Will professional sports survive in New Haven?

After the death of the Beast, the Elm City searches for answers to its sports dilemma

By Peter Smith

New Haven is recognized for many things: the Amistad trials, historic townhouses, higher-than-average crime rates, and, of course, Yale University. Sports teams, however, are not something which come to mind as vital pieces of the city's soul.

This is analogous with the diminutive role that sports teams play in all of Connecticut, where no major league-level teams in any major sport currently reside. New Haven, however, is not just a city tucked away on the shore exclusively for intellectuals, artists, nightclubs, and coffee shops. The recent successes certain teams have had here illustrate that under the right circumstances, there is indeed a market for sports teams in the Elm City. Marketed and planned right, these teams can fit perfectly into the city's vision of becoming the cultural and entertainment center of southern Connecticut. To achieve this goal, though, the city and teams must work together to provide sports in New Haven with the opportunity to reach its full potential.

The New Haven Ravens are currently the only professional sports team in New Haven. The Ravens, a minor league baseball club at the AA level, are affiliated with the Seattle Mariners and play at Yale Field. In addition, the past two years saw the Beast of New Haven, a hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL), reside in the city at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Beast, however, failed to find a parent club for the 1999-2000 season, forcing them to fold for at least the next season and possibly forever. Another hockey team, the New Haven Senators (formerly known as the Nighthawks), once played in here, but was sold off to Ottawa in 1993 and then moved to Prince Edward Island because of low attendance.

The stadium situation

The primary problem with sports in New Haven has been the lack of fan-friendly playing facilities, which eventually results in low attendance. Crowds are composed largely of couples and families who want to take in the entire experience of the sporting event and are less interested in the actual outcome of the game. Because of this fact, teams must at the very least have a relatively fan-friendly stadium that caters to different types of people. The Coliseum, built in 1972, is in many ways the antithesis of the ideal fan-arena. "The Coliseum was built by people who had never built an arena before, so they just did not build it in the optimal way," Matthew Nemerson, the President of the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce, said. "It is simply not conducive to a fun time. We hear complaints about the concessions, street-level flow, bathrooms, etc. Though it has come a long way with renovations, it still needs a lot more work to make it a truly hospitable experience."

When a team arrives in a city with a new stadium, it is much easier for the team to garner attention because people want to see the stadium as well as the team. With neither of these two factors in the Beast's favor, it is not at all surprising that the team had some of the lowest attendance figures in the AHL. Few Yalies head over to the Coliseum despite its being a 10-minute walk from Old Campus, reinforcing the charge that the Coliseum is at the heart of the Beast's problems. "I did attend a Beast game, but it was the one played at Ingalls Rink," Spencer Rogers, CC '02, a member of the Yale hockey team, said. "It's entertaining to watch NHL caliber players as they try to make their place in an advanced hockey setting."

Yale Field blues

The Ravens, who came to New Haven in 1994, have experienced a similar problem with their playing facility. Though watching a game at historic Yale Field is certainly a fun and often nostalgic experience, the stadium is not as modern and efficient as a new complex in terms of fan amenities. Attendance has fallen from approximately 4,000 per game to 2,800 per game during the course of this past season. Bill Berger, Director of Public Relations for the Ravens, believes that the combination of an increasing number of competitors offering the same product and the lack of a new stadium is responsible for the sagging attendance. "When we arrived in New Haven in 1994, there were only two minor league teams in the state, including us," Berger said. "Now there are five, and since our conception, each one has received a new stadium. The competitive advantage with respect to facility that these teams have has clearly hurt our attendance figures." For example, the Canton-Akron Indians (AA) built a new ballpark and saw their attendance rise from one of the lowest in the league to the highest. They did not change their operations and the team did not suddenly improve its playing, but a new ballpark created enough enthusiasm and excitement to attract bigger crowds.

The Ravens have explored a number of alternative solutions for attracting fans to the ballpark. Berger is adamant that there are no current plans for the team to move elsewhere, despite rumors to the contrary stemming from the declining attendance. The Ravens are taking steps to make their games more fan-friendly, many of which have received extremely favorable responses. "We do everything we can to make it an enjoyable experience for all the fans," Berger said. "This includes between-inning contests and entertainment, theme nights, giveaways, and ticket package deals." Other gimmicks include a drive-in movie night where an entire car gets in for the price of one ticket, and a package that allows a little league team to come in—sponsored by Wendy's—and stand on the field during the National Anthem. One fan favorite is the sumo wrestling event, in which fans can wrestle each other between an inning. Even though most other minor league teams have similar activities, Berger says that the Ravens give them a much more prominent place in the game and also host more contests overall. The fan response has been quite favorable. Adam Seidman, ES '00, and Marc Hoffmann, ES '00, attended one of this season's final games. "It was a very enjoyable experience; I had a great time," Seidman said. "We could see the game right up close and there wasn't a bad seat in the house." Sediman did admit, however, that the stadium could use a little work in terms of concessions, parking, and traffic flow.

Town-team relations

The problems that New Haven sports teams face appear to be quite clear, and residents as well as teams wonder why the city does not do more to amend the situation. The Ravens are a tremendous community asset and make every effort to be a good community partner. Berger, however, wishes that New Haven would return the favor with greater financial support. Unfortunately, it does not seem that an increased sports presence fits into the long-term goals that the city has set for itself.

Most New Haven residents are well aware of the plans the city government has for the Long Wharf Mall. Thomas R. Violante, Director of Communications for the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce, relates how at a recent lunch at the Pilot Pen tennis tournament, the Chamber emphasized to the city that sports should be as prominent in the future of New Haven as entertainment and the arts. This would mean bringing in more annual tournaments like the Pilot Pen as well as building a new stadium for the Ravens. The Chamber of Commerce, a separate entity from the city government, recognizes the value of this commercial development. Bridgeport recently built a new stadium for the Bridgeport Blue Fish, their minor league baseball team, which now draws a capacity crowd almost every night.

New Haven's current idea is to build a stadium sometime in the not-too-distant future that would exist in close proximity to the Long Wharf Mall. "This would contribute to a critical mass down at the shore where we have a galleria, and it is an ideal place for a new stadium," Violante said. "Families can go straight from the ballpark to the mall, or vice versa. There are no definite plans for this yet, however. But when the opportunity presents itself, the next thing we will look at is a new stadium."

In the meantime, it is either sink or swim for New Haven sports teams. The Beast must either find an NHL team that will support them in New Haven, or pack up and set out in search of a new location. The general feeling among fans as well as New Haven government officials is wishful, but not optimistic. An informal poll conducted by a fan with an unofficial Beast web site found that only slightly more than half of the respondents believe that the Beast will be back for the 2000-2001. "[The situation] is currently not very optimistic," Berger said. One key factor in determining the Beast's future will be the actions of SMG Management Group, which recently took over the Coliseum. "[They are considering] a number of different scenarios," Nemerson said.

There is still doubt over whether sports in New Haven are moving in the right direction. Ideally, sports will eventually occupy a place of greater prominence than their present position. The situation is constantly evolving, though, and if the city and the teams can collaborate financially and ideologically, sports could be as commonplace in New Haven as entertainment and the arts. In the meantime, the negotiations on a new stadium will be vigorous. Next up in sumo wrestling: Mayor John DeStefano Jr. vs. the first-line offense for the Beast.

Graphic by Shawn Cheng.

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