American Family Field, known as Miller Park until 2020, is a retractable roof stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Located southwest of the intersection of Interstate 94 and Brewers Boulevard, it is the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Milwaukee Brewers. It opened in 2001 under the name Miller Park as a replacement for Milwaukee County Stadium.
American Family Field features North America's only fan-shaped convertible roof, which can open and close in less than 10 minutes. Large panes of glass allow natural grass to grow, augmented with heat lamp structures wheeled out across the field during the off-season.
The stadium opened in 2001 at a cost of $392 million. Between 1996 and 2020, taxpayers paid $609 million for the construction costs through higher sales taxes. In 2023, Wisconsin lawmakers entered into an agreement with the Milwaukee Brewers to spend nearly half a billion dollars of public funds on stadium renovations.
History American Family Field was one of the largest construction projects in Wisconsin history. It was built with US$290 million of public funds from a 0.1% sales tax that began January 1, 1996, and ended on March 31, 2020. The tax was applied on purchases in Milwaukee County and four surrounding counties: Ozaukee, Racine, Washington, and Waukesha. The tax was controversial, in part because of the notion of using public funds for a privately owned sports team. The state senator who cast the deciding vote in the funding bill, George Petak of Racine, lost a recall election based on his vote for the stadium.
On November 9, 1996, groundbreaking took place in a parking lot behind County Stadium. Originally scheduled to open in 2000, American Family Field's construction was delayed after three construction workers were killed in an accident on July 14, 1999. A Lampson Transi-lift crane (nicknamed "Big Blue") brought in to build the roof collapsed while lifting a 450-ton roof section during windy conditions. A camera crew was filming construction of the stadium on that day and captured the collapse on video as it occurred. Repair work and an investigation forced the Brewers to stay in County Stadium for one more year, until 2001. There was some talk of having the Brewers move to American Family Field in the middle of 2000, but it was determined that too many issues would need to be resolved for it to be a realistic possibility.
The stadium was previously called Miller Park as part of a $40 million naming rights deal with Miller Brewing Company which expired at the end of 2020. Madison-based American Family Insurance purchased the naming rights in a new 15-year deal.
Structural challenges The unconventional fan-shaped retractable roof has not been without complications. Major elements of the pivot system behind home plate and the outfield roof track have been replaced, even after the crane incident.
At the end of the 2006 season, the roof's bogie system was replaced at a cost of over $13 million. The 10 new, , bogies were paid for with money from the settlement between the stadium district and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of America. Six of the bogies weigh , while the four others weigh . The work was completed by lifting sections of the roof approximately with Enerpac hydraulic lifts, while a crane replaced the bogies individually. "The bogies will last for the life of the facility," said Mike Duckett, executive director of the then named Miller Park stadium district. The project was completed by the start of the 2007 season.
Additions In time for the 2006 season there were three additions to the stadium. Two sets of LED scoreboards were added. One replaced the formerly manually operated "out of town" scoreboards along the left and right field walls with a new set of LED scoreboards along the left-field wall. The new "out of town" scoreboards show the score of every Major League game on that day. A second-tier marquee scoreboard was also added along the bottom of the 300-level of the stadium stretching from foul pole to home plate to foul pole, with the portion closest to the foul lines used to provide open captions of announcements from the public address system and advertisements. The section of the second-tier scoreboard above home plate displays statistics for those unable to see the main scoreboard above the center-field wall. The final addition to American Family Field for the 2006 season was the addition of a field-level picnic area in the corner of right-field. The picnic area has a capacity of 75 and provides a place for fans to watch the game in a leisurely setting and be within feet of the right-fielder. Known first as the Mercedes-Benz Field Haus, the picnic area's name was changed to AirTran Airways Landing Zone in 2009, and to the ATI Club in 2012. In 2017, due to a contract dispute between ATI and the Brewers, it was apparently billed as the Right Field Patio until gaining its sponsorship as the Aurora Health Care Bullpen in 2018.
In 2009, American Family Field's outfield was replaced with "Lo-Mo" Kentucky bluegrass just like the infield was the prior year. The new turf, common in other ballparks around baseball, is denser and has a sand base, instead of the sand and clay mix under the original grass. The turf yields truer hops and fewer instances in which the baseball skips under an outfielder's glove than the previous turf.
During the off-season between 2010 and 2011, the stadium's original centerfield scoreboard (a smaller videoboard atop a larger black and amber message display board) was replaced by a full-length and full color Daktronics 1080p HD display board which was the ninth-largest screen among MLB stadiums as of 2012, along with a public address/sound system upgrade.
In late 2023, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers signed into effect a bill totaling $500 million of taxpayer money to allow for repairs, ensuring the team remains in Milwaukee until 2050, despite threats of relocation by MLB. Debuting in the 2024 season, American Family Field had many renovations done with the most notable changes being in center and right field, with a 12,077 square feet board in center, and a 2,840 square feet board in right. The Brewers partnered with ANC in order to provide the 8mm LED displays. The center field board ranks 3rd in the majors for overall size behind the New York Mets and Cleveland Guardians. The new center field board is over double the size of the old board at 5,940 square feet. LED displays were also added on the dugout and behind home plate. The 3rd Street Market Hall, a popular food hall and event venue in downtown Milwaukee, opened with four restaurants in the right field loge level. These vendors include: Kompali Tacos, Smokin' Jack's BBQ, Kawa (Asian fusion), and Anytime Arepa (Venezuelan). The team store in left field was also renovated.
