Thursday marks 10 years since Chicago investor Andrew Berlin bought South Bend’s Minor League Baseball team. The packaging magnate bought the team from former Indiana Gov. Joe Kernan on Nov. 11, 2011.
“We chose 11-11-11 out of superstition,” Berlin said in a release. “Baseball’s full of superstitions, and now 11-11-11 is part of the lore.”
At a press conference Thursday, Berlin said when he went to his first game with Kernan in the summer of 2011, he wasn’t sold on buying the team.
“There were just a couple hundred people there, and the place didn’t look that great,” he said. “I really didn’t want to at the time, but Joe convinced me that this was a diamond in the rough.”
Over the last 10 years, the stadium has undergone millions of dollars’ worth of renovations, including the construction of a new performance center and the Ivy at Berlin Place apartments.
“The financial impact of the team on our area is considerable,” South Bend Regional Chamber President Jeff Rea said in a release. “According to an AECOM study conducted in the spring of 2021, the South Bend Cubs add an additional $24 million to the region every year. And it’s the kind of amenity that helps attract people and companies to the region.”
The team has also become a High-A Chicago Cubs affiliate and won the 2019 League Championship.
Looking to the future, Berlin said a major stadium expansion is in the early planning stages. He couldn’t offer many specifics, but he did say the expansion would include new amenities and a “substantial” increase in seating, both in the stadium’s lower bowl and a possible third tier.
It would also include improvements to the stadium’s behind-the-scenes operations.
“Currently, we are able to feed everyone in the ballpark with one small kitchen,” Berlin said. “We’ve been able to make do with this, but with the increasing crowds and increasing capacity, we’ll have to add more back-of-the-house improvements.”
The 2020 Minor League season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, Berlin said a late start, shortened season and rain-outs put 2021 attendance lower than previous years.
But, he said the Cubs are still selling out 55 to 60 of their roughly 70 games a season.
“When school is out, we do fill up,” Berlin said. “There are more people that want to attend these games than we have seats, so it’s our intention to meet that demand.”
Berlin said he’s in talks with architects to plan the stadium expansion, with minor improvements slated for the end of next season. He said major construction wouldn’t begin until the end of the 2023 season.
All improvements would be funded by a mechanism passed by the state legislature earlier this year. It designates the section of downtown South Bend that includes Four Winds Field a “professional sports development area,” where sales and income tax revenue is directed to the city instead of the state.
“There is no increase in taxes,” Berlin said. “It’s just that the taxes that would be collected stay in South Bend. They don’t go down to the general coffers or treasury down in Indianapolis.”
Berlin said the stadium is leased for the next 20 years, and the Cubs partnership will last for another 10 years. He said he hopes the planned improvements will keep fans coming back to Four Winds Field for the duration of that time.
“It’s not just about baseball,” Berlin said. “It’s about the community, it’s about the people, it’s about having fun and celebrating life.”
Contact Gemma atgdicarlo@wvpe.orgor follow her on Twitter at@gemma_dicarlo.
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