related
story, page 9A).
“It’s a fantastic program,” he says. “Craig
Lamping, Clayco’s senior project manager at
the new stadium, has been in charge of building and putting them together over the past few
years. There are also a host of very generous
subcontractors that have pitched in with the construction of these ballfields helping to make the
program successful.”
❘
WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM
7A
S P ECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
Busch Stadium
Busch Stadium’s
main video/
scoreboard:
An LED
extravaganza.
tremendous challenge. But also critical are the
somewhat less visible aspects to making the
new Busch Stadium. Take Rock Hill Mechanical
Corp., a St. Louis company that installed the
heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC)
components and the beer and beverage conduit
for Coca-Cola and Anheuser-Busch, respectively.
“We’ve put in all the piping and ductwork, air
handlers and temperature control systems,” says
Mike Hurley, Rock Hill project manager.
Hurley supplied some “fun facts” about Rock
Hill Mechanical’s work on the ballpark. For
example, embedded within or running through
the new Busch Stadium are:
• 520,000 pounds HVAC sheet metal
ductwork.
• 30,000 pounds of specially welded sheet
metal.
• 2,800 feet of beer and soda conduit.
• 2,410 heating grills and registers.
• 23,000 gallons of chilled water
• 20,000 gallons of hot water.
“This has been a great project,” says
Hurley, who singled out the exemplary work of
Pipefitters Local 562 and Sheet Metal Workers
Local 36. “All the contractors and subcontractors have been great. It’s been a mad rush, but
the team management and owners have also
been very cooperative. I’m just glad opening day
is finally here.”
Staging Concepts: Creating custom solutions
For Staging Concepts, the Busch Stadium
project represents a continuation of a strong
tradition of service and innovation for stadiums
and arenas. Having said that, Staging Concepts,
which primarily designs and manufactures custom solutions for portable seating risers and performance stages, reached into its creative talent
pool for Busch Stadium.
According to Todd Vigil, vice president, sales,
Staging Concepts delivered on four key aspects
of Busch Stadium. For starters, the company
manufactured and installed 34,000 lineal feet of
aluminum ornamental and glass railings in the
ballpark (glass railings replace aluminum railings
where sight lines are affected). The aluminum
rails provide a nicer finish, a more aesthetically
pleasing look and eliminate the problem of rust,”
he says.
Daktronics’ ProRail system
keeps fans informed.
Staging Concepts also provided the portable
infield seating risers, which give the Cardinals the
flexibility to add seats for special events or postseason games.
The third major Staging Concepts contribution to Busch Stadium is the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) infield platforms, which
were built out over the pre-cast treads of the
stadium, which provides wheelchair patrons an
excellent view of a Cardinals game.
Finally, Staging Concepts, in cooperation with
Uni-Systems, designed, engineered, manufactured
and installed a custom automatic seat-wagon liftgate system that literally “lifts” a section of seats
so that large emergency vehicles – fire trucks, for
example – can quickly get onto the field.
Staging Concepts is no stranger to sports
facilities, Vigil says. The company has clients in
all four major professional sports leagues, including more than half of the NFL facilities. Another
installation in St. Louis is a large portable seating riser system for special events (2,500 seats,
40-feet tall) at the Edward Jones Dome.
“St. Louis has such a rich baseball tradition,
we’re proud to be part of it,” Vigil says. “We’re
also proud of our design-engineers and manufacturing staff, who have the talent and capabilities
to custom design and manufacture innovative
products.
8A
STREET & SMITH’S SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL
❘
WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM
APRIL 10-16, 2006
Busc h S t a d i u m
Scott Rovak/St. Louis Cardinals
S P E C I A L A D V E RT I S I N G S E C T I O N
Cardinal Hall of Famer Stan “The Man” Musial dedicates the Cardinals Care
ballfield named in his honor.
hile Cardinal fans across the country
W
eagerly awaited the opening of the new
Busch Stadium, kids in three St. Louis-area
communities – Wellston, Normandy and
Murphy Park – were waiting for some ballfields of their own, much closer to home.
The Cardinals have teamed up once again
with Clayco to build three high-quality community ballfields in St. Louis neighborhoods.
