Month: June 2022

Omaha Event: CWS Free Opening Celebration Day – 2022 MCWS News Release

NEWS RELEASE

Contact:
Jim Minge
Bozell
402-740-8188
jminge@bozell.com

Who Will ‘Go the Distance’?

‘Field of Dreams’ screening at Charles Schwab Field Omaha part of Opening Celebration Day for 2022 NCAA® Men’s College World Series®

For immediate release: Tuesday, June 14, 2022

OMAHA, Nebraska – Is this Heaven? No, but for college baseball fans, Charles Schwab Field Omaha is pretty close. In fact, beginning Thursday, June 16, you can consider the home of the 2022 NCAA Men’s College World Series as a little slice of heaven on earth.

Of course, the big question is: If you screen it, will they come? MCWS organizers are hoping that’s the case for the Opening Celebration Day, which will include a free screening of Field of Dreams on the giant video board in right field. The classic baseball film is just one of the many free activities planned for the MCWS kickoff. Here’s the starting lineup (all times CDT):

9 a.m.–5 p.m. – Team practices
11 a.m.–7 p.m. – Fan Fest presented by Capital One, with family-friendly entertainment, including interactive games, photo opportunities, prizes and more
6:30 p.m. – Field of Dreams movie on right field video board
8:30 p.m. – Parade of the eight teams marching Olympic-style east from Creighton University’s Morrison Stadium to the stadium on Mike Fahey Street
9 p.m. Opening Ceremonies with team introductions
9:45 p.m. – Fireworks Finale

Public parking is available for Opening Celebration Day at Charles Schwab Field Omaha/CHI Health Center Omaha, Creighton University or city-owned lots in the downtown Omaha area.

The 2022 NCAA Men’s College World Series runs from Friday, June 17, through Sunday, June 26, or Monday, June 27. For more information about Opening Celebration Day and all MCWS activities and tickets, visit ncaa.com/mcws.

# # #

ICYMI: Omaha Interview with Kathryn Morrissey, Executive Director of the CWS Omaha, Inc.

Last week, we were fortunate to have an interview with Kathryn Morrissey of the CWS Omaha, Inc. She is Executive Director.

The interview is in two parts:
Omaha Interview: Kathryn Morrissey, Executive Director, College World Series of Omaha, Inc.-Part One

Omaha Interview: Kathryn Morrissey, Executive Director, College World Series of Omaha, Inc.-Part One

Omaha Interview: Kathryn Morrissey, Executive Director, College World Series of Omaha, Inc.-Part Two

Omaha Interview: Kathryn Morrissey, Executive Director, College World Series of Omaha, Inc.-Part Two

This week, we will have more interviews and news for CWS fans.

Omaha Summer Arts Festival: Photographs

We had a great time at the festival, met some great artists and reconnected with some old friends.

This Omaha event was held in a new location Aksarben.

The photographs are being added incrementally, so please return to see the new ones.

 

 

Omaha Interview: Kathryn Morrissey, Executive Director, College World Series of Omaha, Inc.-Part Two

How is that transition [renaming the ballpark to TD Ameritrade Park to Charles Schwab Field Omaha] been made?

You know, we thought it was kind of exciting. I mean, we got to watch the letters flying through the air kind of like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz and being placed up there by what appeared to be little, tiny people. You know, grabbing those big letters and putting them up. So that was kind of fun. But it will be incremental that not every single thing gets changed for this College World Series, but the bigger things.

It’s quite a bit to change. You’ve had all these years to amass lovely opportunities for branding.

Exactly. Exactly. So I’m sure you’ll still see some TD Ameritrade items, but by next year’s series that will all be done.

What has been the biggest change in the fan experience?

Gosh. So, certainly from the move, Rosenblatt. People have told us and I would say that at first, I think they felt a little disloyal to Rosenblatt if they told us that they liked the new stadium, but now we hear that they loved the leg room between the rows, seats. Most of them are wider than the ones they had at Rosenblatt and they can get up and walk 360 degrees around the concourse. That part, I think, they love. Plus, there are four entrances and exits, so it’s very efficient.

What do you think’s been the biggest change for the players?

Oh, that’s a good question. What we understand, and like don’t take this wrong because I loved Rosenblatt, but it had its quirks. It was an older stadium and some of the facilities, especially for the student athlete, were pretty small, somewhat dark. Now they’ve got state of the art facilities for locker rooms or clubhouses, I should say, and it really looks like a major league ballpark. When MLB was here in 2019, they said, ”We hope you understand that this is as nice a park as you will find in Major League Baseball. You’re offering it to the college students and we hope they love that too.”

