Kobe Sports Park Baseball Stadium, Baseball stadium in Suma-ku, Kobe, Japan
Kobe Sports Park Baseball Stadium is a baseball facility in Suma-ku, Kobe, built with natural grass covering both infield and outfield sections, and seating capacity for 35,000 visitors. The venue spreads across multiple levels with covered seating rows along the baselines and open stands in the outfield sections.
Built on the site of the 1985 Universiade venue Green Expo '85, the stadium was completed on 6 March 1988 and opened with a Hanshin Tigers vs Hankyu Braves exhibition game before 30,000 spectators. Orix made it its home ground in 1991, and in 1995, under the slogan "Ganbarou KOBE" after the Hanshin-Awaji earthquake, Orix won the league and the stadium hosted its first Japan Series.
The stadium's name comes from its naming-rights sponsor: since 2011 it has been Hotto Motto Field Kobe, after the takeaway bento chain Hotto Motto, run by the food company Plenas. It was the first baseball park in Japan to sell naming rights, in 2003. After Orix home games, the club stages "fireworks nights", setting off several thousand fireworks from beside the observation deck east of the stadium, with spectators let onto the outfield grass.
The stadium sits in the northern hills of Suma-ku, and the nearest subway stop, Sogo Undo Koen Station on the Seishin-Yamate Line, is right in front of it; a highway interchange and large park parking lots serve drivers. Because it was built on a slope, entry goes through a baggage-check gate, then up a ramp, and spectators descend to their seats from the top row, with a further staircase to the upper infield stands.
The stadium was the first baseball park in Japan to sell naming rights, in 2003, when it became Yahoo! BB Stadium. It has since been renamed Skymark Stadium and, in 2011, Hotto Motto Field Kobe. The outfield grass is also used for fireworks nights, when spectators are let onto the lawn and several thousand shells are launched from beside the observation deck east of the stands.
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