$5.1 million in upgrades planned at city-owned NYSEG Stadium BINGHAMTON — The Binghamton Rumble Ponies will be playing baseball in a revamped NYSEG Stadium until at least through the 2026 season. That’s after Rumble Ponies President John Hughes and state and local politicians on Nov. 12 announced $5.1 million in planned, major upgrades — largely […]
$5.1 million in upgrades planned at city-owned NYSEG Stadium
BINGHAMTON — The Binghamton Rumble Ponies will be playing baseball in a revamped NYSEG Stadium until at least through the 2026 season.
That’s after Rumble Ponies President John Hughes and state and local politicians on Nov. 12 announced $5.1 million in planned, major upgrades — largely funded by government — at the city-owned NYSEG Stadium for the 2019 season. The Double-A minor-league baseball team, an affiliate of the New York Mets, also announced it would stay in Binghamton for the next eight seasons by extending its lease at the ballpark.
New York State Senate Majority Leader John J. Flanagan, State Senator Fred Akshar, and Binghamton Mayor Richard C. David joined Hughes for the announcement.
The upgrades include new seats, structural and critical system upgrades, replacing the stadium turf, installing new video boards, a new sound system, a renovated home clubhouse, and new fencing and netting.
These changes “will address critical stadium infrastructure, enhance the overall fan experience and provide a top-notch environment for the New York Mets prospects that play in Binghamton,” the Rumble Ponies said in a news release. Construction work will start within weeks and be finished before opening day on April 11, 2019, the team promised.
The upgrades are paired with the Rumble Ponies’ ownership exercising its final five-year option and extending its lease at NYSEG Stadium through 2026. The City of Binghamton and the team ownership are currently negotiating a new long-term lease for NYSEG Stadium that would begin after the 2026 season, the release stated.
In addition, the New York Mets and Rumble Ponies are extending their player-development contract through the 2022 baseball season.
Stadium revamp details
The $5.1 million stadium improvement plan includes the following items.
New seats — All seats, original to the ballpark, will be replaced by new seats with cup holders, the team says. With a red and blue color palette, the new seats will more closely resemble the official Rumble Ponies colors.
Structural / critical system upgrades — Maintenance work on the stadium’s structural steel, concrete repairs, and waterproofing measures will be done to prevent future deterioration. Energy efficient HVAC equipment will replace the stadium’s original system, according to the Rumble Ponies.
Turf replacement — New sod and drainage systems will be installed to improve field playing conditions.
New video boards — The team says a “state-of-the-art” video board will replace an “outdated and malfunctioning” display board in right field. The new, high-definition board will be “significantly larger” than the previous one, installed more than a decade ago. A second video board is slated to be installed beyond the left-field wall to replace the existing ribbon message board.
New sound system — New speakers are on the way to upgrade the sound system at NYSEG Stadium. The new system will be “acoustically tailored” to the Binghamton ballpark, the team says.
Home clubhouse — The Rumble Ponies players and coaching staff will get a renovated clubhouse and locker rooms, the first such improvement to the players’ quarters since the ballpark opened in 1992.
New fencing / netting — Replacement of field-level fencing and home-plate netting is also on the docket.
The Rumble Ponies organization is also pursuing additional improvements to the left-field pavilion area to “improve the fan experience,” with details to be announced at a later date.
The NYSEG Stadium improvement project is funded from $2.5 million in state funds secured by Flanagan and Akshar through the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York. The City of Binghamton will contribute $2.5 million to match the state grant award. NYSEG Stadium has been a city-owned facility since its construction in 1992. The owners of the Rumble Ponies will be pitching in $100,000 to the overall project, according to the release.