Day Air Ballpark, formerly known as Fifth Third Field, is a minor league baseball stadium in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater D ...

, which is the home of the

Dayton Dragons The Dayton Dragons are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Dayton, Ohio, and play their home games at Day Air Ballpark, formerly known as Fifth Third Field. I ...

, the

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

affiliate of the nearby Cincinnati Reds. In 2011, the Dragons broke the all-time professional sports record for most consecutive sellouts by selling out the stadium for the 815th consecutive game, breaking the record formerly held by the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

. The park has a total capacity of 8,200 people and opened in 2000. With two-deck seating and large skyboxes, some compare it to Triple-A fields.

History

The

played their first baseball game at Fifth Third Field on April 27, 2000. In attendance was Cincinnati Reds Hall of Famer Johnny Bench, who caught the ceremonial first pitch. In their inaugural season, the Dragons managed to sell-out every home game of the 2000 season before the season even started. Day Air Ballpark has hosted the

All Star Game twice: in 2001 and 2013. In 2005, 2007, and 2009, the venue hosted the

Atlantic 10 Conference baseball tournament The Atlantic 10 Conference basetball tournament, sometimes referred to simply as the A-10 tournament, is the conference baseball championship of the NCAA Division I Atlantic 10 Conference. The top seven finishers in the regular season of the conf ...

. In 2005,

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

won the tournament, in 2007,

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

won, and in 2009 Xavier won.

2011 field renovation

In the 2011–2012 offseason, a new Kentucky Blue Grass playing surface was installed at Fifth Third Field as well as new drainage and irrigation systems.

2014–2015 video enhancements

In 2014, over $1.2 million was spent upgrading Fifth Third Field's entertainment control room and adding HD cameras throughout. In 2015, the existing video board was replaced in the off-season with a new 2,054 foot 13HD video board that was three times brighter than the previous board, twice the height and 2½ times the width. Described as featuring the clearest picture ever used on any board in a Minor League Baseball stadium, the board, at the time of installation, was the tallest and widest in a single A facility and in the top five in terms of size for any Minor League Baseball stadium. As of 2015, only three out of 30 Major League Baseball stadiums sported a board of this type.

Renaming and renewal

In January 2020, the naming rights to the field were purchased by Day Air Credit Union and the stadium was renamed Day Air Ballpark. In January 2021, it was reported that the Dayton City Commission had renewed the park's lease agreement, which had previously been scheduled to expire in September 2030, until 2060. Under the terms of the new agreement, the city will also secure financing for up to $4.5 million in improvements to the park, including improvements relating to energy efficiency.

Facts and figures

* Voted as one of the top ten hottest

tickets Ticket or tickets may refer to: Slips of paper * Lottery ticket * Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start) * Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a tol ...

to get in all of professional sports by ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

''. * The Dayton Dragons' series of 815 consecutive sellouts surpassed the

for the longest sellout streak across all professional sports in the U.S. * Highest single-season attendance: 593,633 (2004, a

Record) * The facility has 7,320 stadium-style seats. * The ballpark contains 1,400 club seats, 29 suites, and 3 party decks * The stadium stands on the site of a former

Delco Electronics Delco Electronics Corporation was the automotive electronics design and manufacturing subsidiary of General Motors based in Kokomo, Indiana, that manufactured ''Delco'' Automobile radios and other electric products found in GM cars. In 1972, Gene ...

plant.

Amenities

Day Air Ballpark has contracted with

Donatos Pizza Donatos Pizza is a pizza delivery restaurant franchisor headquartered in Gahanna, Ohio, Gahanna, Ohio, United States. It has nearly 200 locations in eleven states, with the majority of locations in Ohio. Donatos is also served at several venue ...

to offer individual cheese and pepperoni pizzas at the ballpark. It has also contracted with

Cold Stone Creamery Cold Stone Creamery is an American international ice cream parlor chain. Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, the company is owned and operated by Kahala Brands. The company's main product is premium ice cream made with approximately 12–14% bu ...

to offer hand dipped ice cream available at a free standing cart on the third base side of the stadium as well as individual ice cream cups available at most concession stands. Along with the contracted food, many nonprofit organizations including churches,

fraternal organizations A fraternity or fraternal organization is an organized society of men associated together in an environment of companionship and brotherhood; dedicated to the intellectual, physical, and social development of its members. Service clubs, lineage so ...

and

schools A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...

operate the concessions stands. In 2009, The People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) rated Day Air Ballpark one of the most

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetariani ...

-friendly minor league ballparks in the United States.

References

External links

www.daytondragons.com

{{Midwest League ballparks Minor league baseball venues Baseball venues in Ohio Sports venues in Dayton, Ohio Tourist attractions in Dayton, Ohio Baseball in Dayton, Ohio Sports venues completed in 2000 2000 establishments in Ohio Midwest League ballparks