Coca-Cola Field
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| Former names | Pilot Field (1988–95) Downtown Ballpark (1995) North AmeriCare Park (1995–98) Dunn Tire Park (1999–2008) |
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| Location | 275 Washington Street Buffalo, New York 14203 |
| Coordinates | 42°53′N 78°52′W / 42.883°N 78.867°WCoordinates: 42°53′N 78°52′W / 42.883°N 78.867°W |
| Owner | City of Buffalo |
| Operator | Bison Baseball Inc. |
| Capacity | 16,907 (2017–present) 17,600 (2015–2016) 18,025 (2005–2014) 21,050 (1990–2004) 19,500 (1988–1989) |
| Field size | Left Field – 325 feet (99 m) Center Field – 404 feet (123 m) Right Field – 325 feet (99 m) |
| Surface | Kentucky Bluegrass |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | July 10, 1986 |
| Opened | April 14, 1988 |
| Construction cost | US$56 million ($113 million in 2017 dollars) |
| Architect | Populous (Formerly HOK Sport) |
| Services engineer | Wendel Engineers PC |
| General contractor | Cowper Construction Management |
| Tenants | |
| Buffalo Bisons (AA/IL) (1988–present) | |
Coca-Cola Field (formerly Dunn Tire Park, North AmeriCare Park, Downtown Ballpark and Pilot Field) is a 17,600-seat baseball park in Buffalo, New York that hosted its first regular season baseball game on April 14, 1988, as the tenants of the facility, the Buffalo Bisons, defeated the Denver Zephyrs, 1–0.
HOK Sport (now known as Populous) designed the park as one of the first retro-classic ballparks. This concept featured classic and distinctive architecture, a grass, baseball-specific design, and a location within the downtown core. The same firm would bring this concept to the major leagues four years later with Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
At the time of the stadium's construction, Buffalo was hoping to get either an expansion Major League Baseball team or a relocated team; Buffalo was one of the five finalists in the early 1990s National League expansion process, which led to the 1993 debuts of the Colorado Rockies and Florida Marlins. The ballpark was built with a seating capacity of 19,500 people, which makes it the third largest stadium in minor league baseball. The design allows for future expansion to accommodate a major league team: capacity could be increased to nearly 40,000 by double-decking the existing mezzanine.
In the first season the Bisons played at the stadium, the team shattered the previous minor-league attendance record, as many Buffalonians and visitors traveled downtown to enjoy the amenities offered by the new facility, which replaced the old War Memorial Stadium as the Bisons' home. In this first season, the Bisons outdrew a number of Major League teams.
After several years as Pilot Field, there was a dispute involving the naming rights to the stadium following Pilot Air Freight's defaulting on naming rights payments. For part of a season, the stadium was known locally simply as the "Downtown Ballpark". In July 1995, however, another company stepped in and acquired the naming rights, and the stadium became known as North AmeriCare Park. The stadium maintained this moniker for only a few years, however. Prior to the start of the 1999 season, Dunn Tire, a local chain of retail tire outlets, became the naming rights holder for the stadium, thus the name Dunn Tire Park. On December 17, 2008, the Buffalo News reported that a new naming deal has been reached with Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Buffalo, with the stadium renamed as Coca-Cola Field for the 2009 season.
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