‘We have a vision.’ New Lexington Legends owners plan to keep baseball in city long-term.

The new owners of Lexington’s minor league baseball team have voiced a commitment to keeping baseball in the city long term, as well as to specific improvements that are envisioned for the team’s home stadium on North Broadway.

Nathan Lyons — a real estate developer from Tennessee — purchased the Lexington Legends and Wild Health Field in late October, and will serve as the new owner of the Legends along with his wife, Keri.

While the Nashville couple were only announced as the new owners of the team and stadium a little more than a month ago, plans are already in place to improve the baseball experience in Lexington, and to make sure it sticks around.

“Our goal is to keep baseball in Lexington, long term. That is our only goal,” Nathan Lyons told the Herald-Leader in a phone interview last week. “We want to make it a great experience. We need the community’s support and to do that we must add value to our fans and to our followers, so that’s our goal. We know it won’t happen overnight, but we’re going to work until we get there.”

Part of that process begins this week, when the Legends — who play in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball — will begin hosting community listening sessions to get feedback on improvements fans want with the organization and stadium.

But Lyons already has a few things in mind that he wants to upgrade at Wild Health Field.

Several improvements were made to the facility last season, including the installation of an artificial turf playing surface, new LED lights and a new outfield video board.

“But what has not happened to the stadium since it was built about 22 years ago is anything related to updating or improving the fan experience,” Lyons said. “When we looked down at the kids zone down the left field foul line, we want to enhance that, make it nicer, better. Throughout the stadium, in the stands, we envision different seating options, different food options. Just taking care of the concourse, cleaning the concourse up, cleaning the restrooms up and just giving a fresh new look and cleaned up throughout.”

Those enhancements to Wild Health Field — specifically the installation of an artificial turf playing surface — came as Lexington was the home base for two teams in the Atlantic League last season: The Legends were joined by the Kentucky Wild Health Genomes, a one-year-only team that gave the Atlantic League an even 10 teams for the 2022 season.

Lyons confirmed to the Herald-Leader that the Genomes will no longer exist, with a new Atlantic League team based in Frederick, Maryland, taking its place.

As such, Lexington will return to having just one minor league baseball team, with Lyons aiming for the Legends to complement the other sports found in Kentucky’s second-largest city.

“Our goal is to make this a true hometown team. Obviously, we’re not trying to compete with UK sports, but we want to complement it,” Lyons said, noting that the Legends’ season schedule of late April through mid-September doesn’t conflict with most college sports. “Our goal is to be a complement, be an activity for all, whether it’s a young family, young adult, adults and seniors. That’s our goal is to get people in the park, enjoy a night out in Lexington and come back and see us again.”

Lyons is distinctly positioned to drive local interest in a baseball team.

He played college baseball at Ole Miss, and can recall the intense fan interest that came with playing a home SEC baseball series over a weekend.

“It’s ultimately an event,” Lyons said when asked how his Ole Miss experience can inform how he operates the Legends. “That’s what we see here as well. We must provide an atmosphere that’s fun, that’s exciting. Yes, there’s absolutely baseball, but there’s activities that can be done other than baseball at the park.”

And what does Lyons hope to gain from the upcoming listening sessions with those who have been following the Legends for years?

“Truthfully, we have a vision, we see things that we need to improve. My guess is we’re going to get feedback on most of those things, but we also want to know things that we don’t see,” Lyons said. “What has a family that’s been going there for the last 10 years, what do they notice? It can be something little, but as we all know, the little things can make a huge difference. Our goal is to collect as much feedback, positive and negative, and then we want to take that and institute it as much as possible to improve the fan experience.”

Lexington Legends community listening sessions

Thursday, Dec. 1

Virtual: 6-7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Dec. 6

Virtual: Noon-1:30 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 10

In-person: 2-3:30 p.m. at Wild Health Field

In addition to the in-person and virtual listening sessions, the Legends are encouraging people who are unable to attend to share their thoughts through an online public survey.

Want a say in the Lexington Legends’ future? Team’s new owners are ready to listen.

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