Durham Bulls Athletic Park (DBAP, pronounced "d-bap") is a 10,000-seat ballpark in Durham, North Carolina that is home to the Durham Bulls, the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball. It is also home to the Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Central Eagles college baseball teams. The $18.5-million park opened in 1995 as the successor to Durham Athletic Park. History The ballpark was designed by HOK Sport (now Populous), who also designed Camden Yards in Baltimore, Progressive Field in Cleveland, and Coors Field in Colorado as part of the "new" old-stadium-like movement of the 1990s. The Freelon Group, responsible for designing numerous buildings around North Carolina, also participated in the design. The Bulls began playing at the DBAP in 1995 when the team played in the Class A Advanced Carolina League. In 1998, Durham moved up to the Triple-A level, causing the DBAP to be expanded to 10,000 seats. The first Triple-A game was played on April 16, 1998. A roof covers approximately 2,500 seats behind home plate and down both the first and third base lines to the end of each dugout. All seats at the DBAP are extra wide with seat backs, extra leg room and over 95% of the seats have cup holders. The stadium was designed and built so that every seat gives fans a great view of the field with an intimate ballpark feel. Durham Bulls Athletic Park is located in downtown Durham and can be accessed from the Durham Freeway. The ballpark reflects many characteristics of old-time parks and the historic downtown Durham architecture. Following a playoff game on September 6, 2007, the playing surface was named Goodmon Field, in honor of Jim Goodmon, owner of the Durham Bulls and CEO of Capitol Broadcasting. On August 30, 2011, Triple-A Baseball announced that Durham Bulls Athletic Park would be the host site of the 2012 Triple-A National Championship Game on Tuesday, September 18, 2012. The Triple-A National Championship Game pits the winner of the International League's Governors' Cup against the Pacific Coast League Champions in a one-game, winner take all championship. The Bulls were the first International League team to host this annual game. The game was projected to bring in $2.5 million just for the city of Durham with another $2 million for the adjacent cities (including Raleigh). The game itself saw Reno of the PCL win an easy