RICHMOND, Va. -- People from across Central Virginia are stepping up to the plate to take their swing and let their voices be heard on the top of Richmond's new baseball stadium CarMax Park. The City of Richmond, the Richmond Flying Squirrels, and CarMax announced this week that a new baseball stadium near the Diamond would be ready for the 2026 baseball stadium.
After years of discussion, debate, and disappointment for baseball fans, this week's announcement elicited a lot of emotions and opinions from CBS 6 social media users.
Send an email to the CBS 6 Newsroom about CarMax Park.
Scroll down to read some of the comments (Facebook and Instagram):
Joe Doherty
Should have sold rights to naming the field and reserved the stadium/park name for a Richmond historical baseball name that would be relevant for a century or more. A corporate identity for the whole project cheapens it and it will change constantly over time.
Brian Bergquist
I’ll take it! We need more sports teams here in Richmond.
John Carter
Get a grip. Literally every stadium has a corporate name to it. Be thankful if you like baseball in Richmond someone decided to step up for a ballpark. This team had one foot out the door because the city couldn’t get its crap together.
Marie Bucciantini
Richmond needs to have a sponsor for the Diamond so it can be paid off by corporate money not taxpayer funds like the Redskin training camp. The Diamond will always be the Diamond just like the Altria theater will always be the Mosque. At least this way we won’t be changing the name and spending more money because it’s not politically correct in a few years.
Trevor Dickerson
For everyone whining about the name, the naming rights are sold for almost every major stadium in the country. We all knew it would be CarMax, Dominion Energy, Altria, or Capital One. Say what you will about any of them, but kudos to our hometown companies for investing in local sports, arts, and entertainment venues. Most MLB stadiums are named for corporate entities. Citi Field, Petco Park, Truist Field, etc. etc. Also, to everyone saying they're still going to call it The Diamond or Parker Field, it won't even be in the same location, but tip of the hat for being "Very Richmond," as the Style Weekly of yore would say.
Watch: Richmond's new baseball stadium will be called CarMax Park. Here's a look.
Dena DeWeese Crider
It actually doesn’t sound too bad. From what I can tell, it’ll be near where the current Diamond sits. Besides baseball, they’re saying it’ll be concerts and festivals too. Yes, Car Max is paying for it, but CM is also HQ’d out of Richmond. Trying to keep it all local. That’s not a bad thing, IMO.
Judy Zuchowski
Call it what you want. It’s still the Diamond to me and the the Squirrels are still the Richmond Braves.
David Hamilton
I think I was confused, I thought the city and the taxpayers were footing the bill for the new stadium.  if Carmax is paying for it why did this take so long?
John Wiseman
For everyone suggesting it be named the Diamond, unless De Beers wants to sponsor it that name doesn't help pay for it. Also it's not sitting on the same footprint as the current park so it's less odd to call it something different when it's a new park at a new spot.
Liz Anne
Carmax was founded in RVA, and it's corporate HQ is still here more than thirty years later. Thankful for a good business that calls RVA home to be sponsoring it
Eddie Payne
I'll be anxious to see if they have major headlining concerts there. Like, big name top touring celebrities and not another lame venue no one goes to for a local band.
Sto Belongia
I’m not a fan of corporate names and all but they pay good money for it. This helps to keep the money from coming from the fans. Everything has a sponsor these days. On Chicago Cubs radio broadcasts pitching changes are sponsored by North Shore Adult Diapers. It costs a lot of money to put on a baseball game today.
thecerrashow
Could we please have some shade and not reflectively hot surfaces that bake us in the summer?
lksherm
I’m all for the beer garden but what in the fresh hell is that name 😭
Every day CBS 6 is giving a voice to the stories happening in your community. If you have a story idea, email our team at NewsTips@wtvr.com or click here to submit a tip.