It’s a great testimonial [regarding the quality of the facilities].
I was fortunate to cover the 2019 MLB game and get an interview with the Detroit Tigers’ GM, Al Avila. He was so nice.
[ https://www.omahanebraska.com/blog/omahanebraska-com-interview-with-al-avila-vp-and-gm-of-the-detroit-tigers]

Our son’s godparents are big Detroit Tiger fans. His godfather came from Detroit. He’s a Detroit native and he came to that game too and he thought he died and gone to heaven.

What do you think have been the biggest changes in the area? We’ve talked about a little bit before that these sorts of things, that spur on economic development. What do you think you’ve seen appear or coming to fruition while the CWS has been in this location?

Well, when we first came here, there weren’t as many options for food and beverages (which we’ve enjoyed that since this is kind of our work home). So that’s been really nice to see some of that. But one of the things I think I like best is that there are opportunities to live and work in this neighborhood. Now it’s less of a just come to an event and then exit and there are apartments going in.
There are spaces that have been developed for some of those groups that I mentioned earlier (some of the lost-arts people) where they can have a showroom rather on the main level, the street level, and they can live above. So we’re seeing more full time residents down here, which I think is a really healthy development.

I’ve noticed that neighborhoods that are successful have a variety of different types of use and different types of people, and a fluidity sort of between all these.

I will also throw in that it would be a great thing if fans remember to bring their clear bags because there’s something about something you do only once a year that it’s easy to forget – still clear bags. And with all the tickets being mobile, it’s a great idea to download those too.

For example, if you have an Apple phone into your Apple wallet before you arrive. Because when you invite several 1000s of your closest friends to the area and they’re all trying to download their tickets at the same time, might be a little slow download, but again, the box office the ticket office is a great customer service location that can help too.

We do have a handful of fans that do not have an email address and/or have in some cases a flip phone, so there is a combination for that. But the number has just dwindled tremendously. I think everybody’s pretty much on board with that mobile everything anymore.

Definitely the shift and change for that [reliance on smartphones] has been huge throughout so many other industries too.

What are the things that you’ve been really happy that didn’t get changed?

Ah, the family focus of the event. I love that we still see generations showing up. I have not been to a Final Four, but that would be obviously tremendously exciting. But because that travels to different locations, because some of the expenses related to that, you don’t, I understand, see many younger people attending. Here, I think it’s a rite of passage. It’s a summer thing you have to go to with your friends and I think people feel very safe attending the College World Series. They drop their kids off. And I really love that I hear stories from people about “You know, I went to the College World Series as a baby. I don’t remember my first game, but my grandparents took me or my parents had come as kids and they wanted to make sure my first baseball game was the College World Series game”. So that family focus is amazing.

And that we make it so special for the teams that are attending. For the student athletes that are on the field for the coaches and for their fans. We get a lot of really nice accolades after the event from people from all over the country who say, you know, “I didn’t know what to expect or I heard that Omaha was great, but you know, I had to see for myself.” You know, people are treated really well when they are here.

Do you still have the guest hosts?

Yes, yes, yes. That’s a great point. We have service clubs, we call them, that are hosts for the teams when they’re here. Basically, they become their adopted family. They’re available 24 hours a day. Some of them are very traditional, like a Lions Club or a Rotary Club or an Optimist Club. But then we also have some ones that are different, you know, like Offutt Air Force Base hosts a team that, you know, is a pretty unique experience too.

Activities for children?

Oh, yes, we have plenty of activities and I’d recommend going to our website, https://cwsomaha.com . But I know we’ve got for example, game number seven is a Teacher Recognition Day where we’ll be recognizing Readers become Leaders. That’s a partnership opportunity that we have with the NCAA when we encourage third graders to read and submit book reports and then those who have outperformed their peers are recognized at those games.
Family Night is game eight. That same Monday, but the night game, and kids can run the bases.

There’ll be mascots in the stadium. And other things that are kind of kid oriented. But, you know, there’s going to be something almost every game.
We salute the Heartland Heroes on game number 10. That’s in the evening on Tuesday and we’ll be saluting our partners in the medical field, police officers, those who are working in fire departments and thanking them for the services they provide. So there’s just going to be things fun things. There’ll be giveaways. There’ll be flyovers. So just check the schedule and keep tuned to local media.

