By Katie Knapp Schubert
Omaha, NE – The new home of the NCAA men's College World Series is now open in downtown Omaha.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday afternoon opened TD Ameritrade Park Omaha. Construction began in January 2009 on the $128 million dollar, 24,000 seat stadium. Dennis Poppe of the NCAA says the new ballpark will improve the fan experience at the CWS. "This community has made a commitment to provide a venue, a facility, that we're proud to be a part of, I know the community's proud to be a part of, and most importantly those eight teams and institutions that come to Omaha will really feel like they're going to be in a championship, state-of-the-art facility."
In addition to the College World Series, TD Ameritrade Park Omaha will be the new home of Creighton University baseball and Omaha Nighthawks football. Jack Diesing Jr., President of CWS Inc., says the ballpark is just one example of Omaha's downtown improvement.
The first college baseball game at TD Park is Tuesday evening, when Creighton plays Nebraska. Omaha's Rosenblatt Stadium hosted the College World Series for more than six decades. The south Omaha landmark was sold to the Henry Doorly Zoo Foundation last month.