Tennessee Smokies look to future with Wrigley-inspired stadium proposal for Knoxville
KODAK, Tenn. (BVM) — The Tennessee Smokies are close to moving locations for the first time since 2000. On Aug. 12, Tennessee Smokies owner Randy Boyd released plans for a $142 million development for East Knoxville that would include a new baseball stadium for the team along with numerous business facilities. While the Smokies are currently under contract with the City of Sevierville and Sevier County for their current field, Smokies Stadium, the contract is set to expire in 2024 and Boyd decided now is “a good time to think through all options.”
“That’s why Boyd Sports is teaming up with so many others in Knoxville to explore a potential new baseball complex in Downtown Knoxville – modeled after Chicago’s famed Wrigleyville with a state-of-the-art stadium, apartments, shopping, and restaurants,” Boyd said in a statement posted to the team’s Facebook page.
Currently, there have not been any official submissions or movement on the project as the idea is in early stages of meetings and discussions with officials and community input. In an interview with Fox 43, Boyd mentioned pledging $140 million worth of development as well as nine acres of land he owns at the old Knox Rail Salvage building, just east of Hall of Fame Boulevard and the James White Parkway on the east side of the city. The goal would be that this pitch would help convince local governments to build the projected $65 million multi-use stadium.
The stadium and surrounding businesses would further tie the Smokies to the MLB team they’re affiliated with. As the Double-A Affiliate for the Chicago Cubs since 2007, the Smokies moving into a larger stadium inspired by Wrigley Field in the downtown area of a city may not come as a big surprise.
However, it is not as if Smokies Stadium in the nearby suburb of Kodak has been unsuccessful in bringing in fans. The Smokies broke franchise attendance records in three straight seasons from 2016-18 before a dip in attendance last season. The team has also been in the top half of the Southern League in terms of yearly attendance for most of its affiliation with the Cubs.
Boyd and his wife Jenny have owned the Smokies since 2013 and since then have made a number of moves in the sports industry. Currently, Boyd’s business, Randy Boyd Sports LLC, owns four minor league franchises in the state: the Smokies, the Johnson City Cardinals, the Greenville Reds and the Elizabethton Twins. The Johnson City Cardinals, the Greenville Reds and the Elizabethton Twins are the Rookie Advanced Affiliates of the St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds and Minnesota Twins, respectively.
Congratulations to @smokiesbaseball on another terrific fan-friendly season! Started and ended the season on a W!
Now let's kick into gear for another great @Cubs playoff race! pic.twitter.com/urCxU42icd— Randy Boyd (@randyboyd) September 4, 2019
Boyd, a Knoxville native, has been a large proponent of University of Tennessee athletics as well. As an alumnus, Boyd has donated millions to the school’s athletics department for football, baseball and track and field including contributing $5.5 million towards the Boyd Family Track and Field Center.
A new era for Tom Black Track is officially underway!
READ: https://t.co/eWqpu5RfLa pic.twitter.com/001uaadnwi
— Tennessee Track & Field (@Vol_Track) April 19, 2018
Boyd, who currently serves as the president of the University of Tennessee, felt it was an opportune time to announce the preliminary plans as a way to inject some energy into sports during a time where there hasn’t been a lot of positive news in the world of sports.
“I want to share something I hope will rally folks together and get people excited. For our family, that’s @smokiesbaseball,” Boyd tweeted about the proposal. “We want to develop this Old City property into something that can be a catalyst for growth for the entire community and a point of pride for East Knoxville.”
While it remains to be seen if the team will move back to downtown Knoxville for the first time in 20 years, the prospect of a new stadium and business epicenter has to appeal to members of the Knoxville community. With the Smokies sidelined until next spring due to COVID-19, the news of a possible new stadium should spark more than enough energy among Smokies fans to hold them over while they wait for their team to take the diamond again.
