SOUTH BEND – Fan safety netting at Four Winds Field in downtown South Bend exceeds the 2016 recommendations for safety netting issued for all 30 Major League Baseball teams by the Office of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball. The new recommendations were made public at the Winter Meetings in Nashville, Tennessee last week and endorsed on the same day by Pat O’Connor, President and CEO of Minor League Baseball (MiLB), representing 160 affiliate teams across the country.

“The safety and security of our fans has always been one of the most important things to us,” commented Andrew T. Berlin, owner of the South Bend Cubs. “Our safety netting is a good example of how much we care about fans. It was installed several years ago before anyone asked us to do it, and it still exceeds even these new recommendations for netting.”

The new recommendations encourage teams to implement or maintain netting (or another effective protective screen or barrier of their choosing) that shields from line-drive foul balls all field-level seats that are located between the near ends of both dugouts (i.e., the ends of the dugouts located closest to home plate, inclusive of any adjacent camera wells) and within 70 feet of home plate.

Compared to the new recommendations, the length of safety netting at Four Winds Field extends to the furthest end of each dugout on the field. Very few stadiums in the country feature netting with such extensive coverage.

“I think South Bend is a good case study,” added Joe Hart, President of the South Bend Cubs. “A lot of really smart people at teams across the country have expressed concern that extending the safety net the way we have, might compromise the fan experience – even hurt attendance. Well, our attendance has done nothing but go up for the past four years. And we’ve never received a single complaint from a fan about sitting behind the safety net.”

“Major League Baseball prides itself on providing fans in our ballparks with unparalleled proximity and access to our players and the game taking place on the field,” said Robert D. Manfred, Jr., Commissioner of Major League Baseball.  “At the same time, it is important that fans have the option to sit behind protective netting or in other areas of the ballpark where foul balls and bats are less likely to enter. This recommendation attempts to balance the need for an adequate number of seating options with our desire to preserve the interactive pre-game and in-game fan experience that often centers around the dugouts, where fans can catch foul balls, see their favorite players up close and, if they are lucky, catch a tossed ball or other souvenir.”

“I think it’s fair to say that our sixteen teams are leading the way with regard to the new recommendations,” added Dick Nussbaum, President of the Midwest League. “Most of our stadiums are close to, or already in compliance with these new recommendations. And of course, one of our teams, the South Bend Cubs, exceeds the new recommendations.”

Opening Day for the South Bend Cubs in downtown South Bend is April 7.