Royals, commissioner explain reasons behind moving MLB game to Omaha before 2019 CWS
Royals fans watching their struggling team might say next year can’t come soon enough. The team got a jump on the future, at least on the schedule, Thursday with the announcement of a home game in Omaha, Neb., that will precede the 2019 College World Series.
The Royals will meet the Detroit Tigers on June 13, 2019, at TD Ameritrade Park, two days before the NCAA baseball championship begins.
A home game away from Kansas City will be a first for the Royals. A Major League Baseball game in Omaha also will be a first.
The idea came up about a year ago, and the Royals wanted in.
“When we first got wind that this would be a possibility we wanted to be a part of this,” Royals general manager Dayton Moore said. “This is our fan base. This is a community we love, a community that has been very kind to us, that’s helped raise our players.”
Omaha has been the Royals’ Class AAA affiliate since the club’s expansion season in 1969. The Storm Chasers play in Papillion, Neb., an Omaha suburb. TD Ameritrade Park, with a seating capacity of 24,000, is used only for the College World Series and Creighton University.
Next year, major-league ball is added to the list.
The 2019 schedule isn’t out, but the Royals and Tigers know this game will be the finale of a three-game series and the Royals will play at Minnesota the next day.
Financial details of taking a game away from Kauffman Stadium haven’t been finalized, said Kevin Uhlich, Royals senior vice-president of business operations.
“We still have to work it out with MLB,” Uhlich said. “I’ve been told concessions and parking, you give that up, but there will be a formula for ticket revenue based on tickets sold (in Omaha) and what we would have sold.”
The game will be the latest that takes regular-season games away from home parks and presents baseball in other areas. Later this summer, a game between the Phillies and Mets will be the second played at a minor-league stadium in Williamsport, Pa., site of the Little League World Series.
Two years ago, the Braves and Marlins played a regular-season game at Fort Bragg, N.C.
Later in June 2019, the Red Sox and Yankees will play a two-game series in London.
By playing in Omaha, MLB will be the opening act for the biggest event in amateur baseball.
“The College World Series is a great event with a great tradition,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said. “We hope by playing here we bring even more attention to this game and strengthen our relationship with the NCAA and college baseball as a whole.”
These figures were offered at the news conference to announce the game: Of the 869 players on this year’s Opening Day rosters, 641 came through the draft and 61 percent of them were college players.
Earlier this month, the Royals drafted college players with their first eight picks and 34 overall. The list included top two choices Brady Singer and Jackson Kowar, Florida pitchers whose team remains alive in this year's College World Series.
The Tigers took Auburn pitcher Casey Mize with the overall top pick in the draft.
There also has been talk of bringing the major-league draft to Omaha and conducting it before the College World Series.
“We have talked to the NCAA about it,” Manfred said. “We do see potential in the idea of bringing the draft to the site of the College World Series.”
This story was originally published June 21, 2018 at 5:55 PM with the headline "Royals, commissioner explain reasons behind moving MLB game to Omaha before 2019 CWS."