Anything special for Father’s Day?

Father’s Day, which is also Juneteenth. There’ll be a recognition of Juneteenth. And in terms of Father’s Day, we always have something exciting going on aside from just inviting them. We’ve got things going throughout the day. We’ve got something special that I can’t tell you about that I think will be really heartwarming that’ll take place inside the stadium.

But that’ll be on that day. I’m so excited when we have Father’s Day as part of the event because whether or not there’s something special planned, you know from an activity, there’s so many memories that are made.

And we’re going to hit the 11 million fan milestone this year. Which you when think about that that’s essentially at least 11 million memories. Because it’s amazing, we’re kind of spoiled. We hit a milestone for millions every three years anymore. That’s pretty much what we’re on track to do. And it’s not as exciting when it’s not a year that doesn’t end at zero or five. But nevertheless, that’s a lot of folks that it took from 1947 to 1972 to reach the first 1 million fan milestone, one at a time. And now every three years we’re hitting that milestone, but it doesn’t take away from the memories. The numbers are one thing, but the memories are happening. Individually family by family, student athlete by student athlete, playing in our field of dreams.

Which reminds me did I say “Field of Dreams” was being played in the stadium this year?

No

We’re going have it talked about in opening ceremonies.

Opening Ceremonies, still free, still no ticket required, still have the team practices from nine to five, but what we don’t have this year is the autograph session. Hoping that comes back next year that has a lot to do with name image and likeness. Those activities that the student athletes are now compensated for their time in a situation like that. And since we don’t know when the teams are coming in, and each state handles that a little differently, each university seems to handle it differently. That’s kind of on the backburner for now, but kind of sort of filling that space the space between team practices and when we marched the teams in Olympic style in the evening. For the first time ever, there’s going to be a movie shown on the big screen at the ballpark and it will be Field of Dreams. So that’s part of all the free activities and then everybody can look forward to probably the first really big firework show of the year. Again, totally free.

Are those on the same day?

Yes.

Which day is that?

That’s Thursday. That would be June 16.

The opening ceremonies moved from Friday to Thursday. But a lot of the activities are the same march those teams in Olympic style showing the highlights of their season on the big screen. Have a few dignitaries welcome them to the stadium and then we’ll have that tremendous firework show.
What do you think you are hoping for the year you won’t be here?
Oh, I have no doubt this, the group that we have here both on our board of directors and our staff, but certainly in the city. And with the NCAA. I have no doubt that this is going to continue to get better every year. That’s the best kind of legacy you can leave is to know that the event is in good hands and will only improve even without your presence because the series is so much bigger than one person.

That’s the secret to good leadership too.

Ah, maybe so. We certainly have great leadership here coming up and also on our board and it’s all good a story.

What’s next for you?

Good question. We love to travel. We also have relatives who no longer are able to travel, so it’s going to be nice to spend more time with them. My dad for example, will turn 88 this weekend. And so we’re going to celebrate his birthday and I’m looking forward to spending more time with him.

My kids don’t live here… so be able to spend more time with them.

Thank you very much.

My pleasure.

I look forward to this every year.

Exactly. It’s a fun time for all of us. And for us. It can be a little exhausting. But it’s amazing. You start out thinking, oh my gosh, there’s a long hours, a lot of steps involved. And this seems to stretch out for a mile ahead of you and the next thing you know, you’re at last game thinking that went faster than I think anyone ever expected and it’s hard to believe it’s almost over, but here we are at the beginning. So I’m excited

Thank you.

Oh, thank you.

Omaha Interview: Kathryn Morrissey, Executive Director, College World Series of Omaha, Inc.-Part One

OmahaNebraska.com with Kathyrn Morrissey here at the College World Series of Omaha, Inc. and we are discussing the upcoming College World Series and all the new changes and go back in time with some reflections.

So you’ve been here the whole time since this particular office opened and then involved with the College World Series before.

We opened our office here across from the ballpark. It’s been five years. So yes, been here during that time. Before that, I actually started on the College World Series 35 years ago. It was with Mutual of Omaha and College World Series. Managing the general admission ticket function was one of my community relations project, so that that was my introduction 35 years ago.

