Photos by Meg Minard, Stadium Journey
Stadium Info FANFARE Score: 3.14
Chukchansi Park 1800 Tulane St Fresno, CA 93721
Year Opened: 2002 Capacity: 10,650
Single-A in a Triple-A
Chukchansi Park (formerly known as Grizzlies Stadium) hosts the California League minor league baseball Fresno Grizzlies. Fresno’s first baseball team began in 1898, and the sport has been played in the city off and on since. The most current iteration moved to Fresno when the Phoenix Firebirds relocated in 1998.
The Fresno Grizzlies moved from being the Houston Astros AAA affiliate to the Colorado Rockies Single-A affiliate when MLB overhauled and restructured the minor leagues in 2021. The Grizzlies have also been affiliates of the San Francisco Giants and the Washington Nationals.
In Nov 2023, DBH (Diamond Baseball Holdings) purchased the Grizzlies and now owns and operates it, along with 35 other minor league ball clubs.
Chukchansi is a Native American Indian tribe in central California known for their beliefs in advocating early learning and giving students the tools they need to succeed, including the continued education of their historical culture. The tribe owns and operates the Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino, 40 miles north of Fresno. That casino owns the naming rights to downtown Fresno’s Chukchansi Park.
Food & Beverage 3
Chukchansi Park offers a decent variety of food and beverage choices.
Concession stands offer hot dogs, corn dogs, burgers, chicken tenders, pizza, fries, and garlic fries ($5 - $14). They also sell a wing helmet basket for $25. Snacks include pretzels, popcorn, cookies, chips, peanuts, nachos, etc. Pepsi provides soft drinks.
At Chukchansi Park, the beer choices are better than average. The permanent concession stands sell it on tap or in a can. A can of beer is $9. The best place for IPA lovers’ beer is a stand-alone cart near section 117 with almost ten varieties of IPAs.
The Oppo Taco concession, way down the first baseline, is a great place to visit. They provide local craft brews and tacos or chorizos. Wine, cocktails, frozen margaritas, and homemade sangria are available at this stand.
The venue has a new bar and social gathering spot with furniture and drink rails down the third baseline.
Atmosphere 3
Chukchansi Park is a good-looking stadium and offers all you would expect from minor-league baseball.
Three levels of seating are available, with suites on the top level. The seats are standard green fold-down stadium chairs with cupholders, average width, and average legroom. All seats are in the shade, and the venue even has much-needed misters on the concourse. Like many minor league parks, the nets go to the foul poles.
Chukchansi Park Mist, Photo by Meg Minard, Stadium Journey
Bullpens are on the field just beyond first base (home) and third base (away). One can sit in the low row numbers in section 122 (home) or 106 (away) and be right smack in front of them.
A manual scoreboard is in right-center field, which is a fabulous idea. The stadium has a new scoreboard in left-center field which shows the line score, player stats, pitcher and batter stats, and an abundance of advertisements. Good stuff.
The interior concourse is remarkably wide, with plenty of room to navigate. The Grizzlies post the starting lineups clearly on a first base concourse wall.
The overall music volume is perfect, but the PA announcer is muffled. The game day music person thankfully plays minimal ‘noise’ between pitches. Between-inning contests are innocent and non-invasive and provide just the right amount of minor league entertainment while giving fans something besides baseball enjoyment. Entertainment involves hug cams, taco races, sumo wrestling races, and the like. The team displays fireworks after every Friday night home game. A kid’s play area and splash park are in right field. Kids get to run the bases after Sunday games (and get free ice cream).
Neighborhood 3
Chukchansi Park is in downtown Fresno, with plenty of places to explore before a Grizzlies game. The area has lots of festivities (at least on weekends). Downtown Fresno is in the midst of a revitalization with a new brewery district, additional public transportation, outdoor public art, and new apartments.
Places to eat and drink near Chukchansi Park include Kocky’s Bar and Grill (sports bar) and Los Panchos (Mexican Restaurant and Cantina). It’s best to go pregame as these places close early during the week. Local brewery Tioga-Sequoia is just around the block from the ballpark. Procreations Brewing Company is three blocks away, and Full Circle Taproom and The 411 Rec Room (pub) are within walking distance.
