Blue Jays: Buffalo Bisons’ stadium changes name

Coca-Cola Field, widely recognized as one of the more enjoyable ballparks in all of minor-league baseball, is now getting a new name.

According to a release from the official Twitter account of the Blue Jays’ Triple-A affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons, Coca-Cola Field is now going to be called Sahlen Field. The more detailed release, on the Bisons’ official site, says that the name will come into effect on Opening Day of the 2019 season.

Sahlen, a company based and operated in Western New York, has been headquartered in Buffalo since it’s inception in 1869. It has also been the official hot dog provider of the Bisons since 2012.

Bob Rich Jr., the president, and owner had the following to say about the name change:

"“We are thrilled to expand our already great partnership with Sahlen’s. The Sahlen’s name is synonymous with high quality service and products and we couldn’t be happier to host our brand of family-friendly sports entertainment at Sahlen Field”Source: MiLB.com"

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Per the site, Sahlen Field, formerly known as Coca-Cola Field, has welcomed over 22 million fans since it opened in 1988, and has amassed the six highest attendance totals in “the history of minor league baseball”. The Bisons’ 1991 team, which included Tim Wakefield and Jeff Banister, set the MiLB single-season attendance record of 1,240,951.

Mike Buczkowski, VP of Baseball Operations and GM of the Bisons said on Twitter that the team is “proud to have Sahlen’s, a great family-owned and operated business in Buffalo for nearly 150 years” as their new “naming rights partner”.

While the renaming of a stadium is minor in itself, several Blue Jays fans will undoubtedly be flocking to the newly named Sahlen Field as the minor league hierarchy of the organization grows more interested and intriguing next season.