by Francis Ferry, NLN baseball beat writer
January 28, 2020: Aurora, Colorado – During the 2013 off-season the Aurora Borealis looked to improve revenue streams to match the ever-increasing cost of doing business at a time that the Planetary Extreme Baseball Alliance was exploding in popularity nationwide. Spin ahead 6 years and once again financial shifts to the baseball world have the Borealis looking to maximize revenue by increasing the seating at their cozy home on the shores of Cherry Creek Lake.
Motivated by the PEBA’s recent decision to place a cap on stadium size - at 55,000 seats, coupled with the announced PEBA expansion plans for the 2021 season and the merger with the League of the Rising Sun (in wake of their sudden financial crisis), Aurora has presented to the league for approval a plan that has them squeezing another 5,000 seats into Northern Lights Park to reach the 55,000 threshold.
Aurora set a team record for attendance this past season – topping the 4 million mark for the first time (and just the 7th team in League history to do so), and with it brought a record in team revenue (just shy of $180M) as they earned their second Rodriguez Cup. As was the case in 2013, when the Borealis had just won their 6th straight Desert Hills Crown and finished with their second straight 125+ win season, Aurora hopes to capitalize immediately on their success.
Should one take a look around Northern Lights Park, one might imagine it taking a shoe horn to squeeze another 5,000 seats into this cozy park. One place that seating will be added is above the 2013 addition situated below the iconic Coke bottle. 15 rows of seats will be placed to either side of the bottle – one set reaching to the left field foul pole and the other to the edge of the scoreboard.
Additional bleacher seating will be added in front of the scoreboard, squeezing up to the League mandated ‘batter’s eye’ space, as well as up to the base of the scoreboard. Between the two additions, and below the scoreboard, filling in the empty space, the Borealis will create a mountain scene - reminiscent to what once existed in Coors Field, as Aurora looks to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of that famous, popular, yet short-lived, Front Range institution.
Lastly a raised area on the centerfield walkway will be erected – similar to of the old ‘Rock Pile’ that once rose above Coors Field. The section will be sponsored by Blue Moon Brewing Company and will be dubbed the ‘Blue Moon Mountain View’ section. This area will include adult-only tickets and the ‘Worlds Highest Beer Garden’. (I suspect that that is just for PR’s sake, and not really true – but it has a nice ring to it).
The Borealis have a 2020 salary commitment of $122M. With the recent extensions for Michel Provost and Anastasio Lopez (amongst others), Aurora is already committed to $118M for 2021 and with players such as Christian Murdoch, Junior Cook, Matt Ferrell and Nick Giles looking for significantly increased pay day’s in the immediate future, increasing the revenue stream for the club has to be a priority for Aurora.
Despite record attendance last year, the Club’s net gate revenue was just over $100M – a far cry from Florida’s $133.6M take at the gate the previous season. Despite the record numbers, 2019 left Aurora with just the 39th most profitable season in PEBA history – a far cry from what they’ll need to stay competitive in the ‘New PEBA’. The Club has already announced increased ticket prices for the second consecutive year (after keeping them stable at $25 for 5 years) – the average ticket price for the coming season has been set at $29.50. Don’t be shocked if 2021 sees yet another increase.
Despite the increase ticket prices, for the product the team has put on the field over the course of the past 13 years, Aurora continues to look like the best bargain in the League.
