Minor League Baseball’s big game is coming to Charlotte. The league announced Tuesday that BB&T Ballpark will host the 2014 Triple-A National Championship Game.
It’s known as the “World Series” of minor league baseball. The champions of Triple-A’s International and Pacific Coast Leagues meet at the end of the season for one game. Next September, the game will be played in Charlotte.
Deputy City Manager Ron Kimble led the city’s ballpark negotiations. He says the minor league championship game is a sign that the public will get a return on its investment in the ballpark. The city and Mecklenburg County agreed to pay $8 million each over twenty years toward to the stadium, plus free use of the eight-acre site.
“This is only a portion of the big payout on our baseball stadium,” Kimble says.
The old stadium in Fort Mill hosted about fifty events last year in addition to Knights’ home games, he says. Kimble expects that number to be higher at BB&T ballpark. And don’t just think about baseball games, he says. The 12,000 seat venue can host concerts, conferences, receptions, even soccer games.
“We are scouring the marketplace for the types of additional events that we could host at BB&T Ballpark,” he says.
Representatives from the Charlotte Knights and the city say they intend to bid to host the 2015 ACC baseball tournament.