Dodger Stadium’s $100M renovation focused on player facilities

5 hours ago

Construction continues inside Dodger Stadium as thousands of fans attend the annual DodgerFest fan event in the parking lots outside the venue on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. This round of $100 million renovations is focused on player facilities, such as expanding the clubhouses and adding another indoor batting cage. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Orange County Register/SCNG)

1 of 12

Malcolm Smith, legendary motorcyclist and Riverside business owner, dies at 83

Expand

LOS ANGELES — Like the roster, Dodger Stadium itself has been a work in progress all winter.

The 63-year-old facility has been undergoing a $100 million renovation, the latest in a number of investments the Guggenheim ownership group has made in the venue since taking over in 2012.

Unlike the major changes made in 2020-21 when the center field plaza was created and a number of additional upgrades were made to the outfield pavilions, fans won’t even notice these changes – unless they take one of the many stadium tours that have become a booming business for the Dodgers since the signing of Shohei Ohtani.

This winter’s work has centered on the player facilities, expanding the clubhouses, adding a second indoor batting cage and more space in other areas like the food room and workout area.

“It’s going to be state-of-the-art once again,” team president and CEO Stan Kasten said. “It’s going to be 30 percent bigger than it was. The clubhouse alone is going to be 40 percent bigger. Just keeping up with the times, with the new needs of this generation of players.”

Those needs have changed since the Dodgers renovated the clubhouses 12 years ago, Kasten said. Technological advances – the Trajekt Arc virtual reality pitching machine is just one example – require more space.

“The last time we did it was 12 years ago already,” Kasten said. “That just flew by and there have been a lot of advances – technology, space, just the way clubhouses are used now. They’re used much more than they were in the past and they’re used 365 days a year, unlike in the past. We’re just upgrading it, modernizing it, expanding it and including all of the technological innovations that have emerged in the last few years and allowed some room for future innovation.

Your last-minute Rose Parade 2025 survival guide: What you need to know

“Every new stadium and new renovation of other ballparks have all of the latest things, some of which we didn’t have or which we had tucked into corners that didn’t accommodate it very well. So we were just making this what we did 12 years ago.”

The project has presented a challenge for the team as it prepares to defend its World Series title. A large number of players have worked out at Dodger Stadium during past offseasons, taking advantage of the Southern California weather and the facility.

They were unable to do that this year with the stadium torn apart. Instead, the Dodgers made arrangements for players to work out at a facility nearby.

“It’s been a huge advantage for us in years past, having our minor-league players here and big-league players train here, our chefs making breakfast and lunch, obviously the weather being perfect,” President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman said.

“It’s been a challenge this winter. … We feel like it will be worth it in the end, but it’s certainly been a challenging offseason.”

The project is on schedule to be completed well before the team returns from Japan and hosts the Angels in the first game of the annual Freeway Series on March 23, then the Detroit Tigers for the regular-season home opener on March 27. In fact, Kasten said, workers are scheduled to start restoring the playing field on Tuesday – the same day Dodgers pitchers and catchers will have their first spring training workout in Glendale, Arizona.

Horse dies after Santa Anita training injury, rider hospitalized