Recently the Minnesota Twins and University of Minnesota Gophers Football team have both opened impressive new Stadiums, both funded largely with public funds. The Minnesota Vikings have and continue to lobby the State Legislature for their piece of the public pie. They want a new stadium to replace the Metrodome that will cost, if other recent NFL stadium construction is any guide, around a billion - mostly taxpayer - dollars. Into the midst of this fiscal feeding frenzy enter the Saint Paul Saints.
The Saints are, of course, the Mother of the current boom in independent baseball. On a national level the Saints are Daryl Strawberry, Jack Morris, J.D. Drew, Ila Borders, Bill Murray, and crazy promotions. On a local level the Saints are pigs, trains, tailgating, and cheap outdoor baseball.
Knowing that they couldn't compete with the Twins in terms of on field product, the Saints focused on what they had that the Twins didn't. They had the sun and the grass. They had a local feel and they had a price that families could afford. The Saints said "Fun is Good", banned the wave and announced that the temperature was the same inside and outside the stadium.
Some of those advantages disappeared this Spring when the Twins opened Target Field. While the Saints are still less expensive and (in my opinion) more fun, they no longer have a monopoly on sunshine and real grass. The Saints have taken a pretty big hit in attendance this season. Part of it is the economy and part of it is the novelty of a new stadium across town, but knowing the causes doesn't make it less painful.
The Saints have been pushing for a new stadium of their own for years, but in the current climate the Saints' desire and need has become more urgent. They play in a a stadium that has a certain charm, but it's not a fitting stadium for the crown jewel in a baseball empire. It's not a fitting stadium for the team that put independent baseball on the map.
That being said, the current proposal by the Saints is not one that I'm a huge fan of and I don't see it as the attendance generating salve the Saints envision. The Saints want to build a $35 million stadium in the Lowertown district of downtown Saint Paul. The concept designs for the stadium look nice, but the location leaves quite a bit to be desired.
From a logistical point of view the downtown location is a mistake - both for the Saints and the City. The Saints seem to think a move downtown will help rebrand the team and attract a younger and hipper fan base with more disposable income. Of course those are the people who go to downtown - downtown Minneapolis and watch the Twins. Moving to an area where parking will be more scarce and tailgating will be more difficult will alienate many season ticket holders who have been with the Saints from the beginning. Building a downtown stadium also loses a battle of perception. The Saints have succeeded by being the anti-Twins. By building a fancy downtown ballpark just after the Twins did the Saints will be perceived not as a plucky little team that's a lot of fun, but as a team that's looking to be more like a major league team.
From the City's point of view a new downtown ballpark might bring in people who wouldn't otherwise come downtown. That''s what the Saints are selling. But the Saints aren't going to bring in the 750,000+ that the Wild bring in. They will continue to sell 5,000 to 6,000 tickets and have 3,500 to 5,000 people in the seats most nights. (As long as the Twins aren't in town and the weather cooperates.) It would generate revenue for St. Paul and Ramsey County but it won't create a new golden age of downtown. Lowertown and Downtown as a whole have been slowly been redeveloping for years. A new Saints' stadium won't change the "work in St. Paul, play in Minneapolis" mindset of metro area singles, hipsters or others with disposable income.
A better plan for the city would be to put the resources into revitalizing an area that actually needs help.
Why not help revitalize Frogtown and Midway (the neighborhood not the stadium) with a ballpark at the corner of Snelling and University? Or pick another neighborhood that actually needs the economic stimulus. The Midway location would keep the Saints near their current home, near the home of the original Saints and near the working class people who have been their base.
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