Hotels within walking distance are the SureStay by Best Western Fresno Central and the DoubleTree by Hilton Conference Center. The La Quinta Inn Fresno Yosemite is a mile away.
Other things to visit include the Veterans Memorial Museum (a half mile from the park) and the Fresno Chaffee Zoo (about three miles from the ballpark). Yosemite, Kings Canyon, and Sequoia National Parks are an hour to an hour and a half’s drive, and all are well worth the visit if in Fresno.
Other sports in Fresno include the Fresno State Bulldogs, and the Fresno Monsters (junior ice hockey).
Fans 3
The Grizzlies’ average attendance has been near 4,200 per game the last few years, putting them at the top of the pack in attendance in the California League.
A few diehard fans sit at the top of the section behind home plate and often bring banners or posters. The fans do heckle and applaud good (and poor) plays and calls. The fans in attendance are thoroughly supportive of the team.
All staff and fans welcome visitors and make you feel welcome and glad you are there. It's such a nice feeling.
Access 4
It’s easy to get in and out of the area and find parking. Ten-dollar lots are around the park. If you are staying downtown, it’s just a couple blocks walk. Fans should not feel threatened or unsafe walking to and from the stadium.
Fresno has an extensive bus system called FAX (Fresno Area Express). Route 28 looks to be the one to take, but check the FAX website first.
The closest airport (a very nice one) is Fresno Yosemite International Airport (FAT), a 12 – 15 min drive to the ballpark. An Amtrak station is also within walking distance (1/2 mile) of downtown and the ballpark.
Once in the stadium, the concourses are wide open and easy to navigate. Restrooms are sufficient and serve their purpose. Ramp access is available at any of the entrances, and there are plenty of accessible seating choices.
The Fresno Grizzlies just recently incorporated a clear bag-only policy. Clear bags up to 16” x 16” x 8” and small clutches up to 5” x 8” are allowed. It is supposed to speed up entry into the park.
Return on Investment 3
Ticket prices run from $10 - $65 (five dollars more for premium nights, including all Friday and Saturday games). A recommendation is to buy the cheap seats and sit anywhere you want, as the venue does not sell out often. Just move to another seat if those ticket holders show up.
The Grizzlies offer daily specials such as Two for Tuesdays (2 for 1 ticket, $2 soda, and ice cream), Tioga Thursdays (two 19.2 oz beers for $10), Save Mart Sundays (bring your receipt and get $5 off each ticket), and the like.
Plenty of promotions occur throughout the season, including fireworks, Christian fellowship night, bark in the park, diversity and inclusion night, back-to-school night, heritage nights, and so on. Check the team’s website for all the specials and promotions.
If watching the ball game is the main purpose for visiting Chukchansi Park, this is actually quite a perfect minor league baseball experience.
It costs $10 to park (seems high, to me, for Single-A ball). Concessions are reasonably priced, and the team offers deals on certain days.
Extras 3
The revitalization of downtown Fresno is extremely noticeable. Thanks to the local businesses, the community, and the city for its continued efforts to restore the downtown area to what it once was, but better. The most recent updates to Chukchansi Park are the new scoreboard and lights.
I love manual scoreboards and am ever so pleased the Grizzlies have continued to maintain the one the ballpark provides.
Chukchansi Park Manual Scoreboard, Photo by Meg Minard, Stadium Journey
I was fortunate to attend a Fiesta Oso featuring the Lowriders de Fresno. The Grizzlies dressed as the Lowriders, and the venue displayed many customized cars during the festival.
Final Thoughts
Although the team moved from a Triple-A to a Single-A affiliation a few years ago, attending a ballgame at Chukchansi Park is still an enjoyable day/evening out with good baseball. For those who live in Central California, I encourage you to visit Fresno and the ballpark. For those who haven’t been to the city in a while, you’ll be pleased with the resurgence of the downtown area.
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