KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Almost six in 10 Knox County voters polled say they strongly or somewhat favor a new sports stadium east of the Old City, according to a release from the Knoxville Area Association of Realtors.
The poll was conducted in March and made public by KAAR in a release dated Thursday.
Leaders from the City of Knoxville and Knox County are supporting a pitch by entrepreneur and Tennessee Smokies team owner Randy Boyd to build a $65 million stadium near Jackson Avenue. The publicly owned stadium would be the home of his Double A ballclub and host other athletic and public events.
A variety of money sources would pay for construction including sales tax collections from inside the park, $13.5 million from the state and baseball team lease fees.
The goal right now is to open for spring 2023.
Hancel Sale, KAAR's government affairs and policy director, said in a release the stadium would be a "transformative" project for which there appears to be overwhelming support.
The American Strategies polling firm conducted a survey March 21-23 of 400 registered voters in Knox County, according to KAAR. KAAR's board is endorsing the stadium.
Participants were asked a variety of questions, ranging from their knowledge of the baseball team, now based in Sevier County, to their knowledge of the proposed project.
The minor league team once played at a ballpark north of Magnolia Avenue in Knoxville but moved about 21 years ago to Sevier County.
When asked if they'd like to see the Smokies come back to Knoxville, 63 percent said yes, 27 percent said no and 7 percent said it wasn't important to them either way.
It appears there's at least some knowledge about the project, survey results show.
Some 33 percent said they'd heard a little about it; 27 percent said "some"; and 19 percent said "a lot." Twenty-one percent said they'd not heard of it.
During the poll, participants were given a description of the proposal and asked to react.
The results: 30 percent said they strongly favored it and 29 percent said they somewhat favored it. Seventeen percent said they somewhat oppose it and 23 percent said they strong oppose it.
When asked about various aspects of the stadium including how it would be used for more than just baseball and how it would be open year-round, 68 percent of people who were polled said those factors made them much more likely or somewhat more likely to support it.
Support for the stadium appears bipartisan, with 65 percent of Democrats in favor compared to 61 percent of Republicans. A majority of independents (53 percent) also favor the project, according to KAAR's release.
A new, seven-member sports authority has begun planning to oversee construction and financing. It meets later this month.
The Knoxville City Council and Knox County Commission also will continue to weigh in on the project.
Some in the community have opposed it, arguing it's a waste of money when other, better uses can be spent to help boost jobs and quality of life in the area.
