Stadium Report Card: Charlotte Sports Park

It's been far too long since we've had one of these.

Team: Charlotte StoneCrabs(Tampa Bay Rays Spring Training)
Location: Port Charlotte
League: Florida State League(Grapefruit League
Built: 1987(Renovated 2009)
Capacity: 7,000
My event: Spring Training Game, vs Boston Red Sox

1. Outdoor Design

I thought it was pretty bland. Along the stands, it just had an overhang with the cement look. But to be honest, it looked pretty good. I didn't know till just now that they renovated the park, and not rebuilt. Worth noting. 6/10

2. Indoor Design

The inside was pretty nice. It was simple in the stands, then a nice press box building behind the plate. The outfield had a deck running the entire length of the outfield, and there were berms in the left field corner. They had a party deck thing overlooking right field, too. 8/10

3. Prices
Pretty average, I thought. Spring training tickets were 22 dollars, but that was sitting in the actual stands. The food prices were cheaper than at the Trop, so that was nice. 7/10

4. Food
I had my favorite meal the Rays do, the chicken finger basket. They had kettle corn, pizza by the slice, tropical smoothies, and root beer floats. 8/10

5. Staff
I didn't have any problems with them! The guys behind the counter at concessions were helpful, and the lady who i bought my StoneCrabs cap from was nice 7/10

6. Cleanliness
Really clean! It was a new park, and they wanted it to look nice. 8/10

7. Parking
The only parking lot was packed when we got there. My sister, and I walked a mile down the road to get there. There was so much traffic, and only one exit to a main road. 4/10

8. Atmosphere
Sure, it was very Pro-RedSox, but what are you gonna do? They sold out the park, and it was a good atmosphere 8/10

9. Playing Surface

 

The field crew kept the infield really really nice. I did notice that the pattern from the infield didn't go to the outfield, and it didn't really even have a pattern. 7/10

10. Scoreboard

 

The scoreboard wasn't anything special. It was basically the same as the one in Dunedin. The only actual video board was one that showed player stats in right center. 4/10

67, which sounds about right. It surprised me to be honest. I didn't know what to expect, and I was pleasantly surprised. Sure it could be improved upon, but it was a great place to watch a game.