Coors Stadium

Great American Ballpark was built to replace Cinergy Field. Inaugurated in 2003, the stadium is the fourth home of baseball's oldest professional team, Cincinnati Reds. Located in downtown Cincinnati , Ohio on the Ohio River , the $290 million ballpark is an excellent place to take in a game. The stadium features the third-largest scoreboard in the major leagues. On April 4, 2003 , Sammy Sosa's blasted his 500th homerun and on July 20, 2003 , Jeff Bagwell's hit his 400th homerun.

In the mid 1990's the Reds and the Bengals (NFL), after sharing Cinergy Field for nearly three decades showed a propensity to play in the separate modern stadiums. After their much lobbying in March 1996, Hamilton County voters approved a half-cent-per-dollar sales tax increase to build separate stadiums for Cincinnati 's Reds and Bengals. The tentative cost for the construction of both the stadiums was $544 million. However, the Bengals new stadium alone exceeded that amount. Several negotiations between the Reds and the City of Cincinnati took place, because the project was getting delayed. A major reason for the delay was that Reds ownership had been slow to spend a lot of money, on a new stadium. Finally, in July 1998, the Reds announced that their new ballpark would be built between Cinergy Field and US Bank Arena, in an area recognized as the 'wedge'. The ground-breaking ceremony for the new stadium took place on October 4, 2000 . Construction began in October 2000 and almost 14,000 seats were removed from the outfield of the Reds previous home arena, Cinergy Field. After the 2002 MLB season, Cinergy Field was completely demolished. On March 28, 2003 , the Reds inaugurated the stadium for an exhibition game with the Cleveland Indians. On March 31, 2003 , Former U.S. President George H. W. Bush threw the ceremonial first pitch, after which the stadium hosted its first regular season game. The Pittsburgh Pirates bested the Reds by 10-1.

The Cincinnati Reds named their second ballpark on the riverfront on March 31, 2003 after Great American Insurance bought the naming rights to the ballpark for $75 million over 30 years. The portico of the stadium is made of bricks with a cast stone base and details. The bricks are an embodiment of Cincinnati 's rich architecture while the cast stone represents a strong base and references the image of the famous Roebling Suspension Bridge nearby. The stadium's homely configuration offers an excellent view from every nook and corner of the stadium, and the river is visible just beyond the right field bleachers. The ballpark has approximately 42,059 seats in three levels painted in red. The lower grandstand extends from the left field foul pole to homeplate and around to the right field foul pole. The second level features club seats, luxury suites, and the press box. The seating section in the upper deck is broken into two sections. The gap is located between homeplate and third base and enables people in downtown Cincinnati to peep into the ballpark. The foul territory is relatively less at Great American Ballpark as compared to the other ballparks and gives the fans excellent views of the game. The 10,100 tons of structural steel used to construct Great American Ball Park is adequate to build the Statue of Liberty 81 times.

The stadium has one of the largest scoreboards in baseball. It is located above the stands in left field. The scoreboard is topped by a clock in left field and is an imitation of the Longines analog clock that was at Crosley Field. The bullpens are located beyond the outfield, the Reds in left centerfield, and the opposing team's bullpen behind the outfield wall, near the right field foul pole. A brewpub also recognized as the Machine Room is located near the Reds bullpen and offers the fans a place to calm down and catch the ballgame leisurely. The ballpark has 27 concession stands and 215 points of sale. The light towers that are being installed at Great American Ball Park are called “ Toothbrush Light Towers ” because the shape looks like to that of a toothbrush. 95% of the ballpark features Hussey Seating's “Legend” model. These seats are designed to amalgamate a conventional looking seat with modern-day advancements. In right center field, two riverboat-inspired smoke stacks flash lights, make noise, shoot fireworks, mist and launch fireworks to provoke the players of the home team and instill enthusiasm in them. Four statues of Joe Nuxhall, Ernie Lombardi, Ted Kluszewski, and Frank Robinson represent the Crosley Field era and are put up at Crosley Terrace, in front of the main entrance. Special lighting illuminates the statues. The Reds Hall of Fame Museum and team store is located near Great American Ball Park along Main Street . An out-of-town scoreboard is installed in the left field wall and allows for other game scores to be displayed at the same time and continuously. Parking is not a hassle here since several parking spaces surrounds the stadium.