Tucked away in the corner of a Tampa/St. Pete suburb, Dunedin Stadium (formerly known as Knology Park) is a facility designed for spring-training needs, not to serve the audience of a Class A Florida State League team. As a result, there's not a lot of excitement surrounding a Dunedin Blue Jays game: the team is perennially next-to-last in Florida State League attendance, and the team doesn't exactly overwhelm their potential audience with a flood of promotions.
Still, this ballpark isn't a total waste on a warm Florida evening. As stated, it was really built as the spring-training home of the Toronto Blue Jays, so the facilities are in pretty good shape. And the Blue Jays stress player development, so their minor-league teams are pretty good. And let's just say you won't be fighting huge crowds for a good seat.
Dunedin Stadium replaced 3,417-seat Grant Field, which was one of the oldest stadiums used in the Grapefruit League, dating back to 1930. The Toronto Blue Jays opened their formal history by training at Grant, but Grant Park didn't keep up with the many new spring-training facilities that were popping up in Florida in the 1980s.
By 1989 the Blue Jays were working on a plan to replace Grant Field with a new stadium and spring-training facility. As a result, the city of Dunedin invested $2.4 million into a new stadium at the site of the old stadium, and Dunedin Stadium became the new spring-training home of the Toronto Blue Jays in 1990.
Three years ago Dunedin spent $12 million on a new spring-training complex for the Blue Jays, which include new training facilities, offices, new hitting cages, and five full fields at the Cecil P. Englebert Recreational Complex. As a result, the Blue Jays signed a 15-year lease to stay in Dunedin.
Concessions
Routine. There's really nothing out of the ordinary.
For the Kids
There's no specific play area for kids.
Parking
There are lots within a short walk of the ballpark.
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