By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Las Vegas Ballpark enjoyed a banner year in attendance in its first year in 2019 leading the minors in attendance and had so many sellouts during the Las Vegas Aviators’ maiden Triple A baseball season in Downtown Summerlin that it was an odd sight to see open seats for a Major League Baseball spring training game there Saturday.
It was still a big crowd of 8,159 for the Cleveland Indians vs the Oakland Athletics 1 p.m. game. But fans expect the super-packed crowds to come next weekend for the second Big League Weekend when the baseball fan mobs following the Chicago Cubs descend on the Aviators ballpark for two games with the Cincinnati Reds.
If you’re wondering why the Las Vegas showgirls were romping on the grass before the game it’s because they’re hired by the local public tourism agency called the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), which spent $80 million of your public dollars thinking it was a good idea to spend that sponsorship money on the naming rights deal for a ballpark that attracts mostly locals to watch Triple A baseball.
Former LVCVA chief Rossi Ralenkotter was a big baseball fan (Reds were his favorite team) and he convinced the LVCVA board in 2017 to spend $80 million on the $150 million baseball park owned by Summerlin master developer Howard Hughes Corporation.
There were out-of-town baseball fans at the palatial ball yard Saturday so Big League Weekend is a baseball event at Las Vegas Ballpark that actually attracts tourists — which is the LVCVA’s charge.
There’s baseball romanticism flowing at spring training games, so much so that grown men don baseball jerseys bearing the names of Hall-of-Famers like this fella wearing a number nine Reggie Jackson Oakland A’s jersey.
Big League Weekend was not held in 2019 because the Aviators and Howard Hughes Corp. were dealing with a tight construction schedule and could not have the new baseball park ready to host the event last March. But this year, the ballpark is hosting not one but two Big League Weekends — this Saturday and Sunday and next weekend when the Cubs and Reds play.
Ticket prices range from $55 to $105.
Before the new Summerlin ballpark was built, Big League Weekend would draw crowds of more than 10,000 to Cashman Field in downtown Las Vegas. Expect those size crowds next weekend when the Cubs come to town.
The A’s defeated the Indians, 8-6, with a Sunday game set for 1 p.m. The Aviators are the Triple A affiliate of the Oakland A’s.
Follow LVSportsBiz.com on Twitter and Instagram. Like LVSportsBiz.com on Facebook.