And then my husband actually pitched to Jack Diesing Sr. and Jack Diesing Jr. that perhaps he could provide outsourced management assistance. He said he would do the first College World Series event for free, because Jack Sr. said, “Oh, we don’t have any money in the budget for somebody like that”. And Dan said, “If you see value in what I do, then we’ll talk after the series.” And we’ve been involved ever since.

And in fact, when the NCAA and College World Series of Omaha signed the agreement to keep the College World Series in Omaha through 2036. At that point, the NCAA said we love Omaha, we love your organization, but you’re an all-volunteer organization and board. So you might want to give some thought to full time employees because we see the event just getting bigger and bigger. And so in May of 2010 College World Series became our employer and I was the first executive director.

How many people did you have when you started?

Virtually the same staff size we have now which is four full time and one part time, but I always say we’re like an accordion. As we get closer to the event we expand with the help of wonderful interns. It’s a very much in demand internship. We draw students from all over the country. And then after the College World Series ends, we kind of contract and become our 4.5 staff that we have year round.

When does the prep for the series start?

The prep for next year’s series will begin probably before we end this current year’s series. The reason being we take advantage of the NCAA being in town, their staff being here, to do some early planning for next year. And we literally will get together every year before October 31. That’s a requirement of our contract to talk about what happened in the previous College World Series, what we think are areas of improvement and start the planning process in earnest at that point. But budgeting starts even in September.

So you do the debriefing and any future pivoting planned out almost immediately.

While it’s all fresh in our heads knowing that things will change along the way. But that’s the beauty of a multi-year event. We get to fine tune it. Make it better every year because none of us want to take it for granted. We always want it to be better. So, that’s been our standard practice for as long as I’ve been involved.

I’ve enjoyed it each and every year I’ve been coming and it’s wonderful and I see the fans so happy. There is so much more to the experience, as you know, than just baseball.

It is the one time of year, I should say one of the times a year, that Omaha is a destination. And it’s so much fun for everybody. Whether you’re working in a hotel or a restaurant or you’re just a citizen of the metro area. All those folks do such a great job of making our visitors feel welcome, and making sure that baseball players, the student athletes, feel like rockstars when they’re here. They really love that.

There have been, I’m sure, during the 35 years, huge changes not just Rosenblatt to here. So can you tell us about a few of the big changes? And then maybe one of your favorite changes?

Sure. One of the big changes is just the number of people that put on the event. When I first started working on this, the NCAA said two people, Denis Pope and Jim Wright, and Jim Wright used to spread out credentials, primarily for the media on his hotel room bed. And between the two of them and the city of Omaha staff who managed Rosenblatt and a core group that worked with College World Series of Omaha. That was it. We were kind of a small, but mighty group.
And obviously that has changed over the years. The NCAA sends a lot more people now. A lot more people are involved year round. And I think that’s been a really good development.

Now in terms of things that have happened. Gosh.

I know you can’t tell them all.

I know. Actually just building the North Downtown stadium, that obviously a lot of people had some misgivings about whether or not that would be a good thing because Rosenblatt was such an amazing home from 1950 to 2010. That’s a lot of history. And that was a beautiful place to make memories. But it was not unlike a family home that just got too small for the family. So we needed a bigger space. And the wonderful thing about the stadium helped with the North Downtown development. It’s not been the sole catalyst for that there were early pioneers who were here before us, but I think we’ve done something to help area people become more familiar with the area and certainly the people from out of town.

I love watching economic development. You know-how does a particular business or industry help an area? When is its time maybe up on other factors. People move in with certain jobs and children with leave the areas different jobs. It’s really fascinating. So we’ve [OmahaNebraska.com] been concentrating different neighborhoods like that. I think you’re technically North Downtown?

Yes. North Downtown, we are kind of in the midst of what they call the Makerhood. And you know, it’s just a real creative area, whether it’s some of the lost arts like upholstery and furniture making and such or if it’s the super almost the techie side opposite you know startups and such that are very technology driven. We’re surrounded by all of that in addition to music, and food and beverages and and, it’s really an exciting place to be.

Hot Shops [Hot Shops Art Center, https://www.hotshopsartcenter.org] was also very important to the economics of this area too.

They were one of the early pioneers I mentioned. I mean, they have done amazing things there. And what I’m really excited to see is that the fans have gotten more comfortable venturing out from the stadium and I think they go over to Hot Shops and they visit. And now we hope that they extend their reach maybe a little bit further into Millworks Commons and you know they go a little bit north, a little bit west.

