By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Major League Baseball owners and big league players are still embroiled in a labor dispute, but that didn’t stop the Howard Hughes Corporation-owned Aviators baseball team from rolling out its playing turf for two big weekends of spring training baseball in March and the minor league team that begins its Triple-A home schedule April 5.
If you’re a ballpark grounds crew worker you were in your element Thursday at Las Vegas Ballpark in Summerlin where turf was unrolled inside the $150 million ballyard that opened in 2019 when it led the minors in attendance.
The baseball park has seen lots of action during the offseason and was due for a new baseball field playing surface.
From Nov. 26-Jan. 2, the ballpark hosted the Enchant Christmas event, drawing 300,000 people to the venue.
Then, the NFL took over the ballpark during the week leading up to the Pro Bowl Feb. 6 with player skills competitions and practices.
The NFL brought its own turf for its use at the ballpark. And now the Aviators, which began play at the ballpark in 2019, are installing a new playing surface that is designed to cope with the harsh desert climate.
If the labor dispute is settled between MLB owners and players soon, the new turf at the ballpark will be ready for Big League Weekend March 12 and 13 between Cleveland and Oakland and also March 18 and 19 between Colorado and Arizona.