The team also announced new parking technology in collaboration with the Interstate Parking Company, based out of Milwaukee. The goal of this partnership is to speed up the time it takes for parking at American Family Field, which can be up to an hour during the busiest times. Visitors may purchase parking in advance at a discounted rate, or may pay when they arrive via QR codes across the stadium grounds. Parking ambassadors aid in the parking process.
Plans for future improvements include a $25 million winterization of the stadium as well as improvements to the roof, elevators, suites, and other parts of the ballpark.
Sensory friendly In June 2022 the Brewers announced the creation of a quiet area at American Family Field known as a sensory friendly area. The area is equipped with "sensory bags" to accommodate those with sensory processing disorders. The sensory bags contain noise-cancelling headphones, a fidget toy, verbal cue cards, and a weighted lap pad.
Attendance
From the year American Family Field opened in 2001, the Brewers have averaged 31,783 fans per game, or 2,574,423 per season, while placing 11th out of 30 franchises in total attendance, despite having only eight winning seasons through the 2019 season, and having won only two MLB playoff series in just five total series appearances, and having the smallest market size of any Major League city. In 2011, the Brewers set a franchise record of 3,071,373, and beginning in 2004 they have attracted at least two million fans—an ongoing streak of 15 consecutive years, the 12th longest in Major League history. Prior to American Family Field, the previous such consecutive streak in Milwaukee baseball history was four years, from 1954 to 1957. Since 2007, except for the required reduced attendance in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Brewers have drawn at least 2.5 million fans in 13 of 15 seasons, and have only had one season (2016), where they did not average 30,000+ fans per game.
Home attendance at American Family FieldYear Total attendance Games Game average Major League rank 2001 2,811,041 81 34,704 13th 2002 1,969,153 81 24,311 19th 2003 1,700,354 81 20,992 25th 2004 2,062,382 81 25,462 20th 2005 2,211,023 81 27,297 18th 2006 2,335,643 81 28,835 17th 2007 2,869,144 81 35,422 12th 2008 3,068,458 81 37,882 9th 2009 3,037,451 81 37,499 9th 2010 2,776,531 81 34,278 11th 2011 3,071,373 81 37,918 7th 2012 2,831,385 81 34,955 11th 2013 2,531,105 81 31,248 16th 2014 2,797,384 81 34,536 8th 2015 2,542,558 81 31,390 13th 2016 2,314,614 81 28,575 16th 2017 2,627,705 84 31,282 10th 2018 2,850,875 81 35,196 10th 2019 2,923,333 81 36,091 8th 2020 0 29 0 - 2021 1,824,282 81 22,522 10th 2022 2,412,420 81 30,280 14th 2023 2,551,347 81 31,498 15th 2024 2,537,202 81 31,323 16th 2025 2,650,089 81 32,717 12th 2026 2,786,501 80 34,831 10th Total 64,093,353 2,056 31,174
Postseason home attendance at American Family FieldYear Total attendance Games Game average Major League rank200887,926243,9632011263,692643,9492018263,165643,861202184,664242,332202382,058241,0292024121,966340,6552025211,372542,274Total1,114,8432642,879All65,208,1962,08231,320
Attractions Bernie Brewer, the team mascot, has a chalet above the left field seats. Following every Brewers home run and victory, Bernie slides into a home plate shaped platform, an homage to Bernie's slide into a giant beer mug at Milwaukee County Stadium. During the home run celebration at AmFam Field, a short burst of fireworks is fired and, above Bernie's chalet, lights spelling out the classic call of Brewers' longtime radio announcer Bob Uecker – "Get Up, Get Up, Get Outta Here, Gone!" – are illuminated.
The Johnsonville Sausage Race occurs during each game in the middle of the 6th inning. The current Racing Sausages are Bratwurst, Polish, Italian, Hot Dog and Chorizo. Chorizo was added for one race on July 29, 2006, and became a full-time participant in 2007. The Racing Sausages, along with Bernie Brewer, are common fixtures at community events around the Milwaukee area. During the 7th inning stretch, in addition to "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," fans at American Family Field sing "Roll Out the Barrel." The Barrelman mascot made his return on April 6, 2015. The barrelman served as the team's primary logo from 1970 to 1977.2015 Milwaukee Brewers Media Guide The Brewers have also set statues of legendary Milwaukee players Robin Yount and Hank Aaron outside the front entrance of American Family Field, as well as a statue of former team owner and MLB commissioner Bud Selig and one for Brewers longtime radio broadcaster Bob Uecker. An additional sculpture of Uecker was added to the highest point of seats in the ballpark, in reference to Uecker's famed Miller Lite commercial where he says, "I must be in the front row." Another sculpture, Teamwork by Omri Amrany, honors three Iron Workers Local 8 members killed during the construction of the stadium.