The new fields are in addition to the nine
ballfields Clayco and Cardinals Care have
built in St. Louis City and County since
2000. The Cardinals Care Ballfield Program
was created to improve neighborhoods by
providing community ball fields of the highest caliber.
“We have an excellent relationship with
APRIL 10-16, 2006
the Cardinals and are excited about our roles
on both the stadium and these much-needed
ballfields,” says Craig Lamping, Clayco
senior project manager (no relation to Cards’
President Mark Lamping).
“The ballfield program focuses on communities that otherwise would not have the
means to provide quality baseball fields,”
adds Tim Hanser, vice president and group
director, community outreach/Cardinals Care.
“The fields are funded through donations,
and labor and materials are also donated.”
Each new field includes a grass infield,
an outfield wall, a scoreboard, an irrigation
system and dugouts. The new fields will be
located in Wellston, Normandy and St. Louis
City. All are scheduled for completion by
Cardinals, Clayco
team up again
for local ballfields
June 1. The Normandy field is a renovation
project, while the other two fields will be
completely new.
The first Cardinals Care ballfield
was dedicated in the Hamilton Heights
Neighborhood in September 2000.
Current Cardinals Care ballfields:
STREET & SMITH’S SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL
• Hamilton Heights
• Adams School/Jim Edmonds
• Fox Park/PAL/Daryl Kile
• Spanish Lake (wheelchair park)
• Whitey Herzog field
• Heine Meinie field
• Heiman Park/Jack Buck
• Northwoods/Woody Williams
• Jennings/Koenaman Park/Stan Musial
❘
WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM
What’s the score?
Of all the things that give a new ballpark sizzle, scoreboards and video displays are at the top
of the list. That being the case, Cardinal baseball
fans won’t be disappointed.
In fact, they will enjoy a truly integrated scoring, video and information display system at the
new ballpark. The multi-million dollar system,
designed and manufactured by industry leader
Daktronics, is providing fans with incredible video
highlights and all the information, scores and
statistics they could want.
Busch Stadium’s scoring and display system
components include the main scoreboard, which
is positioned behind right-center field and measures 40 feet high by 120 feet wide. It has four
large electronic displays that use the latest in
LED (light emitting diode) technology to show
video and information.
The largest display is the ProStar® video
board, measuring approximately 32 feet high by
52 feet wide. Three additional amber LED displays on the main scoreboard are being used to
display lineups, statistics and other information,
as well as graphics and animation. In addition to
the electronic displays, rotating and stationary
panels recognize the team’s corporate sponsors.
Near the main scoreboard, in an area known
as the Coke Deck, another video display shows
game highlights, advertisements and other information in full color.
In right field, there is a unique out-of-town
game scoreboard, capable of showing all the
games in progress in the National and American
Leagues. A full-color LED display, measuring
approximately 16 feet high by 80 feet wide, provides continuously updated scores of games from
around both leagues, as well as stats of players
in other games. The back side of the out-of-town
9A
S P ECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
game board also incorporates a large electronic
display.
“One of the latest trends in ballpark design
is to include more capable displays on the fascia of the seating decks,” says Darren Benike,
Daktronics’ senior project manager. “The new
Busch Stadium has multiple full-color displays;
the largest two will be mounted along the first
and third base lines.”
Benike adds that Busch Stadium will be the
first outdoor project in which the Daktronics
ProRail® attachment system is being used,
whereby the displays serve as the railing of the
second deck, improving sight lines for fans and
saving construction costs. Each of these two
large fascia displays measure approximately 4
feet high by 150 feet long.
Another interesting display feature is two
“pitchers” displays, each measuring approximately 4 feet high by 24 feet wide and incorporating amber LED technology, located in the
right and left field bullpens. The LED boards display information and statistics for each team’s
current pitcher. Two additional fascia displays
showing speed and type of pitch will be located
Busch Stadium Basics
Construction began:
December 23, 2003
First game:
April 4, 2006
(Memphis Redbirds vs.
Springfield Cardinals)
First Cardinals game:
April 10, 2006
(vs. the Milwaukee Brewers)
Official Capacity:
43,975
Cost:
$365 million
Surface:
Grass
Restrooms:
58
Escalators:
7
Elevators:
8
Dimensions
Left field:
Left-center:
Center field:
Right-center:
Right field:
10A
336
375
400
375
335
feet
feet
feet
feet
feet
Busch Stadium
in the far left and right fields on the lower terrace level fascia.
