Delta Dental Stadium is a

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is a city in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. It is the most populous city in New Hampshire. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 115,644. Manchester is, along with Nashua, one of two seats of New Hamp ...

that holds 6,500 people. It is used primarily for

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

, and is the home field of the

New Hampshire Fisher Cats The New Hampshire Fisher Cats are a Minor League Baseball team based in Manchester, New Hampshire. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays major league club. During the team's first seas ...

, an Eastern League baseball team. The first game played at the ballpark was on April 7, 2005, between the

New Britain Rock Cats The New Britain Rock Cats were a minor league baseball team that competed in the Eastern League. They were the Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox for 12 years, the Minnesota Twins for 20 years and the Colorado Rockies for one. They playe ...

and the Fisher Cats. The first concert was performed by

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

on August 27, 2006. In 2011 insurance company Northeast

Delta Dental The Delta Dental Plans Association is a network of dental insurance companies composed of 39 independent Delta Dental members operating in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. These member companies provide coverage to 85 mill ...

signed a 10-year contract for the ballpark's naming rights with a five-year option. The stadium has since updated the name to simply Delta Dental Stadium although Northeast Delta Dental is still the stadium naming rights holder.

Features

The park was built on the former Singer Park in the Manchester Millyard, a soccer (and occasionally rugby) stadium that was also used for circuses, carnivals and a summer concert series. In 2017, 1,000 seats were added when renovations were done on the left field section of the park. At least a portion of the ballpark is located on the site where bricks recovered from the demolition of the Arms Textile Mill were buried. The Arms Textile Mill was the site of the deadliest outbreak of

anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...

in United States history. The ballpark is located in the downtown area along the

Merrimack River The Merrimack River (or Merrimac River, an occasional earlier spelling) is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into Mas ...

, facing northwest towards the heart of downtown. The park is within walking distance of many local landmarks, including Manchester's mill district, the

SNHU Arena The SNHU Arena ( Southern New Hampshire University Arena) is an indoor events arena in Manchester, New Hampshire, and seats 9,852 for ice hockey, 11,140 for basketball and up to 11,770 for concerts. The facility was originally known during con ...

, the WMUR television station, the

University of New Hampshire at Manchester The University of New Hampshire at Manchester (UNH Manchester) is the urban campus of the public University of New Hampshire and is located in Manchester, New Hampshire. It was established in 1985 as the sixth college of the University of New Ham ...

college campus, and countless

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

s, bars, and hotels. It has an open concourse, allowing fans to view the action on the field at all times, and includes 32 luxury suites that line the upper level and provide fans with a panoramic view of the field. One of the dominant features is the

Hilton Garden Inn Hilton Garden Inn is an American chain of mid-priced, limited or focused service hotels owned by Hilton Worldwide. As of December 31, 2019, it has 862 properties with 126,086 rooms in 49 countries and territories, including 81 that are manage ...

hotel located beyond the fence in left-center field. The hotel is 7 stories high (6 excluding clock tower) and has more than 125 rooms; each room on the south side of the hotel has windows that overlook center field and have shatterproof glass due to the proximity to the park. The Hilton hotel also has a restaurant which offers outdoor patio seating directly overlooking left-center field. Delta Dental Stadium is one of the only professional baseball fields in the United States with a hotel located inside/ alongside the stadium. In April 2008 the park opened the Sam Adams Bar and Grill, offering a buffet, full menu, and bar directly overlooking the left field of the park. The Bar and Grill is now known as the Sam Adams Brewhouse. Prior to the start of the 2017 season, the Fisher Cats announced the most ambitious renovation project in the stadium's history. Team owner Art Solomon invested a million dollars into the facility to transform the left field plaza and pavilion, adding a new tiered seating section beyond the left field wall, a state-of-the-art live music stage, a tiki bar and a rock waterfall at the top of the main entrance stairs. The project was completed in time for Opening Day 2017. In 2019, the Fisher Cats began transitioning the field to organic turf management with support from sponsor

Stonyfield Farm Stonyfield Farm, also simply called Stonyfield, is an organic yogurt maker and dairy company located in Londonderry, New Hampshire, United States. Stonyfield Farm was founded by Samuel Kaymen in 1983, on a 19th-century farmstead in Wilton, New H ...

's #playfree campaign. It is the first professional baseball field to transition to all organic management.

Notable events

On October 21, 2006, the stadium hosted the funeral service for fallen city police officer Michael Briggs, who was shot while responding to a domestic dispute call. On July 16, 2008, the stadium hosted a record 8,762 fans for the 2008 Northeast Delta Dental Eastern League All-Star Game. This record was surpassed on May 26, 2009, with 8,903 fans in attendance.

Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

pitcher

John Smoltz John Andrew Smoltz (born May 15, 1967), nicknamed "Smoltzie" and "Marmaduke", is an American former baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1988 to 2009, all but the last year with the Atlanta Braves. An eight-time A ...

started the game for the opposing

Portland Sea Dogs The Portland Sea Dogs are a Minor League Baseball team based in Portland, Maine, playing in the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League. Established in 1994, the Sea Dogs are the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red ...

in a rehab start.

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

's future stars returned for the Eastern League All-Star Game on July 13, 2011, and again in 2017 for the Eastern League All-Star Classic July 11–12. The facility is the only stadium in the league to host the game three times in a decade.

References

External links

Delta Dental Stadium
at milb.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Delta Dental Stadium Sports venues in Manchester, New Hampshire Baseball venues in New Hampshire Minor league baseball venues Tourist attractions in Manchester, New Hampshire 2005 establishments in New Hampshire New Hampshire Fisher Cats Sports venues completed in 2005 Eastern League (1938–present) ballparks