Pretty sure the logic is that there are generally only a handful of cold weather games a year and spending $100,000,000 to make less than 10 games a year more comfortable didn't make financial sense.
Not sure why always playing outdoors would have precluded them from putting on a retractable roof, especially when the Yankees and Mets are flush with financial resources.
Umbrella roofs (just to keep rain out... no need for complete sealing/heat/a/c, etc., can be a separate structure to not take away aesthetic value of a ballpark) would have been my preference/requirement for every new stadium built after 2000. The infrastructure to support this is still plenty expensive... and your'e not just looking at 10 or so dates/year... but the number of potential days over the lifetime of the stadium to have it make financial sense (in addition to the possible hosting of other events/concerts that may make use of this feature). I really don't understand the recent boom of NFL stadiums that have them... but never use them... while baseball has only seen one (Miami) over the last 10 years. I also see the projects they're doing in London/NY to retrofit their tennis stadiums for retractable roofs, and the price tag is obscene, and there's even less potential days that those stadiums would benefit from it vs baseball stadiums.
You just answered your own question. They are so flush with money that any potential revenues saved by an elimination of rain delays are a non-factor. The Astrodome was built because they were a bad expansion team that needed as much exposure and attendance as they could, constant rainouts and the humidity mirroring the temperature did them no favors in attendance.
So teams that have money don't build a roof and teams that don't have money don't build a roof? The Astrodome was conceived prior to Houston being awarded an expansion team and was a compelling reason as to why they were awarded a team.
I guess I'm wrong then . What I do know is that Houston gets about ten more inches of rain per year than New York, Seattle gets 5-10 inches less than that. Roofed stadiums tend to be built where the summers are brutal (Houston, Phoenix, Atlanta, Tampa, Miami), regardless of rainfall. Except for Arlington, but they've gone through enough so I'll refrain from berating them.
From what I understand the mosquitos in Minnesota are crazy in the summer. Was there any concern about that?
Minnesotans think the mosquitos are bad here. Transplanted Texans laugh at the mosquitos. Also, I don't recall ever having a mosquito bite me at a Twins game.
I meant acting like people couldn't handle a cloudy 50 degree day. Like you said, it's closed basically forever.
Wasn't it the delicious looking Pretzel last year that really struck my fancy? I think there was queso involved...and mustard and the real stuff....
The food at Target Field is mostly lame. There is a really good Murray's steak sandwich. They used to have a good sandwich from Butcher and the Boar (best restaurant in town), but quit doing that. Of course the brats are good. Most pretzels at Minnesota events are good. I just can't have more than one Surly Furious beer. Otherwise I fall asleep in the 5th inning. Currently 40 degrees and becoming overcast. Just finished a run so those million dollar players should be able to suck it up and play ball. The dugout seats are heated. They also run heating pipes under the field to help the grass survive the winter. So, generally the field is warm.
