Creighton has reached an agreement with the Omaha Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority (MECA) for the Bluejays to play their home games at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, the future home of the College World Series starting in 2011. The MECA board approved a 10-year lease agreement with Creighton on Tuesday.

Under the lease agreement, Creighton will play some home games in 2011 and all of its home games in 2012 at the new park.

MECA president and CEO Roger Dixon said the agreement with Creighton creates new opportunities for additional baseball action at the new stadium.

“As the home park for Creighton baseball, we intend to work together for consideration as a host for (the) Missouri Valley Conference tournament and the regional and super-regional games before the NCAA College World Series begins each June,” Dixon said. “We also intend to keep the park active after the baseball season with concerts and family events. We look forward to the completion of construction and opening of TD Ameritrade Park Omaha in spring of 2011.”

Obviously, this is a significant development for Creighton, although it seems possible the Bluejays could face the same problem that the Omaha Royals faced playing in cavernous Rosenblatt Stadium. Except for big games against Nebraska and maybe Wichita State, it’s hard to imagine fans filling the new ballpark for Creighton games. TD Ameritrade won’t be as big as Rosenblatt, but it will still be much larger than any other college baseball park in the nation. Even if Creighton draws a good crowd of a few thousand fans, the stadium will be mostly empty; What kind of effect will that have on Creighton’s home-field advantage?

PHOTO: BradWilliamsPhotography.com