A new super sized dome (~350K, sq ft) is opening about 50 miles away from me in 2018. The facility boasts several 60/90, lacrosse and soccer fields under the dome with a controlled environment. I guess the cold weather states will now be playing year round like the south and west coast. I imagine the next big boom will be the youth sports medicine complexes.
Replies sorted oldest to newest
I just looked at the website and it seems legit! It's good and bad for the north. People in the north will be less behind than people in the west and south, however injuries may start to rise a bit due to overuse.
I first heard about that facility on HBO's Real Sports. Does seem like the wave of the future
Dome's are an "interesting" place to play baseball. The Trop and Metrodome ceiling problems come to mind ;-) They are also susceptible to the weather problem. There's been a 94K sq ft one in Milford, NH for years (www.hampshiredome.com). Last winter it succumbed to some serious ice/snow weight. Just looked at their website and they're just about to get the new dome back up. My youngest played indoor ball there at U11 (11-12 years ago). We used yellow baseballs to help offset the ceiling color. Always funny to see a ball hit the ceiling and come down turning those long shots into balls that bounce somewhere behind the mound! Because baseball takes up a lot of space league game times weren't always convenient. One can schedule a couple of rectangular sports practices/games in the same space as one baseball field. Still great to play indoors - lots of competition to get field times from multiple sports though.
