Rocket City Reno: MLB requiring stadium upgrades

MADISON — It’s not a new HGTV show but “demo day” is coming to Toyota Field.

Though it’s just three years old and has hosted only two baseball seasons, the home of the Rocket City Trash Pandas is facing renovations.

These, though, are to meet new Major League Baseball mandates.

The Rocket City Trash Pandas discussed the new requirements with Madison officials Wednesday at the City Council work session. The cost is expected to be between $2 million and $2.5 million and will be phased in over the next three years.

The standards did not exist before the completion of Toyota Field.

“The first phase is mostly additional lockers, kitchen appliances, and internet upgrades,” said Garrett Fahrmann, the Trash Pandas’ executive vice president and general manager. “The second phase will be much more in-depth. We will need to build a new visiting clubhouse and transform the current visiting clubhouse into a new weight room and female staff/umpire facilities.

“This will be done prior to the 2025 season.”

In May, the MLB issued a memo to clubs regarding gender equity in the stadiums.

Obtained by espn, the memo said, “Clubs that do not provide appropriate workplace accommodations for personnel regardless of gender violate MLB regulations, directly deprive women of equal access to participate in our great game, and discourage qualified women from participating in baseball roles traditionally held by men.

“We understand that space constraints in some ballparks may limit Clubs’ ability to adhere to these requirements,” the memo said. “However, we expect all Clubs to make the necessary sacrifices in order to provide satisfactory facilities to all female staff.”

The stadiums must also provide equal clubhouse facilities for both teams.

In a lot of ballparks, the home teams’ clubhouses were larger and had amenities – such as a weight room, training room and commissary – that were not available to visiting clubs.

Now, Major League Baseball has removed that home field advantage – requiring teams to find space to accommodate the new requirements.