The year 2023 means Knoxville will begin to see what baseball and stadium fans all want – the beginning of construction. Randy Boyd, the founder of Boyd Sports and operator of the Smokies baseball team, appeared on WBIR’s Inside Tennessee with an update on the overall project in a story that can be read HERE. WBIR also posted the eight-minute … Read More
The title of this blog is “The Hot Stove,” and this is why: Winter trades heat up the sport of baseball. Cubs fans got an early Christmas present when All-Star and World Series champion shortstop Dansby Swanson signed with Chicago as a free agent. For Swanson, it’s his third organization after the Georgia native was traded to Atlanta while still … Read More
As December darkness descends far too early in the day, baseball fans comfort themselves with the eternal question: When do pitchers and catchers report? The answer is Feb. 14, 2023 – Happy Valentine’s Day indeed to our true love – and a website even has a countdown by the seconds, minutes, hours and days until baseball returns. The utterly addicted … Read More
Ryan Wilusz, who covers the downtown beat for the News Sentinel, has been busy, thanks in no small part to the announcement two years ago that Boyd Sports intended to bring Smokies baseball back to Knoxville. Wilusz updated the project in a story published Sept. 5, 2022, at knoxnews.com and hosted Randy Boyd, founder of Boyd Sports and Doug Kirchhofer, … Read More
As the Compass headline so aptly stated: “Triple Play Completed” The new financing plan for Knoxville’s multi-use stadium cleared two government bodies and a sports authority this week, so that the project can continue to move forward. The first hurdle was cleared Aug. 22 when County Commission, which had discussed the new plan last week in a work session, unanimously … Read More
The latest Power Poll by the Compass, a media organization that focuses on government and local news, revealed that an overwhelming majority of respondents favor moving forward with the new multi-use stadium and believe it will spur development in East Knoxville. Despite the delay in the financing details created by rising costs for construction due to supply chain disruptions and … Read More
The particulars of the funding for a new stadium has made a move towards home plate – in baseball parlance – after the City of Knoxville, Knox County and Smokies Baseball team owner Randy Boyd reached an agreement in principle. Scott Barker of The Compass does an excellent job of outlining the particulars in a story that can be read … Read More
New renderings have been released, and while the final design remains in progress, the images offer a sneak peek of the vision for the multi-use stadium and its periphery, including a state of Tennessee-shaped scoreboard. The unpredictability of the construction industry amid soaring prices has adjusted the timeline as far as approving the final cost, but the plan remains for … Read More
While SEC Media Days for football are right around the corner in July, our thoughts are always with baseball – and specifically the national pastime in Knoxville. Tony Vitello, the energetic and dynamic coach of the Vols, has elevated Tennessee baseball to a national spotlight. Sellouts were common at Lindsey Nelson Stadium throughout 2022, and an overhaul of the full … Read More
It’s an all Boyd Sports matchup for best summer leagues’ ballpark with Johnson City and Greeneville squaring off in the finals. The Doughboys, which play at TVA Credit Union Ballpark in Johnson City and the Flyboys, which play at Pioneer Park in Greeneville, are the last two ballparks left in the 2022 MLB Summer Leagues Best of the Ballparks fan … Read More
