Omaha retains College World Series through 2010

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eomaha
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Location: West Omaha

Omaha retains College World Series through 2010

Post by eomaha »

Omaha World Herald wrote: Omaha to keep CWS through 2010

The NCAA and Omaha officials will announce Thursday that an agreement has been reached that will keep the College World Series at Rosenblatt Stadium through 2010.

Mayor Mike Fahey, Dennis Poppe, the NCAA's senior director for football and baseball, and Jack Diesing, president of College World Series Inc., are expected to announce the extension at a press conference Thursday.

The extension does not call for the city to make any major renovations to Rosenblatt Stadium, home of the CWS, said two people with knowledge of the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity. The City of Omaha has made more than $30 million in improvements to Rosenblatt since the late 1980s to help keep the CWS in Omaha.

"There's nothing huge compared to what's been done in the past," said one person. "They want a new scoreboard and a permanent video board, but most of the things in the contract are minor things that will help maintain the stadium."

The CWS has been played at Rosenblatt annually since 1950. This year's tournament, which decides the Division I national champion, will run from June 17 through June 27.

Attempts to reach city officials or representatives of the NCAA or College World Series Inc., the local sponsor, were unsuccessful Wednesday morning.

Officials have been negotiating a contract extension for more than a year. Officials had hoped to announce an extension at last year's CWS but additional negotiations delayed the process.

The contract extension must be approved by the City Council as well as the NCAA Division I baseball committee.

The CWS is one of the few events, if not the only one, conducted by the NCAA in which the organization has a long-term contract with the local sponsors. The NCAA and the city operated with one-year rollover contracts for the first four decades of the event.

The NCAA agreed to a five-year contract with local organizers in 1990 when it sought improvements to Rosenblatt, which was opened in 1948. Extensions were signed in 1995 and 2000.

At Thursday's press conference, Poppe is expected to discuss the possibility of later starting dates for the college baseball season and the CWS.
OmahaRules
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Post by OmahaRules »

The CWS is huge and I hope it stays in Omaha forever.
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