Peoria’s minor league baseball team enters the 2025 season with some upgrades to their downtown ballpark.
Peoria Chiefs fans may notice protective netting at Dozer Park stretching from foul pole to foul pole. The team’s manager of media relations and play-by-play broadcaster Cody Schindler says it’s an improvement made with the youngest fans in mind.
“We wanted to really do this the right way and going down to the berms,” he said. “Just knowing how many young fans congregate over there over the course of the game.”
The upgrade is also one required by Major League Baseball before the start of the 2025 season at any minor league club. In August 2024, the Peoria City Council approved amendments to the Downtown Stadium TIF District and redevelopment agreement. The amendments allow the city to reimburse the Chiefs for up to $1.2 million in mandated upgrades.
Poles are in the ground and the netting will be fully installed sometime in March.
However, Schindler says the stadium also has a mix of upgrades on the way this year, including some that aren’t required. There’s a particular focus on the experience behind the scenes, serving the players and the staff of the Chiefs’ MLB affiliate.
“We’ve added a video room for the [St. Louis] Cardinals coaching staff, and I travel on the road during the season, it’s the only one I’ve seen in the league,” Schindler said. “At the moment, we’re moving and expanding our weight room for the Chiefs’ players and staff. In 2025, we’re adding a players’ lounge. We’ve added new lockers, new flooring in the clubhouse.”
Later in the year, Schindler says the park will also get a new batting cage beyond center field.
He says the additional improvements are the result of steadily increasing attendance every year since the pandemic, as the public regains their appetite for live sports.
“We’ve kind of revamped the way we’ve done things here. We’ve added some new ticket packages and we’ve really tried to target local organizations and local businesses in Central Illinois. Get them out and provide them with a first-class experience and a fun evening,” said Schindler. “I mean, when you’re at the ballpark, there’s worse ways to spend a night, that’s for sure.”
Tickets are already available for the 2025 season. It all kicks off April 4 at home with a series against the Quad Cities River Bandits.
