Arkansas Travelers Baseball Club

The Arkansas Travelers have been providing family entertainment dubbed “The Greatest Show on Dirt” for central Arkansas each spring and summer since 1901.

Although change has come in increments to the organization through the years, the Travelers welcomed the club’s biggest dose last year when it moved across the Arkansas River to a brand-new ballpark in downtown North Little Rock. Dickey-Stephens Park, a $37 million home to the Class AA Texas League team, opened with much fanfare for its first game April 12.

“It was an exciting season for us as an organization as well as for all of our fans to provide a new state-of-the art-ballpark. It’s one of the best in all of the Minor Leagues,” said Pete Laven, the Travelers’ general manager who last year took over for longtime GM Bill Valentine. Valentine is now the club’s chief operating officer and executive vice president.

The ballpark was both publicly and privately financed, as taxpayers in North Little Rock approved a two-year, 1 percent sales tax in August 2005 to pay for the bulk of it, while Little Rock financier Warren Stephens donated the riverfront property and picked up the tab on “the best scoreboard in all of Minor League baseball,” according to Valentine.

The move from 74-year-old Ray Winder Field in Little Rock paid off as the Travelers set a franchise single-season attendance record with 372,475 fans in 2007, nearly 165,000 more than in 2006.

The franchise, the AA affiliate to Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Angels, has been owned by community stockholders who for more than 50 years have returned profits to the franchise’s budget to help ensure the club’s longevity.

The Travelers also received national media attention for bucking the trend of skyrocketing tabs at concession stands and ticket gates.

“It’s our goal to continue to provide the wonderful fan experience we have to go along with this great facility we have,” Laven said.