Do bears migrate?
Yes, but normally for the winter to hibernate.
Until now.
The Tennessee Smokies are the Double- A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are a minor league team based in Knoxville that currently call home to Kodak, TN.
Ever since 2016, there have been rumors of having the team relocate from Kodak back to Knoxville, where it all began. This was first revealed by Mike Donila of WBIR.
Randy Boyd, President of the University of Tennessee Knoxville and current owner of the Smokies, plans to not renew the current contract of the stadium with Sevier County, but instead seeks to provide a new home for the Cubs affiliate.
There are many questions to ask, but it’s better to have a start.
How did this come about? What was the decision making process like? Why relocate back to Knoxville.
According to Doug Kirchhofer, the CEO of Boyds Sports LLC and Tennessee Smokies as well as VP of the Southern League, “The decision making is based on the public sector, the city and the county, deciding that they are interested in and able to build a publicly funded, publicly owned stadium that would then be leased to the team as a home field.”
When asked about a need for the move. Doug replied with, “The owner of the smokies, Randy Boyd, is a Knoxville native and a big supporter of Knoxville. He has interest in seeing the city to develop…The team still continues to be apart of Knox County, as over half of our fans come from Knoxville, and Knox County area.”
He also believes that there would lots of advantages to the city for further development, and the move allows the Tennessee Smokies to get closer to and reconnect with the fanbase.
In order for a new stadium to work in Knoxville, there has to be a place to develop it. The stadium is set to be built where the old Knox Rail Salvage yard used to be. This is adjacent to the Old City. Kirchhofer believes this area is suitable to be commercialized and very much underutilized.
The conversation has to be good for this to happen, right? According to Kirchhofer, “From meetings with local public officials and leaders, we’ve received a lot of encouragement.”
The only negatives appear to be location, displacing people from their neighborhoods, and having traffic concerns.
How will all this happen? How does the funding work out? Kirchhofer states,
” Again, this idea is for the publicly owned, publicly funded stadium so the funding would come from the public sector
The second phase, if you will, of the overall project, is a large private investment immediately surrounding the publicly owned stadium, that would be done with private funding and be privately owned.
To give you an idea, just the early numbers, the early estimates of what the publicly funded stadium might cost, are around $65 million, and the amount of the privately financed and constructed development is a little over $140 million, so the overall project, conceptually, is a little over $200 million.”
He considers this to be a public-private partnership.
What is the fan reaction like? Maria Cornelius, a local sports journalist for the News Sentinel, 247Sports, and apart of Moxley Carmichael, is a huge advocate for this move. She even created a Twitter account titled, “@GrandSlamKnox,” where her goal is to bring attention and support to this idea. From there she provides concept art, behind the scenes looks, as well as interaction with others. She may not have a huge following yet, but she is committed to leading the charge for her campaign of “#BringBaseballBack to #Knoxville.”
Maria is a huge supporter of the Smokies, and baseball in general. She considers herself to have sprang into existence from infield dirt.
Maria agrees with Doug on many comments. She believes it would help other business and spur development of the area if the stadium was built. She also considers the downsides to be location, displacement of people from their neighborhoods, and maybe the controversy of how funding will go.
There is some concern as to what happens to the old stadium in Kodak if a new one is built. According to Maria and her sources, “Sevier County is booming. There are major plans to put in a major retail-commercial development off of the 404 exit. I think they will be just fine. The stadium could be converted to other use, and that land could be very valuable. Something is going to happen there.”
Maria isn’t deterred by the public funding though. She likes to believe that it will be a much fun more atmosphere. There is a shorter drive and many more restaurants, bars, and things to do, especially if a rainout occurs.
Her message is simple, “Get the public behind it. Elected officials will listen to voters. Development for the area is huge. Let’s Bring Baseball back to Knoxville.”
While the current contract with the stadium in Sevierville doesn’t expire until 2025, Kirchhofer hopes for developments to happen in the coming months, but says that the pandemic delayed many things.
Ultimately it’s up to the city to see if there is a need for the move.
Brandon Shown 