A great city for a Major League team is Summerville, South Carolina. This area is conveniently located between Charleston, South Carolina, (population 125,583) home of the Charleston River Dogs, the single A affiliate of the New York Yankees, and Columbia, South Carolina, (population 131,686) home of the University of South Carolina Gamecocks. South Carolina has a rich baseball tradition dating back to 1886. One of the first great stars of the game, “Shoeless Joe” Jackson emerged from Pickens County, South Carolina.
Summerville, South Carolina is located within the county of Dorchester, with a population of approximately 142,496 that has grown by 61% since 2000. The median household income is approximately $51,849, roughly 2% above the national average. Approximately 48% have a household income between $50,000 and $150,000 and the area predicts a future employment growth of approximately 33%. This is reinforced by a large youthful labor force suggesting strong disposable spending going forward. Additionally, nearby Kiawah Island has a median household income of $170,000 and the shore community of Mt. Pleasant has a MHI of approximately $90,000.
Five of the ten largest employers are within an hour’s drive to Summerville, including regional medical centers, BMW Manufacturing Plant, Boeing International, and two United States Air Force bases. This allows opportunity to encourage partnerships, sponsorships and national community outreach to garner additional fans outside the existing baseball fanatics who currently reside in the state. Additionally, there are a number of top universities, including The Citadel, The College of Charleston, University of South Carolina and Clemson, whose students and faculty would be attracted to a new professional team.
There is convenient access by air via Charleston airport, Amtrak, and Interstate 95. The combination of southern charm, hospitality, lower business costs, including available land sites, make Summerville an attractive small-town option. Additionally, with the close proximity to the Port of Charleston business district, many national cultural events take place during the year. By offering a new stadium as a host for these events, additional revenue would be created during, as well as outside of, the baseball season. These additional streams of revenue can be in the form of rentals and concessions, but most importantly, the building of brand recognition for this new team and its stadium.
The in-season baseball weather in Summerville ranges from a an average low of approximately 66 degrees to an average high of approximately 84 degrees. On average, there are 200 sunny days per year. This coupled with limited rainfall throughout the baseball season make the baseball playing and watching more enjoyable.
In terms of the political landscape, I am unable to speculate on any previous or future plans concerning a future site for a Major League Baseball franchise. I will say this: the small town community of Summerville, South Carolina with the nearby access to the Port of Charleston makes this proposal extremely compelling.
In addition to my previously stated facts, I studied some of the demographics concerning current baseball fans. One of the internet stories that I came across resonated with me. This past April, Pam Allison posted on www.smartblog.com a story called, “Where are America’s baseball fans?”. In her story, she refers to the 7.5 billion in revenue generated by Major League Baseball in 2012. Ms. Allison refers to a company named ESRI that is an international supplier of geographic information system software. ESRI developed what they refer to as a “Tapestry Segmentation System”. This system classifies residential neighborhoods in the United States and these neighborhoods are broken down into 65 segments based on socioeconomics and demographics. Within these segments, Ms. Allison describes the following residential subclasses: Boomburbs, Dorms to Diplomas, Military Proximity, and Wealthy Seaboard Suburbs. The system suggests that these residential subclasses are “nearly twice as likely to attend baseball games”. Provided this information is accurate, Summerville, South Carolina is a great location for an expansion club.
Ok, now the fun part. Some of the aspects of other Major League Stadiums that I would like to incorporate in my imaginary park would be: a statue of “Shoeless Joe” Jackson recognizing his contribution to the game, various places through out the stadium commemorating the game via a baseball timeline, exterior brick facing, a clock in the shape of a baseball above the scoreboard in center field, the ability to walk around the entire stadium from any level, a steel bridge walkway connecting LF to RF with various fan-friendly game stations. For example, a mini-field where you can hit Wiffle balls, a baseball dunk tank where you can dunk the team mascot, a combo batting cage/ radar gun tunnel. One last thing that I don’t believe exists in any current park would be a simulation tunnel with footage of famous pitcher/hitter matchups or classic games that enable the fan to choose between being the pitcher or hitter.
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