Representatives of three Birmingham’s sports teams discussed the impact of professional sports on Shelby County’s economy during a Shelby Chamber Zoom event on April 1.
Presidents of the Birmingham Barons, Birmingham Bulls and Birmingham Legion franchises all spoke, and chamber president Kirk Mancer said ‘having these teams in our region are a valuable resource to promote Shelby County.”
Birmingham Barons President and CEO Jonathan Nelson spoke about the AA baseball team franchise which dates back to 1885. An affiliate of the Chicago White Sox organization, Nelson said it is beyond important for the organization to be part of the Shelby Chamber and to be a part of Shelby County’s culture.
Although the team moved from Hoover to downtown in 2013, they still have relationships with many businesses in the county. He said the relationship between the Barons and the entire metro community has been special for many years.
“Over the years, we’ve had so many company sponsors and season ticket holders [from Shelby County] and people who host events,” Nelson said. “We have worked with so many great churches and youth organizations.”
Nelson said along with the Bulls and Legion, Birmingham has a great and healthy sports environment and culture. The Barons season will open their season May 4 and Nelson said they are “beyond excited.”
When the 2020 season was canceled due to the covid pandemic, the Barons hosted some men’s league games, movie nights, and opened the Switchyard to try to make Regions Field an outlet for people to visit during the unique time last summer.
“This will be our 8th season at Regions Field and we look forward more than ever to opening the season,” he said.
Birmingham Bulls President Joe Stroud said he is proud to be in Shelby County and represent Shelby County.
Stroud said when the team could no longer use the BJCC for their games, the city of Pelham reached out and asked them to relocate the team there.
The Bulls compete in the Southern Professional Hockey League. This is their fourth season playing in the Pelham Civic Complex and during the presentation, the team had six games left and was vying for a playoff spot.
Last year’s season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Stroud said it did have an economic impact on the program.
“We restructured our seating plan and had to raise prices,” he said. “Going through something like a pandemic, sports brings us back together and I’m glad to be part of that.”
The team will play their 100th home game on April 8 and the first 1,000 fans ages 15 and up will receive a commemorative puck.
Launched in 2018 as an expansion member of the USL Championship, the Birmingham Legion FC is the Magic City’s first and only locally owned and operated professional soccer franchise.
They will begin their third season on May 1. President and General Manager Jay Heaps came to Birmingham after six seasons coaching in MLS, and prior to that played in MLS for 11 seasons.
“Shelby County is an important piece of what we're doing and an important partner of ours,” he said.
Last year, the team was on hiatus from March until July 16 due to COVID-19, then played a 16 game season between July and November.
“We reduced our crowd and scaled down to 25% capacity,” Heaps said. We capped attendance at 3,000 and had to turn away people. In this area, people are hungry to get out there and be part of sports going forward.”
When the Legion needed a practice facility, they found it in the 1996 fields in Shelby County just off CR-41.
Heaps said they are in talks of the possibility of building a training facility there.
“When we talk about Birmingham and the metro area, we want to stretch out as much as we possibly can,” he said.
The full program is set to be up on the chamber’s website at shelbychamber.org.
