MAJOR BLOGS - www.majorblogs.net - Las Vegas, Nev - The Omaha Royals are on the move, getting the blessing from the Pacific Coast League at their annual Winter Meetings to pursue a move to the suburbs of Sarpy County and to downsize to a new "flex" park set for an estimated 6,700 seats plus additional berm space. Normal size for Triple-A parks is usually in the neighborhood of 10,000.

The development proposal from Sarpy County is going forward as Rosenblatt Stadium, current home to the O-Royals, has a date with the wrecking ball at the end of 2010's season.

Vendors of the Royals attending the trade show attached to the Baseball Winter Meetings in Las Vegas were discussing the changes and preparing to bid on not one, but two new ballparks in the greater Omaha area. The City of Omaha will build another 24,000 seat facility downtown to replace the current park of the same size.

"It's a shame that they weren't able to come up with a way to accomodate the Royals," said an HOK representative at the Baseball Winter Meetings. "They tried to find a way to accomodate both needs, but the difference in what the College Series needs and what the Royals need was just a little too broad."

The Royals average attendance is in the six-thousands, which, in a smaller ballpark looks full, but in the cavernous Rosenblatt stadium, gives fans the feeling that the park seems empty.

"They tried a number of ways to make it work," said Chuck Bailey of American Seating, perhaps the largest suppliers of seats to all kinds of faciities. "They talked about having fourteen-thousand seats in temporary bleachers that could be 'put away' but the logistics of something like that just made it too hard to do."

"They're going out to the suburbs," said an executive of a services vendor that may be bidding on the contracts to operate both clubs, "and they're downsizing. The College World Series will be going to the new park in town in the twenties [for seating.] I don't think the Royals new ballpark will cross even eight [thousand]."

The Royals will contribute to the plan, and sign a 25 year lease, which should mean that baseball will stay in Omaha for another generation. What class of baseball, though, is a question mark that the flex-design of the stadium actually enhances.

New Triple-A ballparks, usually hover around 10,000-11,000 seats in size, often with more room on berms where people spread out towels or blankets, or benches which are not counted as "seats." When Round Rock was brought into the Pacific Coast League, it brought its seating capacity up to 10,000 to meet the standard.

"They've relaxed the standard," said Bailey, "which gives them a little flexibility in how they do things."

"They're sizing for what they think the market will bear," said a food service vendor. "Twenty-four thousand would look mighty empty most of the year for the minor league team."

The projected park size may be small for Triple-A, but is about the ideal size for Double-A baseball. While there is no plan in the forseeable future for the PCL to pull out of Omaha, its fan base is one of the smaller ones in the league and twenty-five years is a long time to say "never." It would be relatively easy, though, if the Royals' traffic grows, to build more seating, or move a Double-A team from the Texas League, which has clubs in geographically-friendly Tulsa and Springfield, into the park to keep baseball in the city.

"You always want to build with the anchors that let you expand if you need to," said Kyle Fisher, Vice President of Baseball Operations for the Omaha Royals.

To the other side, now, in a world where there is a greater understanding that contraction of the fan base is as possible as expansion, the design of the "flex" park can add years of life to facilities in markets where swings in population or fan sentiment for baseball can change the level of the game that can be supported by the community.