Innovative Field

Innovative Field
Map
Former namesFrontier Field (1996–2022)
LocationOne Morrie Silver Way
Rochester, New York
United States
Coordinates43°9′29.76″N 77°37′11.26″W / 43.1582667°N 77.6197944°W / 43.1582667; -77.6197944
OwnerMonroe County, NY
OperatorRochester Community Baseball, Inc.
Capacity13,500
Field sizeLeft field: 335 ft (102 m)
Center field: 402 ft (123 m)
Right field: 322 ft (98 m)
SurfaceGrass
Construction
Broke groundNovember 16, 1994[1]
OpenedJuly 11, 1996
Construction costUS$35.3 million
($68.6 million in 2023 dollars[2])
ArchitectEllerbe Becket
Bergmann Associates
Project managerFlaum Management Company[3]
Structural engineerSear-Brown Group Inc.[3]
General contractorChrista Construction Corporation[3]
Tenants
Rochester Raging Rhinos (USL-1) 1996–2005
Rochester Red Wings (IL/AAAE) 1997–present
Rochester Rattlers (MLL) 2001–2002
Empire State Yankees (IL) 2012
Toronto Blue Jays taxi squad (MLB) 2020

Innovative Field (originally known as Frontier Field) is a baseball stadium at One Morrie Silver Way in downtown Rochester, New York. It has been the home of the Rochester Red Wings of the International League since 1997. The park opened in 1996, replacing Silver Stadium in northern Rochester, which had been home to professional baseball in Rochester since 1929. Although the stadium was built for baseball, Innovative Field has had several tenants in numerous sports, including the Rochester Raging Rhinos of the United Soccer Leagues from 1996 to 2005, and the Rochester Rattlers of Major League Lacrosse from 2001 to 2002. The ballpark seats 10,840 spectators for baseball.[4]

Rochester-based telecommunications company Frontier Telephone of Rochester held the naming rights to the ballpark from its opening in 1996 until the 2022 baseball offseason. Originally in December 2015 agreement was reached to maintain the name for a further ten years,[5] however, on October 24, 2022, a new naming rights agreement was reached with Innovative Solutions, a Henrietta-based IT services company at the request of both Innovative and Frontier who was looking to cut back on sponsorship costs after the company filed for bankruptcy in 2020, changing the name of the stadium to Innovative Field pending final approval.[6]

  1. ^ "ROCHESTER TELEPHONE CORP, Form DEFA14A, Filing Date Dec 9, 1994" (PDF). Secdatabase.com. December 9, 1994. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  2. ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "Frontier Field". Ellerbe Becket. Archived from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved September 19, 2011.
  4. ^ "Meet the Red Wings". Democrat and Chronicle. Rochester. April 5, 2007. Archived from the original on May 16, 2011. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
  5. ^ Sharp, Brian (December 2, 2015). "Frontier re-ups on ballpark naming rights". Democrat and Chronicle. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
  6. ^ "Red Wings announce new stadium name". WHAM. October 25, 2022. Retrieved October 25, 2022.