Third Base Concourse

Lore & Background

American Family Field was one of the largest construction projects in Wisconsin history. It was built with US$290 million of public funds from a 0.1% sales tax that began January 1, 1996, and ended on March 31, 2020. The tax was applied on purchases in Milwaukee County and four surrounding counties: Ozaukee, Racine, Washington, and Waukesha. The tax was controversial, in part because of the notion of using public funds for a privately owned sports team. The state senator who cast the deciding vote in the funding bill, George Petak of Racine, lost a recall election based on his vote for the stadium. On November 9, 1996, groundbreaking took place in a parking lot behind County Stadium. Originally scheduled to open in 2000, construction was delayed after three workers were killed in a crane collapse on July 14, 1999. The stadium opened in 2001.

Reader's Guide

American Family Field features North America's only fan-shaped convertible roof, which can open and close in less than 10 minutes. Large panes of glass allow natural grass to grow, augmented with heat lamp structures wheeled out across the field during the off-season. The stadium opened in 2001 at a cost of $392 million. Between 1996 and 2020, taxpayers paid $609 million for the construction costs through higher sales taxes. In 2023, Wisconsin lawmakers entered into an agreement with the Milwaukee Brewers to spend nearly half a billion dollars of public funds on stadium renovations.

Did You Know?

• The stadium was previously called Miller Park as part of a $40 million naming rights deal with Miller Brewing Company which expired at the end of 2020.
• Madison-based American Family Insurance purchased the naming rights in a new 15-year deal.
• The unconventional fan-shaped retractable roof has had major elements of the pivot system and outfield roof track replaced, even after the crane incident.
• At the end of the 2006 season, the roof's bogie system was replaced at a cost of over $13 million.