Dickey-Stephens Park heads to fourth year
By Jeremy Peppas / Staff Writer / jpeppas@nlrtimes.com
Thursday, February 4, 2010 12:12 PM CST
The Travelers have been playing baseball in North Little Rock for three years now and when the season starts in April, things will be a little different for the park’s fourth season.
But not by much, said team general manager Pete Laven.
“We’ll have some ballpark improvements,” Laven said Tuesday afternoon at a press conference.
“More concessions,” he said, and an inflatable batting cage in the children’s play area. “We are going to do whatever we can to make it a better experience.”
The fans have been generally pleased with what they have gotten so far. The total baseball attendance at Dickey-Stephens Park over the past three years has been in excess of 1 million people, Laven said.
What’s also different for this season is that season tickets may be purchased in three-year blocks or for one season.
“Our season ticket sales are down,” Laven said. “Naturally you are going to lose some of those three-year people who bought the tickets but then didn’t used them.”
Even with that, new season ticket sales made up a portion of the difference and Laven said, “we are down, maybe, less than 100 tickets.”
Last year, the Travs had 2,268 season-ticket holders.
Season tickets range from $300 to $550, depending on the length of the contract and if it is a box or reserved seat. Single-game tickets are either $8 or $12 for adult seats, while berm tickets are $6, the same price as last year.
Luxury boxes haven’t been hurt by the economic downturn.
Laven said they are sold out.
Some of the luxury boxes are on a five-year contract and weren’t subject to renewal for this season anyway; the others were for three years and Laven said one did turn over, but it was immediately picked up by another business.
“We are very fortunate in that regard,” Laven said. “We are in a pretty good situation, as that goes.”
Having fans in the boxes and in the seats is critical for a minor-league team’s success.
“We want people here,” Laven said, “taking advantage of every thing we have available. “If they don’t show up, it is just a number. People here, that drives revenue for us and the city.”
Just in restaurant tax alone, the Travs paid more than $27,000 on food sales, with the bulk coming during the season. That sales tax number is comparable to American Pie Pizza on North Hills or the Burger King on Maumelle Boulevard.
Of the roughly $5.6 million loan, the Travs have paid around $700,000 into the city, and another payment won’t be due until 2011. The remaining balance is around $4.8 million, the city’s finance office said.
It won’t just be the Travs at Dickey-Stephens Park this season. Arkansas and Arkansas-Little Rock both have college games scheduled in North Little Rock this year. Laven said he was working to get another concert at the facility as well.
The Dave Matthews Band played to a crowd of more than 13,000 in September at the park.