Finally, Daktronics is providing the control
system that will operate all the displays. Control
system components include Venus® matrix display controllers to operate multiple color and
monochrome LED displays, V-Link® video processors that digitize and format video for display
on the large LED video screens, a DakStats®
statistics system that interfaces with Major
League Baseball’s main database to display
up-to-the-minute stats of the Cardinals game,
and an interface to Sportswire® for automatic
display of out-of-town game scores and stats.
“Cardinal’s fans will enjoy a unique visual
experience,” says Benike. “And we’re glad to be
the company who is delivering that experience.”
Food, drinks, fun.
Apart from great views, natural grass, dazzling video boards and exciting baseball, Cardinal
fans are also on the receiving end of an amazing
array of things to eat, drink and buy (in the retail
score, expected to open in July) – all courtesy of
Delaware North Sportservice.
“The new Busch Stadium is a tremendous facility,” says Sportservice President
Rick Abramson. “It’s really amazing, how
Sportservice and the Cardinals have now entered
another era in our great relationship with a new
ballpark.” Delaware North Sportservice has
been the Cardinals’ food and beverage vendor of
choice since 1957, and when the current contract expires, it will mark a 100-year anniversary
of the two entities.
According to Dan Fetcho, regional director
and a Sportservice 21-year veteran in the St.
Louis market, plans for the new Busch Stadium
include “more branded concepts” blending elements that pay tribute to the Cardinals great
baseball history. For example, there will be a
“Gas House Grill,” a reference to the infamous
Dizzy Dean-led 1934 World Champion Cardinals,
known as the Gas House Gang. The Gas House
Grill will feature grilled brauts, Polish sausage,
shrimp, as well as things “new and different,”
Fetcho says.
Hungry fans can chow down at the Riverview
concession area, which overlooks the mighty
Mississippi, or stop by El Birdo’s for some TexMex food. They can enjoy a view of the downtown skyline and the game, too, hanging out on
Delaware North
Sportservice
corporate chef Rolf
Baumann (top), who
oversees the Busch
Stadium culinary
staff, promises great
new taste treats for
Cardinal fans.
the Left Field Porch, or they can visit the Plaza
Grill, right near the ballpark’s main entrance.
Menu-wise, Fetcho says the fact that the new
ballpark’s new cooking facilities and equipment
have given Sportservice a major opportunity to
be even more creative. For example, Sportservice
has added its own BBQ stand, called Broadway
BBQ, offering chicken wings, pork sandwiches
and brisket.
“With our own smoker, we can smoke meats
during the day and then offer the product at
night to hungry fans,” he says. “In the old park,
we would not have had the ability to power up
that type of unit.”
Some other new offerings include patty-melt
STREET & SMITH’S SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL
❘
WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM
burgers, fireball burgers (with jalapeno peppers),
hand-tossed pizza, Italian roast beef sandwiches,
calzones, pork kabobs and reuben sandwiches.
For dessert, fans can indulge in chocolate-dipped
strawberries, strawberry short cake, milkshakes
and root beer floats, among other delights. In
addition to those items, thirsty fans will enjoy
cooling frozen drinks (margaritas, pina coladas)
at places like the Backstop Bar on the main
level.
As it had done at the old Busch Stadium,
Sportservice will handle concessions, luxury
suites catering and food and beverage service at
Club Lounges – all food, beverage and retail at
the ballpark.
APRIL 10-16, 2006
Busc h S t a d i u m
On the retail side of the house, the new store,
which will be fives times the size of the former
team store, won’t be ready until later in the season, but when it opens, it will be open seven days
a week, year-round.
Finally, Fetcho says that every single pointof-sale location will accept credit or debit cards
– another added fan-friendly touch.
“It’s all about adding convenience for the customer,” Fetcho says.
Fetcho says the expectations and excitement
among the organization and fans in St. Louis is
palpable.
“Just as Sportservice was ready in 1966,
we’re ready in 2006. It’s hard to believe opening
day is here already,” he says. “It doesn’t seem
that long ago that the Cardinals were playing a
game in the old Busch Stadium. The transition
from old to new is really stunning.”
