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Some Stray Thoughts About the $200 Million Baseball/Soccer Stadium They’re Trying to Build in KOP
By Matt Schultz
Published:
Here’s the tweet that brought this to my attention:
Which led me to this Philadelphia Business Journal piece by Emma Dooling, where I read the following:
Upper Merion Township wants to develop a $200 million entertainment district in King of Prussia with a stadium for professional baseball and soccer teams, but the project hinges on state funding to move forward.
Officials are eyeing a 16.8-acre site at the Moore Park business complex on 1st Avenue for the Montgomery County project, according to an application Upper Merion Township filed with the state seeking funding. The preliminary proposal outlined in the filing calls for a mixed-use district anchored by a stadium with capacity for more than 7,500 people.
The Phillies hold the minor league territory rights to the region, including Montgomery County. They have three affiliate teams just outside of the Philadelphia area: the Double-A Reading Fightin Phils, the Triple-A Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs and the High-A Jersey Shore BlueClaws.
There have also been efforts in recent years to bring a professional women’s soccer team to the region.
The cost of the entertainment district project is estimated to be $197 million, according to the township’s RACP application. In addition to the grant, the filing shows Upper Merion is seeking another $55 million from the state and a $31 million commitment from Montgomery County over the course of 30 years.
This is big news. I love minor league baseball. I love the idea of it. I’ve written about it pretty recently on this very website. And thinking about a potential minor league stadium in King of Prussia is pretty fun – though it does pose a good amount of questions/notes/slight concerns.
Stray Thoughts, Questions, and Concerns About a Potential Minor League Baseball Stadium/Soccer Field in King Of Prussia
-Why are they doing this?
-Who asked for this?
-Is there demand for a baseball team in KOP?
-I feel like there’s been a hard KOP push over the last couple of years.
-People trying to make KOP a big/cool/interesting spot.
-It’s not working.
-No one cares about KOP.
-Pretty boring out there.
-This is just my opinion, of course.
-But yeah, pretty bland and boring.
-It’s just the mall.
-And even that is over-hyped and overcrowded and generally irritating.
-I tried to get tickets to The Odyssey in 70mm IMAX at KOP and it’s all sold out.
-Some bullshit.
-Movies shouldn’t sell out for weeks at a time.
-It’s not a concert. It’s a movie. Can’t be all that great.
-But the KOP 70mm hype is out of control.
-That’s what all of KOP is to me: Bunch of hype and no substance.
-The town just is a mall and office spaces and 8-lane highways and identical-looking apartment buildings/condos built in like 2022 that have frozen yogurt places and First Watches on the first floor near Top Golf and Cheesecake Factories and a Maggiano’s and other trying-to-be-nice restaurants that are connected in long rows to Rally House and Wegmans in a sprawling parking lot dotted with well-maintained grass medians.
-Which is fine. I’m not knocking it.
-Cherry Hill-esque, I’d say.
-But the push to get people interested in living and hanging out in KOP feels way out of proportion to what it actually is: a place for divorced dads to take their young kids for fun/food on their custody Saturday.
-Also, it’s annoying how every time the Roosevelt Boulevard Subway idea is brought up, there’s always someone in the comments saying, “No way, this is a waste of money, they should make a rail line connecting Philly and KOP instead.”
-The Northeast is more important than KOP.
-You don’t need to ride the subway to go to Netflix House.
-You don’t need to take a regional rail to look at an animatronic Demogorgon next to a fog machine.
-Grow the hell up…
-But the minor league baseball stadium is interesting.
-I am pro-minor league baseball stadiums, of course.
-I would just rather it wasn’t in KOP.
-Tons of way better places to put it in the Philly area.
-The Northeast, while we’re on the subject, would be good.
-Trevose.
-Feasterville.
-Croydon.
-Imagine a minor league baseball stadium along the waterfront in Croydon… Could change everything…. Croydon may be the answer…
-Pair this stadium with the Roosevelt Boulevard Subway…
-Now we’re cooking…
-Imagine the foot traffic this could bring to the Neshaminy Mall…
-A new golden age could dawn for the Neshaminy Mall…
-The Neshaminy AMC will overtake the KOP IMAX as the main/good/cool movie theater in the area…
-This is all coming up Croydon…
-Also, KOP’s plan is to make a mixed-use baseball stadium and soccer field?
-Has that been done before?
-A quick Google has taught me the answer is yes: The Brooklyn Cyclones stadium in Coney Island doubles as the home field for Brooklyn FC.
-I actually like that. Seems cool.
-But why would taxpayers have to foot the bill?
-That’s what the article is getting at, right?
“-In addition to the grant, the filing shows Upper Merion is seeking another $55 million from the state and a $31 million commitment from Montgomery County over the course of 30 years.”
-That seems bad.
-The rich people profiting from the stadium should be the ones to pay for it.
-Remember when Bill Simmons said that all dramatic as if it was extremely radical? That ruled:
-Anyway, think we made some progress here.
-The stadium will be in Croydon.
-The Roosevelt Boulevard Subway will be built.
-And a billionaire will pay for all of it.
-LeBron James is a billionaire…
-Word is he’s coming to Philly…
-King James…
-The King of Croydon…
-The new AAA-Phillies affiliate Croydon Kings… inaugural campaign set to begin Spring 2027…
-Clock is ticking…
-Exciting stuff.
Kinkead: we couldn’t find a better photo, hence an exterior shot of Kooma
Kinkead 2: Okay the photo service had the wrong Kooma. They said it was the KOP one, but I believe that is the West Chester location. There are 0 pictures of the King of Prussia mall in our photo service so I will leave it blank until I can find something.
Kinkead 3: enjoy this Google Maps shot of KOP
Matt Schultz is a comedy and sports writer from Philadelphia. He’s written extensively for ClickHole, The Onion, and Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco. His work has been featured in Vulture, Deadspin, The A.V. Club, Paste Magazine, and other publications. Much of his sports journalism can be found on college basketball websites that don’t exist anymore (PhilaHoops Heads rise up…) email: M.Schultz@sportradar.com