FRISCO — The Frisco RoughRiders will embark on their 20th season when the 2023 Texas League season opens this week.
The RoughRiders, the Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers, are the reigning Texas League champions and play 138 games per season.
The team relocated from Shreveport in 2003 and has made Frisco its home ever since, surviving cutbacks across minor league baseball that have included the elimination of several franchises in recent years.
“The RoughRiders were well positioned,” RoughRiders General Manager Scott Burchett told The Dallas Express before a tour of Frisco’s Riders Field. “We’re one of the premier franchises in minor league baseball. We have a great ballpark; we’ve got great city support and great fan support.”
Burchett, originally from Garland, has been with the team for 19 of the team’s 20 seasons and has seen the area grow immensely during his time with the team.
“For me, it’s just been so fun to grow up alongside the city of Frisco and the entire Collin County area; just to see what has become of the city since the RoughRiders started,” he told The Dallas Express. “When I first got here, the tollway ended a few exits down. It was pretty much the RoughRiders and the Stonebriar Mall.”
“Now, you look around; Frisco has a skyline,” he continued. “The RoughRiders were the first one of a public-private partnership that Frisco started, and then, of course, that led to FC Dallas, the Dallas Cowboys, eventually the PGA of America, and now Universal Studios. So, it’s been cool to watch the city grow and develop with the RoughRiders.”
Despite all the entertainment options in the budding Frisco area, the RoughRiders continue to draw crowds because of their unique atmosphere and commitment to the fan experience.
“I think the most important thing I’ve learned over the years is the lessons and the ethics and the morals and the values my parents taught me at a young age really end up impacting your life,” Burchett told The Dallas Express. “So if you treat people well, if you do the right thing, do what you say you’re going to do, things should turn out okay for you, and that’s what I’ve tried to do.”
“Our biggest goal is just to continue to build off the legacy of customer service and just continue to create memories here at Riders Field,” he explained. “I tell people all the time, ‘We’re not in the baseball business; we’re not in the entertainment business. We are in the memory-making business.'”
“Now that we’ve been here 20 years, we’ve started seeing people who grew up at the ballpark now bringing their kids and introducing them to the RoughRiders. You kind of see that generational legacy that’s happening. So, for me, that’s what I’m most excited about is just continuing on with the base that we’ve made and then grow this into new heights.”
Several unique amenities within the ballpark cater to fans of all ages, including food options, the CoServ Cabana, open bullpens, and a lazy river just beyond the outfield wall in right and right-center fields.
Nine additional restaurants will be featured in the ballpark this summer, including a nacho stand, creative desserts, and unique twists on hot dogs.
The venue itself is also undergoing many renovations and improvements in its 20th year.
Riders Field is the only stadium with a lazy river, which started as a singular swimming pool.
“It was so popular that we were going to add a second swimming pool, and then during the brainstorming process, that pool kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger until it pretty much took up the entire outfield wall,” Burchett told The Dallas Express. “Like our owner, Chuck Greenberg, says, ‘It’s almost like a roller coaster at Six Flags where not everybody will ride it, but everybody talks about it.'”
The RoughRiders also deploy many promotional giveaways and events that have proven successful, including theme nights, postgame fireworks shows, and player autograph sessions.
With 69 home games per season, the team does not miss any opportunities to entertain its fans.
“We’ve got something happening just about every single one of those games,” Burchett remarked.
“With minor league baseball, you’re going to have to understand your niche and embrace that niche,” Burchett explained. “You’re never going to get the same media coverage that the Mavericks, Rangers, and Cowboys get, so, for us, we’ve got to break through that clutter.”
“It’s coming up with creative promo ideas, it’s exceptional customer service, and it’s just taking care of people. It’s all the things that make minor league baseball so unique and special.”
Promotions and events during the 20th anniversary season include Yellowstone Night featuring Denim Richards from the hit drama series, Pretzel Day featuring Leslie David Baker — who played Stanley on The Office — throwback jerseys every Sunday, 23 fireworks shows, an Easter egg hunt, a 20th-anniversary party, and various memorabilia giveaways.
“I think this year, we’re doing a far better job of just making it a fully immersive experience for our fans,” marketing director Krystin King told The Dallas Express. “Obviously, a Jack Leiter is going to draw a crowd for sure, but we can’t rely on that, so I think we really focus on the giveaways [and] the promotions of what we’re doing with all of that as well. I think that’s what we’ve had the most success with here … just really trying to do more of that stuff works better for us because we can’t [only] rely on the baseball.”
Having future MLB players on the roster does help. RoughRiders players are just steps away from reaching the Major Leagues.
Over the past 20 years, 190 players who appeared in games with Frisco have made it to the major leagues, including Chris Davis, Ian Kinsler, Jose Trevino, Elvis Andrus, Adrian Gonzalez, Joey Gallo, and C.J. Wilson.
“We’ve had a lot of great ones,” Burchett acknowledged. “Ian Kinsler, Elvis Andrus, Derek Holland. Neftali Feliz was fantastic when he was here.”
This year’s roster features four of the Rangers’ top five prospects and eight of the top 30.
Among the eight are pitchers Jack Leiter and Owen White, outfielder Evan Carter, and infielder Luisangel Acuna. The RoughRiders will also have several members returning from last year’s Texas League championship team, including Jax Biggers, Dustin Harris, Trevor Hauver, and Kellen Strahm.
“The Rangers have done a great job of bringing us really just quality people,” Burchett said. “Good baseball players, but quality people. Their coaching staff and their office of player development really takes that part of their development seriously; just to make sure that they are good community ambassadors and represent the RoughRiders and the Rangers well.”
“Our current crop is just as good as anybody that we’ve ever had here. Last year’s team won the Texas League championship, swept the playoffs with four straight wins, and a lot of that group is going to be back here in Frisco in 2023.”
The 20th season of minor league baseball in Frisco will begin at 6:35 p.m. CT on Thursday, April 6, as the RoughRiders host the Amarillo Sod Poodles.
Opening weekend will feature promotional giveaways, the revealing of the 2022 Texas League championship banner, promotional giveaways, autograph sessions, drink specials, and an Easter egg hunt.