S P E C I A L A D V E RT I S I N G S E C T I O N
ward them at no charge to friends, family and co-workers. My Cardinals Tickets
is the “next generation” of digital ticket
account management providing a flexible,
easy-to-use Web interface, which benefits
the team, season ticket holder and singlegame ticket buyer.
• Tickets@Home® – The absolute fastest way to get tickets, Tickets@Home
enables fans to instantly and securely
print tickets purchased online from the
comfort of a home or office computer.
Each ticket is printed with a unique barcode to prevent fraud and then authenticated at the ballpark using hand-held and
turnstile scanning devices. This technology not only ensures quick and convenient
entry for each fan, but with each scan, it
also delivers real-time information back
to the box office about ticket usage, fan
behavior and entry patterns.
Mission accomplished
The main parts are in place, and opening day
has arrived. Looking back, all agree that the
project has been a success, and the new Busch
Stadium will lift an already exciting Cardinals
baseball experience to another level.
“This has been a great project all the way
around,” says owner’s rep John Loyd. “I give a
lot of credit to the Cardinals ownership and management. They are intelligent, honest people who
know what they want and are diligent in paying
attention to the details. In fact, this is the most
finely detailed ballpark in the country.”
“We wanted the ballpark to be a reflection of
the makeup of our fan base, because our fans are
different from those of other teams,” says Cards’
president Lamping. “The Cardinals are a regional
draw, with devoted fans from throughout the
Midwest.
“Throughout the project, we tried to think long
term,” he adds. “And the best way to protect your
ticket sales revenue long term is to make sure the
fans have the best possible experience.”
For Bill DeWitt III, opening day is the culmination of a decade of dedication, hard work, and
the input from thousands, including fans.
“Opening Day in the new ballpark will be
a once-in-a-lifetime experience for our fans,”
DeWitt III says. “For those of us who worked
hard on the project, it will feel like the seventh
game of the World Series in April. It’s very, very
exciting.”
Tickets + innovation = success
Last season, the Cardinals began a long-term
contract with Tickets.com to serve as the team’s
online ticket system provider. Now, a year later,
Tickets.com flourishes during this busy start of
the Inaugural season at the new Busch Stadium.
And that’s a major challenge, considering the
Cardinals broke their single game ticket sales
record back on March 4, when the club sold
170,000 tickets in a single day.
“Any time you have change, there is a lot to
do, like moving gear, network equipment, cables,
etc.’” says Andy Donkin, co-president, Tickets.
com. “The Cardinals had an aggressive timeline,
but we teamed up with them in making sure the
new ballpark would be ready to go.”
According to Donkin, Tickets.com delivers
three primary elements that aide in making the
Cardinals online tickets sales process work efficiently and as fan-friendly as possible.
Considering the demand for tickets this
season, Donkin explains, robustness in a ticketing system is the first critical factor for the
Cardinals and is a necessity to cater to tickethungry fans.
Tickets.com online ticketing system offers a
sense of community; through use of the Tickets.
com system, it empowers the Cardinals fan base
to connect with the St. Louis Cardinals brand,
including private label features and functions,
managing their season tickets, and feeling like a
part of the Cardinals team.
The third delivery is innovation. Tickets.com
is providing its advanced ticketing capabilities,
including a state-of-the-art Access Control bar
code reading system, Tickets@Home®, and the
Prime Seat Club, a team sanctioned and controlled secondary market product. The Cardinals
have installed Tickets.com’s ProVenue™
Automated Ticketing Kiosks, a self-service ticketing system at Busch Stadium.
Highlights of the Cardinals ticketing are:
• Automated Ticketing Kiosks – The touchscreen kiosk offers a convenient and
reliable 24/7 location where Cardinals
fans can pick-up “will call” tickets. The
“no touch” option for same-day will call
delivers tickets in less than 10 seconds eliminating long box office lines and freeing up staff to concentrate on customer
service and other duties.
• My Cardinals Tickets – Enables fans to
manage their total ticket and account
inventory including season tickets, miniplans and single game tickets. The key
feature is the Prime Seat Club, a teamsanctioned and controlled secondary
market product enabling season ticket
holders to re-sell unused tickets or forAPRIL 10-16, 2006
STREET & SMITH’S SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL
❘
WWW.SPORTSBUSINESSJOURNAL.COM
11A