Smokies Stadium

• Name: Smokies Stadium
• GPS-able Address: 3540 Line Dr., Kodak, TN 37764
• Ballpark Owner: City of Sevierville and Sevier County
• Architects: HNTB; BarberMcMurry
• Groundbreaking: 4/23/1999
• Minor League Baseball/Professional Development League Teams: Tennessee Smokies (AA) 2000-present
• Pro Baseball Class/League History: AA/Southern League 2022-present; AA/Double-A South 2021; AA/Southern League 2000-2020
• First Pro Baseball Game: 4/20/2000; stadium debut of Class AA Smokies
• Others Playing or Operating Here: None
• Previous Ballpark Names: Smokies Park 2000-2015
• LF: 330 CF: 400 RF: 320
• Seats: 6,072
• Stated Capacity: 6,412
• House Baseball/Softball Record Attendance (as currently configured): 8,183, 4/12/2022

Smokies Stadium in Kodak, TN, is the home of the Tennessee Smokies, the Chicago Cubs' Double-A Southern League farm team. It opened in 2000 as Smokies Park in the small town outside Knoxville.

The 2016 ballpark name change aimed to end confusion, particularly for search engine users who would often enter "Smokies Park" while looking for Great Smoky Mountains National Park. No physical signage changed - just the big scoreboard's digital display - and the point will soon be moot: a formal groundbreaking was held June 13, 2023, for a downtown stadium that is to retrieve the Smokies from their suburban excursion with the 2025 baseball season. The Smokies say construction actually got underway in March, but the Knoxville Sports Authority held the ground-breaking until after the municipal bonds were sold.[1]

Among the last clubs to flee its home city for a suburb, the Smokies' lame-duck current home succeeded for more than 20 seasons perhaps because it lies within 25 miles of not only Knoxville but also several national-level tourist attractions: the National Park, Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, mountain-resort Gatlinburg, and Knoxville's World's Fair Park.

Jimmy Buffett Tribute Night in 2017, featuring Jimmy Buffett stuff but no Jimmy Buffett appearance, drew a then-house baseball record: 8,164. 2015 was a very good year: The ballpark hosted its 4 millionth fan at a Smokies game, broke its one-game attendance record three times, and - via a day-night doubleheader - hosted 10,000 fans in one day.

It hosted an August 2018 Appalachian League game between the Greeneville Reds and the Johnson City Cardinals, the connection being that Boyd Sports operated all three clubs.

It also hosted collegiate baseball on April 12, 2022 - not at all unusual for a Professional Development League stadium, but this game had a twist: The University of Tennessee Volunteers and Tennessee Technological University Golden Eagles played with wood bats. Perhaps as surprising, the Eagles came from two runs down to upset the top-ranked Vols, 3-2, in front of a new house baseball record 8,813.