By William C. Singleton III
Journal contributor
The University of Alabama baseball team will play its home games at the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium next spring.
Both the university and Hoover city officials have agreed on a contract that has UA’s baseball team playing a minimum 28 games at the stadium, also called the Hoover Met.
Hoover and UA officials have been negotiating since earlier this year to bring Crimson Tide baseball to the Hoover Met. UA needed another location for its 2015 season while its Sewell-Thomas Stadium undergoes $35 million in renovations.
Stadium renovations should be completed by the start of the 2016 baseball season, said Chris Besanceney, UA assistant athletic director.
Besanceney said the university selected the Hoover Met “based on availability and geography and it’s close – about a 45- to 50-mile drive from Tuscaloosa – and the fact we’re familiar with the baseball park and had pretty good crowds support us when we played in the SEC tournament.”
The Hoover City Council voted to support the contract at a September meeting. UA officials signed off on the contract three weeks ago.
Hoover Mayor Gary Ivey said the city is excited about UA baseball being played at the Hoover Met.
“We think it will fill up a lot of hotel rooms. It’ll be good recognition for the city. It’s just good all the way around,” he said.
UA’s home baseball season begins Feb. 15 with a game against the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and will lead right into the SEC Baseball Tournament May 17-24.
The city agreed to alter the distance between home plate and the outfield fence to make it comport to the dimensions of Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb., where the College World Series is played.
“I think other than the outfield fence, the Hoover Met is a fantastic facility,” Besanceney said.
The contract also calls for UA to pay Hoover $3,500 per game. UA will receive proceeds from ticket sales; Hoover will receive proceeds from concessions sold during games. UA will be able to lease six skyboxes during the season and keep the revenue from those leases.
The Hoover Met seats about 10,500 people and was formerly the home of the Birmingham Barona before the team in September 2012 ended its 25-year relationship with the city and moved to the newly-built Regions Field in Birmingham.
