Senator Thomas J. Dodd Memorial Stadium

Senator Thomas J. Dodd Memorial Stadium
Location	Norwich, Connecticut United States
Building chronology
Built	1995
Tenants
Norwich Sea Unicorns
Capacity
6,275

Senator Thomas J. Dodd Memorial Stadium in Norwich, CT, was the home of Norwich affiliated baseball from 1995 through 2019. After that and the Coronavirus pandemic-canceled 2020 season, MLB's 2021 Minor League Reorganization eliminated the Norwich Sea Unicorns and most other New York-Pennsylvania League teams.

The Sea Unicorns then joined the Futures Collegiate Baseball League - at that point having never actually played a game under their new name. Per the terms of a 2019 lease extension, they had dropped their 2010-2019 moniker, Connecticut Tigers.

The reorganization prompted the Unicorns and three other dropped teams to file a joint lawsuit specifically attacking MLB's long-time anti-trust exemption. That case was dismissed October 26, 2022, but the judge agreed the teams showed damage and violations that would have been actionable without the exemption. That not only sets up but also provides grounds for an appeal that could ultimately bring down the exemption.[1] The clubs filed their appeal on January 9, 2023,[2], and about six months later the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal.[3] Perhaps tellingly, the appellate court echoes the trial court: "[W]e must continue to apply Supreme Court precedent unless and until it is overruled by the Supreme Court."[4]

Dodd Stadium, built in 1995, is named for the late Connecticut U.S. representative and senator.