History of Citizens Bank Park
Citizens Bank Park opened up on April 12th, 2004. The park is home to the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team who are in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This ballpark replaced the cookie-cutter ballpark known as Veterans Stadium. The playing surface of Citizens is an open space concept with grass out in the outfield. The ballpark is known as a hitter’s ballpark due to it’s shorter outfield dimensions compared to other ballparks.
Where is Citizens Bank Park Located?
The field is located just outside the heart of downtown Philadelphia. Fans looking out to center field will see the city skyline way out in the distance. The exact location is known as 1 Citizens Bank Way, Philadelphia PA 19148. What’s neat about this location is that it’s located in the Philadelphia sports complex which is where the Philadelphia Eagles (NFL), and Philadelphia Flyers (NHL), and Philadelphia 76ers (NBA) play. If you are looking for Citizens Bank Park Parking, Lincoln Financial Field Parking, or Wells Fargo Center Parking, you can visit those links.
What Team Plays at Citizens Bank Park?
The Philadelphia Phillies, who are a Major League Baseball team, play at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies are in the National League East Division. In the National League East Division, you have the Washington Nationals, New York Mets, Miami Marlins, and Atlanta Braves.
What Times Does Citizen Bank Park Open?
When does Citizens Bank park open is a common question for fans visiting the park for the first time. The Phillies open their park two hours before the first pitch for regular season games.
Check out the Citizens Bank Park Food guide before entering the stadium!
Who Owns Citizens Bank Park?
Citizens bank owns the naming rights of the ballpark. They (Citizens Bank) own the naming rights up through 2028. After 2028, the naming rights go via an auction, so the name can change to something else.
What are Citizen Bank’s Dimensions?
This ballpark is known as a hitters ballpark due to the short outfield dimensions. The dimensions from right to left are as followed. 330 feet in right, 369 feet in right center, 401 feet in center, 374 feet in left center, and 330 feet in left. The fence height in right field measures 13 feet an 3 inches tall. The center field wall drops to 6 feet and the wall in left field is 10 feet 6 inches. After the first year of playing in 2004, the Phillies moved the left field wall back five feet due to the number of home runs hit there.
What is Citizen Bank’s Capacity?
The official capacity at Citizens Bank Ballpark is 43,651 seats. Since 2004, this ballpark has kept roughly the same amount of seats. The largest crowd to date came in 2008 against the Brewers. The capacity of that game was at 46,208 people due to standing room tickets.
Similar Capacity Size Parks
Phillies Park is similar in seating size to a few different venues in the game. Citi Field capacity sits at the 42k mark. Comerica Park capacity sits at over 42k people. Minute Maid Park capacity also falls into this seating range as well. Nationals Park Capacity sits out at 42k people as well.Coors Field capacity is slightly larger than Detroit as that arena holds around 46k people.
Phillies Tickets
With Bryce Harper on the Phillies in 2019, you can expect tickets to be hard to get in 2019. Matchups that will be tough to get tickets to include the Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, Washington Nationals, San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies, and St. Louis Cardinals. Fans should use SeatGeek, StubHub, TicketMaster, and more to get tickets to home games this year.
Closet Ballparks
With Citizens Bank Park in Philly, you have a few options to the north and south of your location. The nearest ballpark from Citizens Bank is Camden Yards being 1: 45 minutes south. From there, you catch a game at Nationals Park out in D.C which is not too far away.
If you head north of Citizens Bank Park, you will get to Yankee Stadium which is where the New York Yankees play. If you are able to time your trip to NY well, you should catch a game at Citi Field where the New York Mets play as well. The drive from Philadelphia to NYC is about 3 hours.
Notable Features
The ballpark had it’s first World Series in 2008 against the Tampa Bay Rays. One moment that stands out during that World Series (which the Phillies won) was during game 3. During Game 3, Tim McGraw spread his dad’s ashes on the pitchers mound before throwing out the first pitch.
There are many notable features at Citizen Bank Park for fans to take in. Out in the outfield, you will see a giant bell which represents the liberty bell. The liberty bell will light up and ring after every Philly home run and victory which is cool.
Another neat feature of the ballpark is the view out in center field that overlooks the bullpen. Fans can watch the pitchers warm up with clear views. Ashburn Alley is beyond center field that offers statues, plaques, and more for fans to take in during a game. There is also an outdoor beer garden as well out in that area for fans to check out.
Finally, you will most certainly see the phanatic during the game. The Philly Phanatic is a large bird who helps pump the crowd up during the game. Not every MLB team has a mascot, but the Phillies do and their mascot loves to pull pranks on the opposing team before the first pitch.