Officials gathered at Peorias Louisville Slugger Sports Complex located at Orange Prairie Road north of The Shoppes at Grand Prairie to put shovels in the dirt and officially break ground. The complex that will attract people from throughout the Midwest and across the U.S. plans to open in the spring of 2015.
Weve all been anticipating this day since our very first meeting with the Peoria team last year, said Louisville Sluggers VP of Marketing, Kyle Schlegel. A tremendous amount of planning and effort have gone into getting to this point. The Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria is not just a dream anymore. By next spring and summer there will be kids playing ball here and families from across the Midwest and America putting money into the Peoria economy.
Louisville Slugger, the number one name in diamond sports and leader in baseball and softball for 130 years, is excited to have the opportunity to connect with all those players and their families once the facility opens. The Louisville Slugger Sports Complex will have 10 outdoor all-synthetic-turf youth baseball and softball fields plus a 125,000-square-foot dome offering year-round play.
A quarter-of-a-million baseball and fastpitch softball players and their families will be coming here every year, Schlegel said. That provides Louisville Slugger the opportunity to promote the games we love, as well as our brand and products, to core baseball and softball consumers in a very large way as we work with the Peoria management team to create the absolute best youth sports experience these kids and their families will ever have.
Louisville Slugger Sports Complex is expected to draw a majority of participants from the 23 million people within 300 miles of the central Illinois city. However, the magnificent facility, entertaining family experience and stellar reputation of the Louisville Slugger brand are expected to also attract interest and participants from across North America. The United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA), among the largest amateur sports organizations in America and governing 13 sports, has agreed to make Peoria its Midwest baseball tournament hub, joining facilities in Florida and California as national tournament sites.
USSSAs partnership makes a huge statement, said Dan Cunningham, the Sports Complexs Executive Director. Its a national organization with a reputation of doing things first-class. USSSA will be directing teams from across America to Peoria because of the confidence they have in what were building here.
Louisville Slugger Sports Complex is expected to host more than 11,000 competitive games per year. The experience for players and families will include a big-league atmosphere with major-league walkout-style dugouts, bullpens, lights, electronic scoreboards and public-address systems. Opening ceremonies will be second to none, with a brilliant laser show and video welcome played on the ceiling of the dome.
Louisville Sluggers branding and merchandise will be prominent throughout the facility. The storied baseball company-supplier of equipment to players from Babe Ruth to Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente to Derek Jeter and Adam Jones-will create a Youth Hall of Fame section on its website where every participant will be featured. Players can share the page with family and friends for years to come. Also, every player in Louisville Slugger Hall of Fame events will receive a personalized Louisville Slugger bat as a keepsake, much like ones used in Major League Baseball® by players like Peorias own Jim Thome, Joe Girardi and Ben Zobrist.
The partnership agreement with developers provides Louisville Slugger with naming rights, use of the facility for special marketing events-such as showcases and product demonstrations-and product merchandising, among other things. The complex will house a satellite of the renowned Louisville Slugger Museum as well as a Louisville Slugger store with baseball and softball products, branded apparel and other items.
To say were excited would be an enormous understatement, Schlegel said. We are truly ecstatic over this partnership and what it can do to promote youth baseball and softball, the games we love. This is the first such partnership for Louisville Slugger, speaking volumes about our confidence in the development and future of the complex under Dan Cunninghams leadership. This is an amazing opportunity for Louisville Slugger to connect with young players and their families as we start our next 130 years.
