A Decade at Utica’s Field of Dreams
By Nicholas Drabant
On May 15th, the USPBL, now powered by Mortgage Matchup, starts its 11th season in a familiar field with a brand new name. After ten years of partnership with Jimmy John’s sandwiches, the league has signed a ten-year agreement with yet another familiar brand: United Wholesale Mortgage.
“We have been partners with UWM since the league started. They had the naming rights, originally, to the league, not to the stadium,” said Dana Schmitt, President of the USPBL, “They have a suite that they’re at every game. They have lots of events throughout the season. We’ve had a wonderful working relationship with UWM. And it was just a time where the agreement with Jimmy John’s was ending: it was an opportunity to expand our relationship with UWM.”
Construction began on the ballpark in June of 2015 and, since it opened its doors in June of the following year, more than two million people have entered through its gates. While built primarily for the USPBL and its four professional baseball teams, the stadium has hosted dozens of events across its near decade of existence — with more sure to come.
Visitors and attendees should expect little to change beyond the new signage and branded uniforms among the players. Players, meanwhile, are excited for the installation of artificial turf that began after the 2025 season ended. As Schmitt put it, “It’s the same league. We’re still gonna play a great game of baseball: actually, it’s gonna be elevated.”
While the ballpark will remain mostly the same, the 2026 season will bring a new headquarters for the USPBL. Being built across the Clinton River from the stadium in downtown Utica, the new building is overlooking the river and the hike-and-bike trail. This state-of-the-art building will include meeting and event space, outdoor space, a gourmet hot dog restaurant named for the USPBL’s bat dog JJ, and a merchandise store with an in-house jersey printer for personalized jerseys. It is currently on schedule to open in the spring of this year, with opening ceremonies to be held in April or May.
In the ballpark’s decade of operation, it has become a veritable icon—not only of Utica and Macomb County, but of Metro Detroit as a whole.
“We knew it would be successful. A lot of other people didn’t think it would be, because we’ve never had minor league baseball in Metro Detroit,” said Schmitt, “But we were very confident that it would be successful. I think the thing that we were surprised about was the number of players who we were able to get signed out of our independent baseball league by major league teams. I think the numbers have exceeded our expectations.”
While nowhere near as large, the USPBL offers just as professional and high-quality games as the major leagues. Since the league’s inception in 2016, 52 USPBL players have been signed to contracts by MLB Operations, with seven of those players reaching the active rosters.
“We’ve only had one true, complete no-hitter thrown by one of our pitchers in our first season, it was by Donny Murray,” said Schmitt, reminiscing about her favorite moments from 10 seasons of baseball, “And, of course, whenever a player gets signed, we’ve had several times where we’ve actually been able to announce that they’ve been signed to the fans. Anytime we can do that, it’s very exciting. One time we were able to do this with a player’s grandparents who were there and very emotional.”
To those who haven’t yet made it to a USPBL game, the 2026 season offers a perfect excuse to take yourself and your family out to the ballgame and join the thousands of fans who have become die-hard USPBL fans. The first game of the season sees last year’s champions, the Eastside Diamond Hoppers, face off against the 2nd place Westside Woolly Mammoths on May 15th at 7:05 p.m.
“I’m really excited about 2026. We’re going to have this elevation of our player development side that I’m really excited about. I’m excited to see baseball on the field because I know it’s going to be really good,” said Schmitt, “Just watching all of the people leave the stadium after the games and how happy they all are. They will tell us they had the greatest time and thank us for bringing this to Macomb County. It makes you smile and want to come back for another season of baseball.”
For a detailed list of events, schedules, and rosters for the upcoming 2026 season at UWM field and the USPBL, visit uspbl.com.
