AutoZone Park

AutoZone Park is a Minor League Baseball stadium located in downtown Memphis, Tennessee, and is home to the Memphis Redbirds of the International League, the Triple-A affiliate of Major League Baseball's (MLB) St. Louis Cardinals. It previously hosted Memphis 901 FC of the USL Championship, the second tier of U.S. soccer, from 2019 to 2024.

History

Designed by Looney Ricks Kiss Architects of Memphis with Kansas City-based HOK Sport (now Populous), AutoZone Park cost $80.5 million to build. This is by far the most money ever spent on a structure dedicated to a minor league baseball team.<ref name="FACTS">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> AutoZone Park was built to "MLB standards", but with the absence of outfield seats or food vendors far down the foul lines, making it, for comparison purposes, a major league stadium with only the 'good' seats". It opened in 2000, replacing Tim McCarver Stadium. The stadium also hosts some games for the University of Memphis baseball team, and most notably, the annual game with Ole Miss.

The Redbirds had been unique in baseball until recently, in that they were owned by a non-profit community foundation, the Memphis Redbirds Foundation; the Green Bay Packers of the NFL have a similar ownership structure. However, the Foundation defaulted on its bond payment in 2010. On November 15, 2013, the Foundation announced that the default would be remedied by the St. Louis Cardinals paying off the bonds at a discount and acquiring the Redbirds, while the city of Memphis resumes ownership of the stadium.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>

File:AutoZone Park outside.jpg

The park's main entrance

The stadium hosted the 2003 Triple-A All-Star Game in which the International League All-Stars defeated the Pacific Coast League All-Stars, 13–9.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In October 2004 and 2005 AutoZone Park was home to the Greater Mid-South Jaycees Field of Screams Haunted House.

In October 2005, AutoZone Park became the first venue outside of New Orleans to host the Voodoo Music Experience. One day of this music festival was moved to Memphis due to Hurricane Katrina.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On December 4, 2006, at the Major League Baseball Winter Meetings, MLB announced that an exhibition game to be called the Civil Rights Game would be held at AutoZone Park, with the first game on March 31, 2007. The game featured the Cardinals and the Cleveland Indians, with the Cardinals winning, 5–1.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The second game was played on March 29, 2008, between the Chicago White Sox and the New York Mets. The Mets defeated the White Sox, 3–2.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On August 31, 2008, the ballpark's largest crowd to date witnessed the Redbirds lose to the Oklahoma RedHawks, 10–7, in front of 18,620 fans.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

AutoZone Park was the site of the 2016 Triple-A National Championship Game in which the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, champions of the International League, defeated the PCL-champion El Paso Chihuahuas, 3–1, before a crowd of 9,471 people on September 20.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The stadium once again hosted the championship game on September 17, 2019, in which the PCL's Sacramento River Cats defeated the Columbus Clippers, 4–0, with 9,123 on hand.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Soccer

Memphis 901 FC, a USL Championship soccer team, played at AutoZone Park from 2019 to 2024. They made their league debut at the stadium on March 9, 2019, and lost 1–0 to the Tampa Bay Rowdies in front of a sellout crowd of 8,062. It was the first professional soccer match played in Memphis since 1994.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> For soccer matches, the infield was covered with sod and a pitch was laid along the first base line.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The pitcher's mound was initially leveled and covered; plans to install a retractable mound for easier conversions were also discussed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The team announced plans to build their own soccer-specific stadium in late 2022 at the site of the Mid-South Coliseum; the new stadium was projected to open in 2025.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After the funding fell through, the team's owners transferred franchise rights to Santa Barbara, California.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Size

AutoZone Park has a seating capacity of 10,000,<ref name="AutoZone Park" /> and has been aptly described as "one-third" of a major league baseball park.

For its construction Template:Convert of concrete were used, or enough to cover Template:Convert. There are Template:Convert of brick walls surrounding it, utilizing 380,000 specially manufactured bricks. It holds Template:Convert of steel and Template:Convert of electrical wiring. To build the playing field, Template:Convert of clay, and Template:Convert of sand were needed. The outfield contains Template:Convert of sod. The infield is capable of draining Template:Convert of rain per hour. while remaining playable, which means that the field only rarely has to be covered during games.

AutoZone Park also has one of the largest video screens in minor league baseball. It is located Template:Convert above the play field, giving a view of the board to many areas of downtown Memphis.<ref name="FACTS" /> On January 10, 2012 the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported that the Redbirds planned to install a Template:Convert full HD video display, replacing the old video screen.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The new video board will be the largest in Minor League Baseball.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Update inline

Amenities

AutoZone Park contains several special seating sections designed to give patrons a variety of viewing options.

