O'Brien Field is a baseball field located in downtown Peoria, Illinois. It is the home of the Peoria Chiefs, the Class A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals; the Chiefs previously played at Meinen Field. The college baseball team of Bradley University also uses the field. The first game scheduled for the stadium was May 24, 2002, Chiefs vs. Kane County Cougars. O'Brien Auto Team has the naming rights to the facility.
Official groundbreaking ceremonies for the $23 million multi-purpose stadium took place on August 16, 2001. The new stadium includes a Trans-Lux video screen in right field, a state-of-the-art sound system, 300 Internet stations and the latest in telecom equipment. The stadium is built to hold 6000 people. About $1 million had been invested in audiovisual equipment, versus $10,000 worth at the old Meinen Field.
The field's official website calls the ballpark "Central Illinois' largest outdoor sports & entertainment facility."
The Chiefs have been experimenting with selling the naming rights to businesses. As they have been unable to find a permanent sponsor, the club has worked out a plan to sell naming rights for a game or set of games that include signage on top of each dugout, mentions in the Chiefs radio broadcasts and over the park's public address system, a 30-second commercial on the video board, 50 tickets to that night's game and the opportunity to distribute promotional material to fans.
In 2011, O'Brien Field played host to the IHSA Class 1A and 2A baseball state finals. This was the first year the games were played at O'Brien.
Read more about O'Brien Field: The Field, Luxury Suites, Food
Famous quotes containing the word field:
“Vigil strange I kept on the field one night;
When you my son and my comrade dropt at my side that day,
One look I but gave which your dear eyes return’d with a look I
shall never forget,
One touch of your hand to mine O boy, reach’d up as you lay on the ground,”
—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)