Great American Ball Park

Capacity:
42,319
Country:
United States of America
Address:
100 Joe Nuxhall Wy, Cincinnati, OH 45202, United States
City:
Cincinnati, Ohio
Surface:
Kentucky Bluegrass
Team:
Cincinnati Reds
Inauguration:
31 March 2003
Construction cost:
US$290 million
($427 million in 2021 dollars)
Main contractors:
RLE Construction, Inc.
Architecture firms:
Populous, GBBN Architects

Great American Ball Park is a baseball stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. It serves as the home stadium of the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB), and opened on March 31, 2003, replacing Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium), the Reds' home field from 1970 to 2002.Great American Insurance bought the naming rights to the new stadium at US$75 million for 30 years.


In 1996, Hamilton County voters passed a ½% sales tax increase to fund the construction of new venues for both the Reds and the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). According to the lease agreement, the Reds owed $2.5 million in rent annually for years 1–9 to Hamilton County, and owe $1 annually for years 10-35 of the contract. The Reds and the Bengals had previously shared occupancy of Riverfront Stadium, but by the mid-1990s, they complained that the multi-purpose stadium lacked amenities necessary for small-market professional sports teams to compete and each lobbied for venues of their own. Nearby Paul Brown Stadium broke ground in 1998 and was opened on August 19, 2000.