The Baltimore Orioles will call Camden Yards their home for the next 30 years under an agreement announced Friday with the state and the Maryland Stadium Authority.
Camden Yards will undergo modernization and upgrades under the deal, and the surrounding area also will be redeveloped, through investments by the private sector, in an effort to revitalize downtown Baltimore.
The Orioles began play at Camden Yards on April 6, 1992, with Baltimore setting the trend toward retro-style, instead of multi-use, ballparks. So many cities and clubs have followed in building new parks that Camden Yards now is the ninth-oldest in the major leagues.
It was at Camden Yards on Sept. 6, 1995, that Cal Ripken Jr. played in his 2,130th consecutive game, breaking Lou Gehrig’s ironman streak.
The Orioles, winners of the American League East, will have home-field advantage throughout the AL playoffs, putting Camden Yards in the spotlight.
“We had three goals in 2019 when we organized the Orioles management team,” said John Angelos, the team’s chair and managing partner, in a news release. “We set out to remake the Club to be a consistently competitive winner on the field, and to create a strong business and fiscal foundation to be able to do so at the highest level to sustain that competitiveness — and to completely reinvent and extend the Orioles’ partnership with the City of Baltimore and the State of Maryland for the next three decades to ensure that the O’s would be in Baltimore up to and through our 100th anniversary. We have been very fortunate that we have achieved all of these goals.”
As part of the agreement, the Orioles will take over operations and maintenance of Camden Yards from the stadium authority.
“This deal is not only a good use of state resources but will also drive economic growth in downtown and across the city,” Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said. “Today, we take a big step toward a more vibrant and thriving Baltimore — with good-paying jobs, a diversified economy, and opportunity for all. This deal is good for the city and the state.”
–Field Level Media