NBC World Series says prime seating for Kansas Stars’ opener going quickly
Kevin Jenks sometimes wistfully stares at old photos of fans lined up in rows, standing in the concourses to watch baseball games at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium.
After this year’s National Baseball Congress World Series, the tournament director may have some of those in living color.
Tickets are selling fast to see the Kansas Stars, a team comprised of 25 former major-league players and one of their offspring – Roger Clemens’ son, Koby – play in the National Baseball Congress World Series beginning Aug. 6.
Sales took off following the Sunday evening announcement of the roster, which includes Clemens, Tim Hudson, Roy Oswalt, Josh Beckett and J.D. Drew. Former Atlanta Braves star Chipper Jones was added to the team Monday and ticket sales hit another spike, remaining steady into Tuesday.
“Those pictures that I’ve seen and we have in our archive, late at night I’ve sat there and looked at those pictures and been like, ‘That would be really cool if we could do that someday,’ ” Jenks said. “I think we have that opportunity and that may happen in this year’s World Series.”
The possibilities of standing-room seating and adding bleachers to the open space beyond the left-field fence have arisen because of local – and national – interest in seeing a group of retired major-leaguers – with 43 games of All-Star experience – play together in a unique setting.
Jenks said that on Sunday, the Select-A-Seat website was slowed by fans shopping for tickets to see the Stars play. He said lower-level seating for the 9:30 p.m. Aug. 6 game is nearly sold out and that fans shouldn’t expect tickets to be available at the booth on days the Stars play.
In the first season of pool play, Jenks and other tournament officials have set game times for each team. The Stars play their final two pool-play games at 7 p.m. on Aug. 8 and Aug. 10, and that certainty has allowed for easier access to tickets to the Stars’ games.
And increased the possibility that they might need to create more seating and tickets.
“I think you’ll definitely see a lot more traffic behind the outfield fence because who knows, someone might hit a home run,” Jenks said. “Someone might want to go run down that baseball. I think we’ll have a lot of traffic all over the stadium, and if it is standing-room only, that’s great.
“We’ve talked about bringing in bleachers, but we wouldn’t do that until we get into competition. But we have had that discussion, about the possibility of bringing in more seating.”
The NBC is keeping its regular ticket prices for each of the Stars’ games and planning for a sellout of about 6,400. Those who don’t get in may wish for a chance to watch on television, but that hasn’t yet been organized.
Nate Robertson, one of the team’s organizers along with fellow Stars player Adam LaRoche, mentioned the possibility of the MLB Network airing live game coverage. Jenks said no local broadcast has yet been discussed.
“We haven’t had any extensive conversation about any live coverage,” Jenks said. “I hear rumblings, but as far as anyone from our staff about airing any games, that hasn’t happened. We’d love to, that would be great, but to throw that together with this kind of time would be a challenge.
“If someone is able to make that happen, we’re certainly willing to listen.”
This story was originally published July 19, 2016 at 11:21 AM.