A BIG FAVOR TO ASK …
A BIG FAVOR TO ASK …
The COVID-19 pandemic hit us and other minor league baseball teams hard. We went more than 20 months without playing a single game, and while we are excited to be playing ball this season, we are still reeling from the impact of the pandemic. We are doing our best to come out of the pandemic financially sound, but we could use your help.
Members of Congress from both parties in the House and Senate have introduced legislation to help keep minor league baseball across the country alive. Please take one (1) minute to ask your representatives in Congress to support the Minor League Baseball Relief Act.
All you have to do is visit Minor League Baseball Relief and type in your name and address, and a letter will be sent to your Members of Congress asking them to cosponsor this critical legislation.
A POSITIVE IMPACT ON OUR COMMUNITY
Minor League teams have become the center of “sports anchored” development … entertainment venues nestled into urban and suburban centers that provide new adjacent mixed-use success stories. In our downtown, this is a not a compelling theory, it has become a reality. The Wright State University Applied Sciences Institute estimated that the Dragons have an annual impact of over $27M to our region.
The financial and philanthropic impact of the Dayton Dragons cannot be underestimated. The Dragons have helped influence the quality of life and economic impact through collaborative efforts with the other anchor institutions in our respective communities. It was 22 years ago, when the Dayton Dragons opened the stadium gates for the first time and what has become a national phenomenon of 1,385 straight sold-out games. Our community has done something we all can be very proud of, and our downtown has blossomed with development.
Over half a million people attend Dragons games each year. Dragons fans flood into bars and restaurants, stay in hotels, walk to games from their new apartments, park in locally owned parking lots, and walk to games from business that have relocated or originated in our downtown. The vibrancy created in our community is dramatic and clear. The Dragons were the engine for economic development, and the impetus for economic development in our downtown.
The Dragons employ over 40 full-time staff and have over 500 seasonal/part-time staff members. Our organizations produce significant tax revenues for our communities and provide income for high schoolers, seniors, and all ages in-between.
The Dragons have also been game-changers for our community and a huge addition to the quality of life in our area. Dragons games are designed as family-affordable and have become important part of the fabric of their lives in the spring and summer.
- Dragons players, executives, and mascots routinely make more than 100 community appearances annually.
- The Dragons fundraising concession stand generates over $300,000 annually for the various groups working games. Since the program’s inception in 2000, it has given back more than $6.3 million to the community.
- The Dragons are constantly programming community-based initiatives to support environmental programs, food insecurity, blood, and organ donations, supporting the military, supporting first responders, supporting communities after tornados, mass shootings and other disasters, implementing educational programs to support our schools, supporting nonprofit organizations, numerous youth organizations and their programs, and programs created to assist and focus our many health causes
- Annually, the Dragons have been providing terrific life experiences at Dragons games for a select group of children from various community organizations including Dayton Boys & Girls Club, Montgomery County Children Services Board, Daybreak Runaway Shelter, Dakota Street Recreation Center, Children’s Medical Center, March of Dimes, Kettering Behavioral Medicine Center, Action Youth Outreach, the NAACP, and the Ronald McDonald House.
- The Dragons make both monetary and in-kind donations to hundreds of groups each year never saying no to any group that asks. Each season, thousands of dollars have been donated to more than 500 groups in the community in the form of donation checks and sponsorships as well as gifts of in-kind goods and services.
- The stadium also hosts several charity walks with participation levels annually of over 30,000 walkers.
Thank you for your assistance, support, and consideration. I hope to see you at Day Air Ballpark very soon!
Robert Murphy | President
Day Air Ballpark | 220 N. Patterson Blvd. | Dayton, OH 45402
Office: (937) 228-2287 ext. 104 | Fax: (937) 228-2284
