The Ripken Baseball Experience Pigeon Forge Adds Four Fields

Ripken Baseball is adding to its collection of baseball fields, which will allow the company to renovate four additional playing surfaces in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

Branded as the Ripken Experience Pigeon Forge, the venue will be able to host teams from around the country on 10 total fields, including access to the new fields at Pigeon Forge’s Wear Farm City Park, located in Sevier County just six miles from the entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

“Every year, our teams and their families take home countless fond memories of the Pigeon Forge area when they participate in The Ripken Experience,” said Cal Ripken, Jr., who co-founded Ripken Baseball with his brother Bill Ripken. “The views are unbelievable and the feeling you have when you experience our complex is special. The demand to play here is through the roof. This is an exciting opportunity to expand and welcome even more baseball families to Pigeon Forge.”

The four fields at Wear Farm City Park will be transformed into youth replicas of the following Major League Baseball stadiums: St. Louis’ Busch Stadium, Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Stadium, Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium, and Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium. The $3 million renovation project will begin this summer.

“Pigeon Forge’s partnership with Ripken Baseball is a successful one, as demonstrated by the annual increase in demand for the ball fields and the direct impact on our city’s tourism industry due to the many families who visit,” said Pigeon Forge City Manager Earlene Teaster. “The upgrades to Wear Farm City Park are a win-win for The Ripken Experience and our Pigeon Forge residents as these fields bring vast improvements for everyone to enjoy.”

The Ripken Experience Pigeon Forge hosts more than 1,000 teams annually from more than 30 states, traveling from as far away as California, Alaska and overseas. A 2018 economic impact study attributed $33.8 million in visitor spending to the venue during the facility’s nine-month season that year.