Dell Diamond Voted Best Minor League Sports Facility - MLN Sports Zone Poll

MLN Newswire – 06.06.07 – BOCA RATON, FL. - The Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas reigns supreme today as the best venue for minor league or professional independent sports in North America for 2007, according to Minor League News (MLN) in its June, 2007 edition of MLN Sports Zone ( See the cover above at http://www.mlnsportszone.com ).

In a poll conducted by MLN in May, fans voted on the best of over 135 venues that host minor league or independent baseball, hockey, basketball, or football.  Fans selected the best overall ballpark or arena, then chose the facilities with the best food, entertainment, and special features.

The Dell Diamond swept all categories, while the Chevrolet Centre in Youngstown, Ohio, and the Stockton Arena in Stockton, CA. placed second and third, respectively in the overalls. Stockton was No. 2 in the categories across the board.

Beyond which stadiums and arenas fans liked the best, the MLN poll also asked them what food and beverages were their favorites, what entertainment was tops, and what special places, like children’s play areas or in-ground pools in the outfield, make their parks unique.

The results were surprising.  Several big-dollar items to entertain the fans don’t pan out quite as high as many in the front office think they do, while some simple, basic food items or entertainment scored big with the readers taking the poll.

This was the first year that what was the MLN Top Ten Ballparks award, since 2001, was opened up to all sports and venues as the expanded MLN Vote4TheBest competition.  In prior years, ballpark expert Joe Mock of Baseballparks.com picked the best of the best.  This year the fans decided.

“We are extremely pleased with the results of the poll,” said MLN senior editor Brian Ross. “Not every team lobbied hard for their ballpark, but the ones that are known to us as top facilities still topped out in the survey.  The Dell Diamond secured its place as the number one facility not only as a ballpark, but in North America in 2007.  The Central Hockey League and the ECHL both decided to show up in force and show up Minor League Baseball, which they did. Something like 66% of the top ten venues were places where hockey, hoops, or indoor football is played.”

The article can be seen at http://www.mlnsportszone.com/features/articles2007/vote4thebest2007/01.html * and the cover can be seen at http://www.mlnsportszone.com

Since 2000, Minor League News (MLN) has been the largest independent publisher of the only four-sport minor and independent sports news publications in the world.  The article appears in the flagship electronic magazine, MLN Sports Zone. MLN runs the first daily national newswire dedicated to the minors, MLN – The Raw Feed  and the first sports critics and blogger site with a minor league and indy sports focus, The MAJOR BLOGS of Minor League News. The company also sponsors and hosts the Open Source Sports Directory , the first directory of minor league and indy athletes from 1900 to the present in Wiki format.

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