And certainly they haven’t forgotten some of their favorite haunts in the Old Market. They’ve watched as the Capital District grew up and found some great places there that are intriguing to them. So we’re hoping to spread that economic impact over a wider area because all parts of the metro get that even if there aren’t they aren’t adjacent or near to the stadium.

There’s several things in Nebraska that bring a huge amount of revenue How much does the CWS bring in to the state?

We had Dr. Ernie Goss do an economic impact survey using 2019 figures because we didn’t foresee COVID But we did think that 10 years into “the great experiment” and that’s in air quotes. That was the downtown stadium that maybe people would want to know. Did that experiment turnout was that a good move? 88.3 million was the very conservative economic impact estimate he came up with at that time. Last year, we had attendance records. So I think we at least reached that milestone.

And I really think that we that the reach extends beyond there because I know our friends at Bozell estimated the media impact, 464 million. Now that includes social media too, of course now. So that’s why the figure is partially bigger than what people may expect. But when you think about what the Chamber of Commerce and the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau would have to pay for the kind of exposure, really positive exposure, we get for almost two weeks ,it’s pretty amazing.

What have you seen for the fan experience these many years?

Well, you know what’s great about this year is that we’ve got a new format. So we have two full weekends to offer. That’s especially important, I think to out-of-town visitors. Always before when we answer questions on the phone or live chat on the internet, people would say “w\Well, you know, I’m still working or my kids have activities, and so the only time we can get away is a weekend” and now we have two full weekends to offer. The opening ceremonies will be on Thursday. First day of games will be on Friday. And then we end the events either on a Sunday or a Monday. So that we think is going to be really good for the event.

We also have a lot of things that after kind of that semi-normal year last. We’ve got the Stadium Circulator [https://www.ncaa.com/championships/baseball/d1/transportation] coming back, which is wonderful. It kind of runs a grid pattern from the North Downtown stadium to the Old Market and it passes several City of Omaha parking garages, where you can make advance reservations for parking and it only costs a quarter to jump on.

Wow.

It’s ADA accessible. It’s air conditioned and should stop at about every 15 minutes at the various locations that are on the map. And the map is on our website https://cwsomaha.com under parking and transportations. [https://cwsomaha.com/parking-and-transportation-information]

I’m trying to think other things that are different new about this year. Well actually not even. It was the case last year. The outfield is our lowest price reserve status, no longer general admission. We had really thought we would be coming to GA this year because, of course, during COVID nobody was excited about standing shoulder to shoulder for several hours with people they didn’t make perfect sense to have that transition last year.

We, meaning the NCAA, surveyed fans after every game last year, throughout the stadium, but with the feedback that we got from the general admission, now the lowest price reserved area was “We love this. Do not go back to GA. We think it’s great that we know for sure we’ll be able if we have a ticket for a specific game that will get into that game. And if we want to come early, it’s wonderful that we can spend the time in the fan fest or frequenting restaurants or other establishments in the area. So don’t go back”. So that’s where we’re at today. That’s our lowest price reserved seat. And there’s still tickets available our single game tickets went on sale in mid-April. And there are still weekday afternoon games that are still available. Those are $10 plus Ticketmaster fees, and so very affordable.

But even if the other game tickets have sold out, which they did really quickly, like the first weekend and the finals, especially those are available on sale, through the NCAA website and https://www.ncaa.com or you can get there through our website, https://cwsomaha.com.

It’s interesting that over time the resale market being verified and legitimized has occurred. Seems natural now that we have it, but it hadn’t been.

Exactly. Well, Ticketmaster is the NCAA’s corporate ticketing partner. So if people buy through that outlet, then if they have any concerns when they get to the ballpark any issues at all, which we don’t anticipate that they do, but if they do, they can go to the ticket office and get customer service there. If they use another outlet to get their tickets, and I’m sure some fans do, unfortunately, we can’t help them in the same way.

The tickets now are electronic.

They are. They’re all mobile, digital, electronic… I’ve heard a lot of different ways to describe them. But yes, and our concessions are also credit card related. There are some reverse ATMs in the ballpark. So if you don’t have a credit card or you don’t want to send the kids with your credit card, you can send them with some cash. They can use the machines inside the stadium and access the concessions that way.

Where the reverse ATMs are located? Are there maps available?

There should be a map available, and I believe that one is certainly on the ballpark website which is this is a long one: http://www.charlesschwabfieldomaha.com.

[End of Part One]