Closer to the Smokies

Entrance to Smokies Park, Aug-2011.

The seating bowl, as seen from left-center field.

The pleasant view for spectators during the game. Above the craggy hill used to be a campground.

Chronological Tour: Stop 178

• Location: Just north of I-40 exit 407, Sevierville, Tenn. (map it using Google Maps)
• Opened: 2000 as Smokies Park
• Additional names: Smokies Stadium (2016)
• Home team: Tennessee Smokies, Southern League (2000-present)
• Capacity: 6,000

Rating: 3 baseballs

The first thing I noticed (and this was in 2000) was the $3 parking fee. (By 2022, that was up to $5.) The second was the ticket prices, which were substantially higher than in most of the parks I’ve seen in this loop. The price of a stadium seat in 2000 was $8; that had crept up to $10 by 2011, which given minor league inflation wasn’t so bad (and the parking fee remained unchanged). Concession prices are high but not outrageous.

The park is built into a hillside. When the park opened in 2000, there was a KOA campground above it (meaning the lucky campers with spots up against the park had a free view of the game from right field). The campground was gone when I returned in 2011, as additional development meant the arrival of more standard lodging. The freeway exit is for Tennessee state highway 66, which leads to the heart of Sevierville and connects to the tourist attractions of Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg.

Ballpark seats are all on one level, below the concourse, with the exception of the sky boxes, which cover the concourse and keep it, and a few rows of seats, in the shade. This was important for the noon game I saw in 2000.

In 2016, the name of the facility changed slightly. It became “Smokies Stadium”, reportedly because Internet searches for “Smokies Park” turned up references to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 25 miles to the south, rather than to the ballpark.

As of August 2020, there is a proposal on the board to bring the Smokies back into Knoxville with a ballpark in Old City, adjacent to downtown. The lease on Smokies Stadium expires in 2024 and Sevier County is looking at alternative uses for the site. Knoxville and Knox County agreed on terms in 2023, with the new ballpark, not far from their previous site, set to open in 2025.