By the numbers
511: The Champion City Kings average attendance for 27 home games last year, according to the Prospect League.
$14,000: Amount of money the Kings spent to rent Carleton Davidson Stadium from National Trail Parks and Recreation District this season.
94th: The team's attendance ranking for collegiate summer baseball league teams in 2015, according to the website Ballpark Business.
Staying with the story
The Springfield News-Sun has reported on the Champion City Kings since it was announced the team was moving to Springfield in 2013, including stories on attendance, economic impact and improvements to the stadium.
More online: Hear Kings GM and manager Rick White discuss the team's upcoming season.
A local ownership group has purchased the Champion City Kings baseball franchise to keep the team, which had a $3 million impact on the region last year, in Springfield.
The collegiate summer wooden bat Prospect League team moved to Springfield’s Carleton Davidson Stadium in 2014 after Carmela’s Pizzeria owner Ron Heineman purchased the team. It was previously located in Slippery Rock, Pa.
At the end of its second season last summer, it was discovered the team may be going up for sale and could possibly be moved, said Kings general manager and new field manager Rick White.
“We felt it was something the city needed,” White said. “The city is trying to rebuild itself right now and we’re a big part of that. This is a huge baseball city. This is the city’s team.”
The local group began putting together a plan to buy the team last winter to keep it in Springfield, White said. The sale was finalized last week. The price was not disclosed by the executive board.
The new local ownership group includes White, Turner Foundation Executive Director John Landess, local realtor Sunny Dhingra, MacRay Company owner Brian Roberts and Phoenix Builders owner Chris Lewis – all of whom will serve on an executive board, Dhingra said.
“We’re all Springfielders and we’re all trying to better our town as best as we can,” said Lewis, a season ticket holder the last two seasons. “It’s a good thing all around and we want to keep it here.”
The time was right to sell the team to a local ownership group, Heineman said, especially with White at the helm, who served as the team’s GM its first two seasons.
“It’s been great bringing the Prospect League to the city of Springfield and watching it grow,” Heineman said. “It seemed like a great fit for everybody. The timing worked out well.”
While members of the ownership group said the team was for sale, Heineman denied it was ever actively for sale. If it wasn’t purchased locally, Heineman would still be operating it, he said. However, anything is possible from an outside group if it were sold to one, he said.
“It’s best for the community (for the team) to be locally-owned,” Heineman said. “There are great people in Springfield. It’s in good hands for sure.”
Tourism officials estimated the Kings had an economic impact of about $3 million last year and that could increase in the future.
More than 13,000 people attended games at Carleton Davidson Stadium in 2015. The Kings drew an average of about 511 fans for 27 dates this season, according to the league website. In its inaugural season in 2014, the team drew an average of 594 fans per game.
Last year, the Kings finalized a four-year deal with the National Trail Parks and Recreation District to rent the stadium for approximately 30 home dates annually through 2018. The team paid $14,000 to rent the stadium this year. They’ll pay the same price next year before it increases to $15,500 over the last two years of the contract.
“We wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t for all of our partners, sponsors — that’s how we operate on fundraising and capital improvement money,” White said. “If it wasn’t for all of them, we wouldn’t be here.”
The team also recently built a $200,000 video scoreboard for the stadium, as well as a pavilion along the first-base line near the beer garden – all through sponsorship money.
The board hopes to get more people to games this summer with several different promotions, including fireworks nights and Columbus Zoo night at the ball park on June 10. They’ve also worked out several partnerships with Speedway and others to make tickets more affordable.
“We want to bring families and kids together at an affordable price,” Dhingra said. “This is the community’s team. The involvement of community businesses has never been larger. The support is there, now we need people to come out and enjoy it so we can make it better next year.”
Fent’s Dairy will serve pizza and ice cream at the concession stand this season, while several other local restaurants will cater events at the new pavilion.
The fences were also recently moved in to create more home runs for fans, White said. The team will also introduce new red, white and blue colors, he said.
“It’s really turning into a first-class, professional feel around here,” White said.
The team would like to add 900 box seats to make it more comfortable for spectators, he said.
The Kings will open the season on a three-game road trip on May 27 and 28 at the Chillicothe (Ohio) Paints and on May 29 at the Butler (Pa.) Blue Sox.
The team’s home opener will be held on Memorial Day, May 30, against the newly-formed Lafayette (Ind.) Aviators and will include fireworks after the game. It will be one of three fireworks nights held this season, including July 9 and August 6.
Tickets will go on sale next week, White said.
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