Sioux Falls. S.D. (KELO AM) - The city of Sioux Falls is considering a transfer of power in the management of Sioux Falls Stadium, commonly known as The Birdcage and the home of the Sioux Falls Canaries baseball club.
The venue is currently managed by the city, however preliminary talks have begun to turn the venue's management over to SMG, which currently runs the Convention Center, Sanford Premier Center, and Sioux Falls Arena. Chris Semrau is the assistant GM of the Premier Center, he says taking on the new venue would represent new challenges and opportunists to bring entertainment to the region.
"There's simply not the same amount of minor league ballpark tours out now that existed 5, ten years ago, there's a smaller amount of options," said Semrau. But that does not mean that SMG wouldn't get creative to book events for the park. "We'd look toward what makes sense and what the community wants to see potentially in an outdoor baseball stadium environment."
Semrau cautions that the venue won't become a concert destination overnight, reiterating the fact that not many tours are seeking minor league ballpark settings these days. "There's a big difference between massive stadiums that do huge tours to 40 or 50 thousand a night, versus the minor league stadiums." In the past Sioux Falls Stadium has hosted shows like KRROfest, hosted by our sister station 103.7 KRRO, Bob Dylan, and .38 Special.
Semrau adds that baseball events would remain the priority for the venue, with Canaries games taking priority. The venue has also traditionally hosted the state amateur baseball tournament once every three years, and the Summit League baseball championships have also been held in the venue in years past.