Ballpark Digest names Spirit Communications Park, ‘Ballpark of the Year’
July 26, 2016
Columbia’s ballpark earns highest marks for venue design and fan experience
COLUMBIA, SC – Ballpark Digest has honored Spirit Communications Park as its 2016 Ballpark of the Year on Tuesday. The home of the Columbia Fireflies – the New York Mets’ South Atlantic League affiliate – was selected as the top park across Minor League Baseball nationally for 2016. Representatives from Ballpark Digest will be on hand for Columbia’s home game against the Greensboro Grasshoppers on Thursday, August 11, to present the award to the Fireflies and representatives from the City of Columbia and the ballpark development team.
To commemorate this honor for Spirit Communications Park, the Fireflies will hold a special pre-game ceremony, and will distribute commemorative posters to the first 2,500 fans in attendance at the August 11th ballgame. This full-sized poster will be suitable for framing.
“Spirit Communications is proud to have our name on this magnificent ballpark,” said Bob Keane, President and CEO of Spirit Communications. “The collaborative efforts showed a real focus on teamwork, which allows us to be one of the most technologically-advanced ballparks in the country.”
Groundbreaking for Spirit Communications Park was on January 6, 2015, and the multi-use park hosted its first baseball game on April 14, 2016 in front of a sellout crowd of 9,077. On July 5 – a day after welcoming a record 9,228 fans into the park for Independence Day baseball – Spirit Communications Park broke the single-season attendance record for any professional baseball team in Columbia’s storied history. To date, 181,673 fans have passed through the park’s gates for Fireflies games; an additional 10,000+ people have also attended community and private events at the ballpark.
“Spirit Communications Park is not only our Ballpark of the Year, it’s also one of the best ballparks opened in the last decade,” said Ballpark Digest Publisher Kevin Reichard. “The ballpark is the centerpiece of serious economic development in Columbia, and an already-great fan experience should only improve once the BullStreet development advances.”
Spirit Communications Park is home to much more than just baseball. In the few short months since its opening, the state of the art facility has hosted church and community gatherings, business meetings, charity events and festivals. On October 22nd, Spirit Communications Park will host the Palmetto Health Foundation’s Walk for Life and Famously Hot Pink Half Marathon, 5K and 10K – expected to have upwards of 10,000 participants. It will also play host to numerous concerts, high school and college baseball, football and soccer games.
With the recent announcement of a 10-screen luxury cinema, the Fireflies will have new neighbors in the none- too-distant future. A host of retail, residential and commercial space will also surround the venue in the years to come.
“This is classic, family-friendly entertainment,” said Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin about the park. “To see the people of Columbia respond so overwhelmingly to this is phenomenal for our great city. I’ve seen firsthand the sheer delight on people’s faces as they enter the park and realize this is their stadium, this is their park.”
About the Columbia Fireflies
The Columbia Fireflies are the South Atlantic League affiliate of the New York Mets. The Fireflies play games across the southeast and mid-Atlantic regions, including against in-state rivals in Charleston and Greenville. The team has partnered with the City of Columbia and Hughes Development to construct Spirit Communications Park, a multi-use outdoor sports and entertainment venue at the center of the BullStreet development. The Columbia Fireflies are owned by Hardball Capital, owners of the Fort Wayne TinCaps of the Midwest League and the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Southern League. For more information, visit www.ColumbiaFireflies.com, or follow the Fireflies on Twitter (@ColaFireflies), Facebook (facebook.com/columbiafireflies) and all popular social media platforms.
About the Ballpark Digest Awards
Each year Ballpark Digest honors noteworthy accomplishments in the baseball world, whether it be Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball, independent baseball, summer-collegiate baseball or college baseball. A complete listing of Ballpark Digest Awards can be found at www.ballparkdigest.com/awards. The award winners will be honored at a Baseball Winter Meetings reception.
About Ballpark Digest / August Publications
The leading Website covering the culture and business of baseball since its inception in 2002, Ballpark Digest has been called an “indispensable” guide to baseball and ballparks by The New York Times; it’s been used as a source by publications and Websites ranging from The Wall Street Journal to Epicurious.com. August Publications is a publisher based in Middleton,