• The Family Leisure Picnic Pavilion is located on the east of the park, and contains several picnic tables and space for vending food. It is commonly used for special event hosting, and can seat up to 500 people.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• The Bluffs, located in each corner of the park has grass covered lawn seating, and tickets to this area are sold cheaply, but in limited numbers. It is a favorite spot for many fans because of the picnic atmosphere. Chairs are not allowed on the Bluff.<ref name="PARK">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• The upper club levels contain 700 seats in 48 suites, and are generally reserved to groups or local companies. Many larger Memphis companies retain one suite for the entire season, for all games.<ref name="PARK"/>
• The normal club seating have access to an air conditioned concourse, along with several restaurants and bars located on the concourse itself.<ref name="PARK"/>
• In total, the ballpark has 1,600 club seats.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• There are two open-air party decks, each of which seats up to 175 people, and three pre-game balconies.<ref name="PARK"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Attendance records

AutoZone Park's single-game attendance record was set on August 31, 2008, for a game between the Redbirds and the Oklahoma RedHawks in front of a sellout crowd of 18,620 people.<ref name=Top10Crowds/> The park's season attendance record of 887,976 and average attendance record of 12,507 were both set in 2001. Attendance records through the completion of the 2019 season are as follows.<ref name=AZPattendnace>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Single-game attendance

Bold indicates the winner of each game.

Single-game attendance records
Rank	Attendance	Date	Game result	Template:Abbr
1	18,620	August 31, 2008	Oklahoma RedHawks – 2, Memphis Redbirds – 4	<ref name=Top10Crowds/>
2	18,302	July 4, 2006	Nashville Sounds – 4, Memphis Redbirds – 1	<ref name=Top10Crowds/>
3	17,508	August 26, 2000	Nashville Sounds – 11, Memphis Redbirds – 9	<ref name=Top10Crowds/>
4	17,213	July 4, 2007	Albuquerque Isotopes – 12, Memphis Redbirds – 7	<ref name=Top10Crowds/>
5	17,107	April 20, 2002	New Orleans Zephyrs – 5, Memphis Redbirds – 3	<ref name=Top10Crowds/>
6	17,104	August 10, 2002	Nashville Sounds – 8, Memphis Redbirds – 3	<ref name=Top10Crowds/>
7	17,048	August 17, 2013	Omaha Storm Chasers – 5, Memphis Redbirds – 4	<ref name=Top10Crowds/>
8	16,965	August 26, 2006	Nashville Sounds – 1, Memphis Redbirds – 2 (10 innings)	<ref name=Top10Crowds/>
9	16,920	July 4, 2005	Omaha Royals – 1, Memphis Redbirds – 6 (7 innings)	<ref name=Top10Crowds/>
10	16,703	July 4, 2004	Nashville Sounds – 3, Memphis Redbirds – 6	<ref name=Top10Crowds/>

Season attendance

Season attendance records
Rank	Year	Total attendance		Openings		Average attendance		Template:Abbr
		Total	Template:Abbr	Openings	Template:Abbr	Average	Template:Abbr
1	2001	887,976	—	71	—	12,507	—	<ref name=AZPattendnace/>
2	2000	859,823	—	72	—	11,942	—	<ref name=AZPattendnace/>
3	2002	794,550	—	72	—	11,035	—	<ref name=AZPattendnace/>
4	2003	749,446	—	72	—	10,409	—	<ref name=AZPattendnace/>
5	2004	730,565	—	70	—	10,436	—	<ref name=AZPattendnace/>
6	2005	696,083	3rd	69	4th (tie)	10,088	2nd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
7	2006	692,426	2nd	71	2nd (tie)	9,752	2nd	<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref>
8	2007	633,129	3rd	72	1st (tie)	8,793	3rd	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
9	2008	569,172	4th	69	4th (tie)	8,249	4th	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
10	2013	498,362	5th	69	4th (tie)	7,223	5th	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
11	2012	493,706	6th	71	2nd (tie)	6,954	6th	<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref>
12	2011	493,528	6th	70	3rd (tie)	7,050	5th	<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref>
13	2009	474,764	7th	68	5th (tie)	6,982	6th	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
14	2010	462,041	7th	71	2nd (tie)	6,508	7th	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
15	2014	381,429	10th	67	5th	5,693	9th	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
16	2017	350,007	13th	69	3rd (tie)	5,073	13th	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
17	2018	340,476	13th	68	3rd	5,007	13th	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
18	2019	327,753	15th	66	5th (tie)	4,966	13th	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
19	2016	324,581	15th	69	4th	4,704	15th	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
20	2015	278,579	16th	69	4th (tie)	4,037	16th	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
21	2020	Template:Sort						<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Totals	—	11,038,396	—	1,395	—	7,913	—	—

External links

• Memphis Redbirds: AutoZone Park
• AutoZone Park Views - Ball Parks of the Minor Leagues