2060 State of the Stadiums
Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2024 7:03 pm
A Look at Stadiums, Ages, Dues, and Sizes
The first in a series where we look at the current state of stadiums in the BBA and dive into building, maintaining and renovating the parks.
From the Constitution, a reminder about our stadium fee factors and schedule.
The average BBA stadium is now 20.9 years old, and the with one stadium making a debut in 2060, the youngest is now Austin and the oldest are Calgary and Des Moines, at 36 years.
Rounding out the stadiums over 30 years old are Vancouver (35), Twin Cities (31), Phoenix (31), Long Beach (31), Charm City (31), and San Antonio (30).
The youngest after Austin are Omaha (2), Bikini (3), Atlantic City (4), Rocky Mountain (7), and Hawaii (8). All other BBA stadiums are between 14 and 28 years old.
Stadium Features
Three teams currently play on artificial turf (NO, LOU, DM), with the rest playing on good old fashioned water hungry grass.
We’ve also go the option for open-air, retractable roof or domed stadium. Nine teams (BIK, HAW, LV, NO, POR, BOI, YS, SA, VAN) have opted for a retractable roof. To the dismay of the Cullen family, there are no active teams in the BBA playing under a dome, with the remaining 23 teams playing in open air.
Capacity
The base capacity for a new ballpark in the BBA is 35,000 and the league rules limit maximum capacity to 65,000. The current stadiums range in capacity from 40,000 (Hawaii) to 65,000 (SAC, NSH, YS, LBC). The average stadium today holds 53,000 with a median size of 50,000 (nine teams), which is tied for most common capacity with another nine teams at 45,000.
Maintenance
Of course, all of these factors contribute to everyone’s favorite aspect of the league, stadium maintenance dues. In total, BBA teams paid $93,795,000 in stadium dues for the 2060 season. That’s an average of $2.93 million per team. Austin, Bikini, and Rocky Mountain, have no per annum fees by virtue of being less than ten years old, and pay only maintenance for grass (and in Bikini’s case, a retractable roof).
On the other end of the scale, we have our 35 year old cathedral in Vancouver, Northwoods Outpost. They shelled out $5,625,000 this season for the age, plus their fees for the retractable roof and grass playing surface. San Antonio, Long Beach and Twin Cities also foot a hefty annual bill of at least $5 million this season. The median figure is $3,250,000 for the 2060 season.
Fun Fact
The most popular recent seasons for stadium construction were 2029 (expansion adding Charm City and Twin Cities, plus Long Beach relocating and Phoenix with a new build) and 2033 with another four stadiums (YS, NSH, MEX and RCK).
The first in a series where we look at the current state of stadiums in the BBA and dive into building, maintaining and renovating the parks.
From the Constitution, a reminder about our stadium fee factors and schedule.
AgeBBA Only): Stadium Maintenance is an integral part of the league’s financial model. Stadiums must be properly maintained over time or they will become old and unappealing to fans. Therefore, each team will be required to pay annual fees based on the age, size, and features of its stadium. Payments are generally made from a team’s Bonus fund accounts, but may also come from cash on hand or exchange of PP as necessary.
Per annum fees are dependent on the age of your stadium.
0-9 years old are free from expenses.
10-19 years old require a base 2.5M or 25 PP.
20-29 years old require a base 5M or 50 PP.
30-39 years old require a base 7.5M or 75 PP.
40-49 years old require a base 10M or 100 PP.
50 years or older require a base 15M or 150 PP.
Note that the bigger the stadium the harder it will be to maintain. As such, the pros and cons of added capacity for both the present and future should not be taken lightly. Maintenance costs will be adjusted by a maintenance factor as follows:
30-35K seats have a maintenance factor of 0.8
35-40K seats have a maintenance factor of 0.9
40-45K seats have a maintenance factor of 0.95
45-50K seats have a maintenance factor of 1
50-55K seats have a maintenance factor of 1.05
55-60K seats have a maintenance factor of 1.1
60-65K seats have a maintenance factor of 1.2
Additional Maintenance fees:
Grass –Grass stadiums cost a base $500,000/year to maintain.
Artificial Turf – Artificial Turf is free to maintain each year.
Permanent Roof – cost a base $500,000/year to maintain.
Retractable Roof – cost a base $1,000,000/year to maintain.
At any time, if you would like to reduce these dues you may exercise the PP reward to build a new stadium and drop back maintenance to 0 for ten years. See the section on Ballpark Rewards for details.
The average BBA stadium is now 20.9 years old, and the with one stadium making a debut in 2060, the youngest is now Austin and the oldest are Calgary and Des Moines, at 36 years.
Rounding out the stadiums over 30 years old are Vancouver (35), Twin Cities (31), Phoenix (31), Long Beach (31), Charm City (31), and San Antonio (30).
The youngest after Austin are Omaha (2), Bikini (3), Atlantic City (4), Rocky Mountain (7), and Hawaii (8). All other BBA stadiums are between 14 and 28 years old.
Stadium Features
Three teams currently play on artificial turf (NO, LOU, DM), with the rest playing on good old fashioned water hungry grass.
We’ve also go the option for open-air, retractable roof or domed stadium. Nine teams (BIK, HAW, LV, NO, POR, BOI, YS, SA, VAN) have opted for a retractable roof. To the dismay of the Cullen family, there are no active teams in the BBA playing under a dome, with the remaining 23 teams playing in open air.
Capacity
The base capacity for a new ballpark in the BBA is 35,000 and the league rules limit maximum capacity to 65,000. The current stadiums range in capacity from 40,000 (Hawaii) to 65,000 (SAC, NSH, YS, LBC). The average stadium today holds 53,000 with a median size of 50,000 (nine teams), which is tied for most common capacity with another nine teams at 45,000.
Maintenance
Of course, all of these factors contribute to everyone’s favorite aspect of the league, stadium maintenance dues. In total, BBA teams paid $93,795,000 in stadium dues for the 2060 season. That’s an average of $2.93 million per team. Austin, Bikini, and Rocky Mountain, have no per annum fees by virtue of being less than ten years old, and pay only maintenance for grass (and in Bikini’s case, a retractable roof).
On the other end of the scale, we have our 35 year old cathedral in Vancouver, Northwoods Outpost. They shelled out $5,625,000 this season for the age, plus their fees for the retractable roof and grass playing surface. San Antonio, Long Beach and Twin Cities also foot a hefty annual bill of at least $5 million this season. The median figure is $3,250,000 for the 2060 season.
Fun Fact
The most popular recent seasons for stadium construction were 2029 (expansion adding Charm City and Twin Cities, plus Long Beach relocating and Phoenix with a new build) and 2033 with another four stadiums (YS, NSH, MEX and RCK).