Excited fans enjoyed a festive atmosphere at Franklin Field on Friday night as the Milwaukee Milkmen opened their 2024 season, the franchise’s sixth as a member of the American Association of Professional Baseball.
In addition to the action on the field against the Kane County Cougars, there were raffles, in-game contests, long lines at the concession stands and the crowd-pleasing antics of Bo Vine, the fun-loving and popular Milkmen mascot.
There was, however, a notable absence from the opening-night festivities – the traditional post-game fireworks display.
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In a hasty vote with virtually no discussion, Franklin’s common council last week decided to prohibit fireworks after Milkmen games this season.
The decision came during a May 7 meeting that lasted more than seven hours as the council debated a temporary use application by ROC Ventures for the 2024 Milkmen season at Franklin Field. The council also set a 55-decibel maximum sound limit for Milkmen games. ROC Ventures, led by Mike Zimmerman, owns the Milkmen and The Rock and Ballpark Commons, the sprawling development that includes Franklin Field.
The action by the council came in response to concerns raised by residents of surrounding neighborhoods about noise generated during Milkmen games.
Franklin’s plan commission will now review the application and decibel limit.
The actions by the city of Franklin caught the attention of American Association Commissioner Josh Schaub, who attended the season-opening game at Franklin Field.
“There are close to 200 professional baseball teams in this country, including MLB, MLB partner leagues and affiliated baseball,” Schaub said in an exclusive interview with Milwaukee Magazine. “Franklin has to be the only city, or one of only a few, that isn’t going to allow fireworks at baseball games this season. It’s a punishment to the fans who enjoy the Milkmen bringing to life the things they love, including fireworks. Truthfully, I think the decision is un-American.”
Schaub also questioned the decision to implement a decibel limit, for which the Milkmen could be issued a citation and fined for any violation. The council’s action also requires ROC Ventures to submit a noise report from an independent consultant to the city no later than 90 days after the start of the season.
“It feels like it’s a bit disingenuous in that you allow an entertainment district to be built and then say you can barely more than whisper in that entertainment district. It seems like there is some sensationalism at play as to how disruptive the sound is in the community.”
The American Association conducts studies on where each of the ballparks in the 12-team league and their proximity to residential areas, according to Schaub.
“Franklin Field sits farther away from residential areas than many of the other stadiums in the league,” he said. “Take the Gary (Indiana) stadium. It sits right in the middle of a huge residential community and we launch fireworks there, and we have concerts and everything else. I guess I just don’t understand what’s going on here.”
The Milkmen had plans for fireworks after nine home games this season and had proposed that no fireworks display would begin after 10 p.m.
“If games go longer, then we just won’t launch them,” Schaub said. “The shows last maybe 15 minutes. That’s pretty reasonable. In most of our communities where we do have residential areas around stadiums, it’s a thing. Families go out on their porches to watch.”
The Milkmen remain hopeful that a compromise can be reached that will allow fireworks to return to the ballpark. A drone light show had been planned instead of fireworks for the season-opening game.
Fireworks and noise issues aside, Schaub, who resides in Madison and spent 13 years as an associate scout with the Milwaukee Brewers, spoke excitedly about the season ahead and having the opportunity to take in the action at Franklin Field for the Milkmen season opener.
“There’s no place I’d rather be,” he said. “The numbers have been great already. (Thursday night) in Cleburne (Texas), despite severe weather about an hour before, we had phenomenal numbers. Ticket presales throughout the league are great.”
The American Association recently announced that all live games on AABaseball.TV will be available free to consumers. The league projects the free tier will create an additional 1.2 million views for its games.
“We’re also about to announce two national television deals,” Schaub said. “We’ll have a game of the week on one network and then we’re actually signing with a large company that has 119 affiliates, and they’ll be picking up a number of our games. Otherwise, we will be going to statewide sports networks.”
The Lake Country DockHounds, the Oconomowoc-based franchise that’s beginning its third season in the American Association, announced in April that it reached a deal with WVTV (Channel 24) to broadcast a game of the month on three occasions this season, beginning with a June 1 broadcast of the DockHounds’ game against Kane County at Wisconsin Brewing Company Park.
“Having our team accessible to anyone that wants to see what we are about is very important to the organization,” DockHounds director of marketing Bryan Giese said. “We want people to see how exciting our team is, how entertaining being at a game can be and to grow our brand throughout the area.”
The DockHounds, who are owned by Tom Kelenic, father of Atlanta Braves’ outfielder Jarred Kelenic, are one of several American Association teams that have negotiated deals with local affiliates, Schaub said.
“This is all part of a strategy to be where people are,” he said.
Founded in 2005, the American Association, whose offices are in Moorhead, Minnesota, formerly operated as an independent professional baseball league but a change made in 2020 transformed it into a Major League Baseball partner league. That means that MLB shares marketing efforts and assets with American Association teams to help promote the game.
The American Association is comparable to affiliated baseball, which are the minor league teams that are directly affiliated with major league baseball franchises.
“There’s virtually no difference between us and affiliated baseball,” Schaub said. “The talent is the same, a lot of the players are the same moving back and forth. I think the one unique aspect we have is that we play to win. In affiliated baseball, players don’t really want to be there and they are competing against their own teammates. In the American Association, the players chose to sign here. And you can see it on the field in how they play. We provide great entertainment for a broad spectrum of demographics.”
Schaub remains convinced of the feasibility of having two American Association franchises in metro Milwaukee.
“I actually really think it’s good and it creates a rivalry,” he said. “There’s definitely enough population and sponsorship dollars in the area to serve them both.”
Schaub noted that the greater Chicagoland area has successfully supported three franchises – Kane County Cougars, Chicago Dogs and Gary Southshore Railcats – and there are likely to be multiple teams in the metro Dallas market in the future.
“Milwaukee and Lake Country have outperformed where we thought they’d be at this point,” he said. “When we go into communities, people often think you build a stadium and fans will just show up. But it takes time to crescendo. Lake County came out of the box way hotter than what we thought they would. We’re very happy about that.”
Attendance throughout the American Association is up about 40% since the COVID-19 pandemic and sponsorships league-wise have also been on the rise, Schaub said.
The Milkmen, who won the American Association title in 2020 in a season shortened because of the pandemic and one that saw just six franchises participate, hosted the league’s All-Star Game last season.
This season’s All-Star Game will take place in Kansas City, but Schaub said Lake Country will be considered as host for a future game.
“As one of our newer members, that is definitely a possibility,” he said. “There is a bidding process, and we look at a lot of things, one of them being nearby hotels and entertainment. Along with the All-Star game comes the fan fest, home run derby, Hall of Fame induction. There’s a lot that goes into it. We’ve got to look at all of those standards. But they are definitely on the list. They’ve got a great facility over there, great ownership and a great market that’s really responded to the product.”
