By Samuel Platt, Connecticut Post

3/10/2019: Bridgeport, CT – The 2018 season was a historic one for the Connecticut Nutmeggers. Not only did the team finish with a winning record for the first time, but they also made their first ever postseason appearance after narrowly escaping the New Jersey Hitmen. They went on to make a dramatic comeback over the Florida Featherheads after going down 0-2 in the best of 5 division series before getting swept by London in the Alliance Tournament.

All of that success led to a new problem that Nutmeggers fans have never faced before. Regular sellouts at Constitution Field. Fans wanted in on the action and the team had the 5th highest attendance in the PEBA. The only teams ahead of them were Florida, Bakersfield, Aurora, and London, and three of those teams have larger stadiums. Given Connecticut owner Paul Woodward‘s past expansion projects, it’s no surprise that he spent a large portion of the profits from the team’s success on expanding the stadium for the 3rd time in his tenure.

The latest stadium expansion saw 5,000 additional seats added to the park, and the concept is one that will be familiar to those who remember the first expansion Woodward conducted four years ago. At that time, the 3rd deck was extended around over right field, and this time the mirror extension in left field took place. The hitting backdrop in centerfield and the bleachers there remain unchanged, but the once wide view into the surrounding neighborhood has now been confined a much narrower alley by the horseshoe shaped stadium.

The left field extension was originally slated to be completed at the same time as the right field one, but the Goodsell Street Homeowners Association kept team lawyers mired in minutiae. It was a problem the team didn’t face with the right field extension blocking the commercial disctricts on Main Street.  With the legal issues finally out of the way, the work was swiftly completed over the offseason.

While the expansion of Constitution field does mean that more fans will be able to attend a game in person this year, they’ll have to pay more to do it. Preseason ticket prices were up nearly a third. The team is also rumored to be considering dynamic ticket pricing, in which ticket prices will vary based on the quality of the opponent and day of the week. The additions of Jason Corbett and Ronald Harmon to the roster have kept sales brisk in the early going, but it will be interesting to see if that trend is maintained. Certainly, the team will have to improve on last year’s performance to convince fans that such prices increases are worth paying for.