Covenant Health Park boasts largest video board in minor league baseball
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Sitting in center field of the new home of the Smokies lies the biggest videoboard in minor league baseball.
'You want to go bigger but you know someone is gonna trump you the next year but well carry that fall for a year here and be happy about it,' said Smokies president, Chris Allen.
Not just any videoboard, the focal point of the outfield is the shape of Tennessee.
A look at what Covenant Health Park could do for Knoxville's economic future
'It was honestly something on a whim. We obviously had been talking about developing a stadium for a long time. Our executive team has been traveling all over for a couple of years now, looking at other ballparks and if you travel to Nashville and you see their videoboard which is a guitar which I think is very fitting,' Allen said.
That's when the perfect idea hit.
'We started thinking and I said we should go with a Tennessee-shaped videoboard I thought it would look really cool. We just thought it was a nice touch and it gives us something unique to look at when you come into the ballpark.'
Residential developments around Covenant Health Park bring new life to neighborhood
With the team moving to Knoxville, they will now be referred to as the Knoxville Smokies. The videoboard a bit of a nod to the old name, but also one that simply just made sense.
'Tennesseans are so proud of their state,' he said. 'I think that is fitting even if we were called the Kodak Smokies back in the old ballpark, so I think they are very proud and I think the fans are gonna love it.'
The videoboard adds a distinctive component to the new ballpark.
▶ See more top stories on WATE.com
'This is a unique ballpark. If you come and visit this ballpark, you're someone like me, you go to a lot of minor league ballparks you come here were gonna have something you've probably never seen before.'
A videoboard that sets the Smokies apart in more than ways than one, just as it was intended to.
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