Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium is a baseball stadium in Omaha , Nebraska , the former home to the annual NCAA Division I College World Series and the minor league Omaha Royals , now known as the Omaha Storm Chasers . Rosenblatt Stadium was the largest minor league baseball stadium in the United States . The final College World Series game at Rosenblatt Stadium was played on June 29 , 2010 ; with the South Carolina Gamecocks defeating the UCLA Bruins to win the 2010 College World Series . The final game for the Royals in the stadium , and under the Royals name , was played on September 2 , 2010 , with the Royals defeating the Round Rock Express . Now that both series have been concluded , the Omaha Nighthawks will play their 2010 season at Rosenblatt ; Creighton Prep plans to play a football game there as well . Following those , Rosenblatt will be replaced by TD Ameritrade Park Omaha . Professional baseball history . Omaha Municipal Stadium was built in 1947 , ready to host the single - A Omaha Cardinals for the 1948 season . The St . Louis Cardinals farm team was the first professional baseball team to call Omaha its home . Over the next few years Rosenblatt hosted several different teams . In 1969 , the Kansas City Royals moved their triple - A franchise here , which played at Rosenblatt through the 2010 season . In 1964 , the stadium was renamed to honor former Omaha mayor Johnny Rosenblatt , who was instrumental in bringing professional baseball as well as the College World Series to Omaha . Omaha teams . Team moved into PCL in 1998 after AA folded . Team was named " Omaha Golden Spikes " during 1999 - 2001 . Rosenblatt and the College World Series . Since 1950 , Rosenblatt Stadium has been home to the College World Series . After the initial contract between the NCAA and the City of Omaha expired , the parties quickly agreed to renew . Currently , the NCAA and the city of Omaha have agreed to continue hosting the Men ' s College World Series in Omaha through the 2035 season . Due to recent growth in the sports , the City of Omaha has devoted resources to the stadium to accommodate teams and fans . In 2001 , for example , more than $ 7 million was spent on the stadium . One of the major additions was 10 , 000 new seats , bringing the total capacity to 23 , 145 . The record for most consecutive sellouts at Rosenblatt stands at 82 consecutive games . In 2002 , the College World Series surpassed the 5 , 000 , 000 spectator mark in all - time attendance . In 1999 , the local event organizers , College World Series of Omaha , Inc . , placed the sculpture " Road to Omaha " in front of the main entrance . Created by local artist John Lajba , the sculpture shows three players celebrating by lifting one of their teammates in the air . One of the players whose likeness was used to create the statue ( far right ) is the current University of Virginia head coach Brian O ' Connor . O ' Connor is an Omaha native and was a CWS participant as a pitcher for Creighton in ' 91 , as an assistant with Notre Dame in ' 02 , and with Virginia in 2009 . With the anticipated opening of TD Ameritrade Park Omaha in 2011 , the College World Series will be moving to this new stadium , and the renamed Storm Chasers will move to a new stadium in Sarpy County . Rosenblatt and the Omaha Royals . Although the stadium ' s size is not an issue for the World Series , the high capacity leaves the Royals struggling to fill it for its regular season games . There had been discussion since 2003 of building a separate venue for the Omaha Royals , which also could have been shared by Creighton University and / or the University of Nebraska at Omaha . Alan Stein , the President and part owner of the Omaha Royals had stated he would be willing to invest $ 10 million into a new 7 , 500 seat stadium for the Royals . He said a 30 , 000 seat CWS stadium downtown with removable seats down to 12 , 000 would not be a viable alternative . The Royals believed that a smaller , more intimate stadium would double annual attendance up to 500 , 000 - 600 , 000 . According to Stein , that increase would have been unlikely at either Rosenblatt or a large downtown stadium . The Royals had named multiple other cities with whom they have discussed stadium relocation , but decided to stay in greater Omaha with the construction of their new ballpark . Efforts to save Rosenblatt Stadium . In May 2007 a grassroots organization called " Save Rosenblatt " tried to save the stadium for the use by College World Series . The group aired a TV commercial with actor Kevin Costner and proposed architectural plans for a renovation of Rosenblatt . The group also created an informational website . The group was composed primarily of governmental spending critics and homeowners near Rosenblatt Stadium who stood to lose money from the loss of proximity of the College World Series . The members of " Save Rosenblatt " believed that Rosenblatt Stadium should be retained and enhanced , saying that the CWS and the City of Omaha would have been better served by a remodeled Rosenblatt and modified area around the stadium . However , on February 27 , 2008 , after nearly five months of deliberation , Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey and the stadium committee made a public recommendation for a new downtown stadium . This proposal included plans for the demolition of Rosenblatt Stadium . Many citizens of South Omaha responded with disappointment and frustration over the lack of public participation in the project planning and a lack of a public vote on a multimillion dollar project . Other concerns focused on the financing and certainty of the construction costs of the new stadium . In response , fans have begun a movement to build an online museum of Rosenblatt Stadium and have formed a special interest group on the social networking site Facebook . New agreement . On April 30 , 2009 , the city and the NCAA agreed on a memorandum of understanding , outlining a preliminary agreement to keep the World Series in Omaha for another 25 years through 2035 . The agreement stipulated that the series be moved to the new downtown stadium by 2011 . A formal contract must still be negotiated and the Omaha City Council must sign off on all parts of the proposal , but neither procedural step is expected to impede construction of the new stadium . Omaha Nighthawks . On April 15 , 2010 , it was announced that Rosenblatt Stadium would be home to Omaha ' s Nighthawks in the United Football League for the inaugural 2010 season . For 2011 and beyond , the Nighthawks will move into the new TD Ameritrade Park . The Nighthawks played four games Rosenblatt stadium during the 2010 UFL season , selling out all four . The league was so impressed by the attendance that they awarded the 2010 UFL Championship Game to Rosenblatt which was the last event ever held there . Future use . Plans call for the site of Rosenblatt Stadium to be sold to pay off the debt remaining from the stadium ' s multi - million dollar renovations . The adjacent Henry Doorly Zoo is set to take control of the land and demolish Rosenblatt once the new downtown stadium is completed . While the stadium land itself will only be used for parking , it will be part of an overall expansion of the zoo that will include a new visitor ' s center and a new Arctic exhibit on what is now the Zoo ' s primary parking area east of 10th Street . A tribute to Rosenblatt , sized to Little League standards , will be created within the new parking space created by the stadium ' s demolition . Atmosphere . Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium was one of the few stadiums to still use live music instead of prerecorded music . Lambert Bartak , an organist for the Royals , is one of only two organists ever to be ejected during a game , the other being Wilbur Snapp . The playing field in Rosenblatt Stadium had the ability to stay playable with even an 8 . 5 inch per hour rainfall . Note on dimensions . Before remodeling for the 2002 season , the foul lines were 343 ( now 335 ) and the power alleys were 370 ( now 375 ) . Centerfield was 420 ( now 408 ) .