Northwest Arkansas Naturals
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Northwest Arkansas Naturals Founded in 2008 Springdale, Arkansas |
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| Class-level | |||||
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| Current | Double-A (2008–present) | ||||
| Minor league affiliations | |||||
| League | Texas League (2008–present) | ||||
| Division | North Division | ||||
| Major league affiliations | |||||
| Current | Kansas City Royals (2008–present) | ||||
| Minor league titles | |||||
| League titles (1) |
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| Division titles (4) |
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| Team data | |||||
| Nickname | Northwest Arkansas Naturals (2008–present) | ||||
| Ballpark | Arvest Ballpark (2008–present) | ||||
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Owner(s)/
Operator(s) |
Rich Products Corporation | ||||
| Manager | Vance Wilson | ||||
| General Manager | Justin Cole | ||||
The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are a Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team based in Springdale, Arkansas. The team is member of the Texas League, and serves as the Double-A affiliate to the Kansas City Royals. They relocated to Springdale from Wichita, Kansas, in 2008. They were previously known as the Wichita Wranglers. The team also had previous incarnations as the Amarillo Gold Sox and Beaumont Golden Gators.
The Naturals play at Arvest Ballpark. The facility is located at the intersection of 56th Street and Watkins, and was completed in early 2008.
The Wichita Wranglers had struggled with low attendance numbers and an aging Lawrence–Dumont Stadium throughout Bob Rich, Jr.'s 18-year ownership of the team. In 2006, he sought a move to Springdale, Arkansas, contingent on a citizen vote to approve financing for a new stadium.
The pro-baseball movement in Springdale had counted on the support of the Rev. Ronnie Floyd, influential pastor of local megachurch First Baptist Church of Springdale. In June 2006, Floyd abruptly pulled his support after he discovered that the team would serve alcohol at games, making professional baseball a contentious and evenly split issue in Northwest Arkansas. The July vote on a measure to extend a one-cent sales tax to raise $50 million for the stadium passed by only 15 votes.
The team's nickname plays off the state's nickname as the "Natural State," as well as the Robert Redford film, The Natural. The Rich Family owes much of its baseball success to the Redford film. In 1983, Bob Rich, Jr. bought the Class AA Buffalo Bisons, who had suffered low attendance the previous season, for $100,000. That year, Hollywood producers approached Rich about filming scenes of The Natural at Buffalo's War Memorial Stadium. Following the release of the film, local interest in the team rose and attendance at the Bisons' games nearly tripled. Rich was then able to finance the Bisons' move to the Class AAA American Association. In something of a coincidence, the AAA Bisons were formerly the Wichita Aeros, meaning Rich has purchased two different teams that had played previously in Wichita, Kansas.
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