Condron Family Ballpark at Alfred A. McKethan Field is the
college baseball
College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...
stadium of the
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
, and serves as the home field for the
Florida Gators baseball team. Condron Ballpark is located on the university's
Gainesville, Florida campus, adjacent to the university's
softball
Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...
stadium,
Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium, and its
lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...
stadium,
Dizney Stadium. It replaced the former ballpark,
Alfred A. McKethan Stadium at Perry Field, which had been the home of Florida baseball from 1988 through 2020; McKethan Stadium's earlier incarnation, known simply as Perry Field, had been the home field of Gator baseball since 1949. The stadium opened on February 19, 2021, when the Gators hosted
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
in their season opener.
Namesakes
The playing surface is named for
Alfred A. McKethan, a University of Florida
alumnus and successful Florida banker, businessman, and politician who contributed major donations to the Florida athletic program. McKethan donated the equivalent of $800,000 for the reconstruction and improvement of UF's baseball facilities in the 1980s and 1990s, and the stadium built at Perry Field was named in his honor.
The stadium itself is named for Gary Condron, another UF alumnus and founder of the Conlan Company, one of the nation’s top manufacturers of light-industrial complexes. Condron played baseball for the Gators in the 1970s as a walk-on and has donated at least $30 million for the construction of the Hawkins Academic Center, the renovation of the Stephen C. O’Connell Center, and the construction of the stadium itself. Florida Ballpark was rechristened "Condron Family Ballpark" on April 22, 2022, immediately before Florida hosted a game against
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
.
Facilities
The current stadium facility is a concrete and steel structure that seats approximately 7,000 fans, and includes a press box, concession stands, locker rooms for the home and visiting teams, and coaching staff offices. The stadium includes 4,000 chairbacks, 700 club seats, and berm seating for over 2,000 spectators. The design incorporates a 360-degree concourse, shade canopy, and open-air seated grandstand.
The stadium is lighted for night games and features a natural grass and clay playing surface with a synthetic turf backstop.
![CondronBallparkPanorama043022](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/CondronBallparkPanorama043022.jpg)
Won by Florida in bold
See also
*
Buildings at the University of Florida
*
Florida Gators
*
History of the University of Florida
The history of the University of Florida is firmly tied to the history of public education in the state of Florida. The University of Florida originated as several distinct institutions that were consolidated to create a single state-supported un ...
*
List of NCAA Division I baseball venues
*
University Athletic Association
The University Athletic Association (UAA) is an American athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division III. Member schools are highly selective universities located in Georgia, Illinois, M ...
References
External links
Florida Ballpark– Stadium description at official website of the Florida Gators.
{{Florida NCAA Division I college baseball venue navbox
Baseball venues in Florida
Buildings at the University of Florida
Florida Gators baseball venues
Tourist attractions in Gainesville, Florida
2020 establishments in Florida
Sports venues completed in 2020