Overall Score: 74.8 out of 100

 

We arrived at Dunkin Donuts Park at around 10:10 am on Thursday May 30th, 2019. The game was a 10:35am start against the Portland Sea Dogs. Dunkin Donuts Park (DDP) is a very new stadium that opened in April of 2017. Its seating capacity is 6,121.

 

Aesthetic:  8.6

DDP has a pristine brick exterior with a clean professional appearance. From the inside there was a mostly covered concourse lending a walk around the whole stadium. The blue seats add a similar look to Yankee Stadium seats and also are one of the Yard Goats colors which are a light navy blue and light green. DDP boasts a lot of local Hartford area advertisements from Insurance, beer, news stations, and more.

 

Atmosphere: 7.8

Being in DDP gave a relaxed, happy, care-free vibe from the time we walked through the gate. This didn’t cause it to lose its baseball atmosphere. For an early morning game it was a decent atmosphere but it would be interesting to see a game under the lights at DDP.

 

Cleanliness: 9.0

We were both pleasantly surprised with the cleanliness of DDP. When we first got there we used the restrooms and they were nicely kept and sanitary and maintained this reputation throughout the game. Seats and seat backs were clean and trash cans were not overflowing. The souvenir shop was a little disorganized and items were on the ground that had to be put back on the shelves.

 

Seating Options: 9.7

DDP had a very impressive array of seating options available to its fans. Some of our favorite options were the barstool height seats that were directly behind the bullpen and so close you could have a low volume conversation with the pitcher, in center and right field there was also barstool and “table” seating protected by netting perfect for eating at the game, if you prefer more of a bird’s eye view there was a second deck extending from the right field line to centerfield, additionally there were suites on the upper level sections from around 1st base all the way around to third base. Finally, there are 3 rows of 6 seats near each dugout that give you a great view of what goes on during the game. We sat behind home plate a few rows back and had a pleasant experience. It was also easy to get into good seats by walking into a section. There were ushers, but they didn’t check tickets.

 

Parking: 7.6

When we arrived to Hartford we got off I-91 onto Trumbull St. and took an immediate right at the light onto Market St. We decided to pull into the Goodyear that had a sign for $5 parking. We paid as we entered the lot and we were directed where to park. From here it was a short 3 minute walk to the gate in Center Field. There were police directing walkers and controlling the traffic lights to ensure pedestrian safety.

 

Pricing: 7.3

Parking- Parking was $5 in all DDP lots.

Food- Food was standard in pricing for a typical ball field. We had a pretzel for $4.

Tickets-Typical tickets through the Yard Goats website run between $12-$24+ on the day of game and $10-$25 before game day. We bought our tickets on TickPick 20 minutes before gametime for a lower level seat behind home plate for $8 each. We like using TickPick because all fees and extra charges are included in the price they show unlike many other 3rd party ticket sites.

Merchandise- On the more reasonable to standard side of pricing for merchandise and trinkets. We bought a baseball for $6.

 

Fan Involvement: 7.4*

Our experience is likely skewed due to it being Education in Baseball day at DDP. Schools from across the Hartford area had a field trip day at the park. The stadium was “booming” from the high pitched chatter of all the little kids’ excitement. Therefore, all of the fan engagement opportunities on the Jumbotron were nicely executed. Had it not been school day I’m not for certain what the involvement would entail.

 

Food: 6.4

DDP had the standard food options that you would see at most ballparks. A concession that has hot dogs, snacks, burgers, popcorn, pretzels, and more. We had a pretzel that was mediocre and somewhat dry.  The did have a nice BBQ option out in left field that smelled quite good. Due to it being an early game you didn’t see a lot of people with food during the game.

 

Mascot: 6.8

The Hartford Yard Goats had two mascots: Chompers and Chew Chew the goats. Chompers is green with blue horns and Chew Chew is Blue with green horns. They were fun mascots with a friendly persona, but weren’t super engaging at the field.

 

Souvenir Shop: 4.2

The souvenir shop was located between right field and the first base line. It was tucked in the corner and didn’t have an enticing entrance to pull you in. There was only one store option. The store itself was relatively small. There was apparel, trinkets, and a lot of apparel of teams other than the Yard Goats which we found quite strange. There hat options were nice and around $30 for fitted.

 

Miscellaneous/Extra Innings:

We have a few notable remarks from the game that weren’t fitting in the other sections.

• Factory Sealed Water Bottles are not allowed into the game, you will have to throw away, take to the car, or chug.

  • Although, we were confused when we saw a lady bring in a meal for her toddler which she didn’t have to throw out.

• The grounds crew had a performance towards the beginning of the game that was fun and entertaining.

• There were also live goats in the center field area by the bathrooms that were fun to look at and pet.