Opened: April 11, 2014
Capacity: 10,200
Affiliated with the Chicago White Sox
BB&T Ballpark
This is a new stadium. One has to wonder if the town fathers regret it. Talk of expansion in major league baseball is common and Charlotte is always bandied about as a possibility but what would they do with this park? The Knights are usually the top or at least one of the top three draws in the International League so the people do come and after visiting I see why.
How did I get there?
Came up I-85 into the city. Visited a few breweries first in town before heading downtown to find a parking spot. Charlotte is nice because most of the breweries are in one section of the city. Unbeknownst to me the Coca Cola 600 was running in Charlotte that weekend and there was a huge party going on downtown to celebrate it. Fortunately being a major city there are a lot of parking options and finding a garage was not difficult. Paid $6 to park all day. There is a light rail system as well and if I had more time I might have used that instead.
Ticket prices
$12 got me in. I knew they drew well and bought ahead of time over the Internet especially since this was a Saturday holiday weekend game.
Finding my seat and amenities
Easy to find my seat. Plenty of food stands and drink stands in the park. All of the usual stadium fare can be found plus some local flavors that smelled really good.
In game experience
First, the view is my favorite in minor league baseball. It is akin to looking out of PNC Park in Pittsburgh when you look out over the skyline of Charlotte. They had the usual stable of in-game entertainment.
Getting out
The party downtown was wrapping up about the same time I was leaving so traffic was probably heavier that night than on a normal Saturday night. I did not know precisely where I was going but headed south knowing the expressway was there and found it after a few blocks. I did leave the game early so I can imagine that traffic can be a bit snarled but is probably nowhere near what happens when the Panthers play next door.
Wrap
This was the first time I was ever in Charlotte. It seemed like your typical New South city and the stadium is new. They used to play across the state line in Fort Mill, South Carolina. I can imagine that this was night and day compared to that park and is a big reason why they are one of the top draws in minor league baseball. It probably helped that they had two of the White Sox top prospects in Lucas Giolito and Yoan Moncada playing on the team as well.