Crafting Exquisite Baseball Experiences:

After many setbacks, including two changes of the planned site and a lengthy work stoppage, in 2023 Taiwanese finally got to see the Taipei Dome, which offers a new kind of baseball viewing experience. Let’s go behind the scenes at the Dome and learn things you never knew about this baseball mecca.

(left)  After many setbacks including two changes of planned site and a lengthy work stoppage, the Taipei Dome finally opened in late 2023.

(right)  Farglory Dome Company president Janus P. Lee, known as “Mr. Dome,” hopes that the Taipei Dome will become a major landmark in Taiwan. He welcomes international travelers to visit this stadium where Team Taiwan began its run to the 2024 Premier12 title.

An industry-changing stadium

“Before 2023 nobody believed we’d get it done—everyone was very pessimistic,” admits Farglory Dome Company president Janus P. Lee. In the past, baseball games in Taiwan drew only a few thousand fans each. With ticket prices set at a few hundred NT dollars, it was hard to imagine how an enormous 40,000-seat stadium could be viable. However, as Lee describes the intention of the operations management team: “Our goal has been for the Dome to become the engine of the baseball sector in Taiwan.”

This high-end indoor venue does more than just keep out the wind, sun, and rain. The ergonomic seats ensure that you don’t get tired after sitting for long periods, the bathrooms are clean and fresh-smelling, and the directional sound system—with less than four seconds of reverberations—creates a satisfying immersive sensation. These factors have increased people’s willingness to go to the stadium, so that watching baseball has become a habit for many regardless of age or gender. The enthusiastic support of the fans has given teams the confidence to hire top-end managers and coaches, and upgrade salaries and equipment. Each thrilling base hit by a player contributes to the forward momentum of this sector in Taiwan.

(left) The Dome’s operations management team has incorporated sustainability into every detail of the facility. For example, VIP suites use large amounts of recycled materials, such as retired baseball gloves and other equipment repurposed as coffee tables. The team has also infused furniture with the iconic red color used by the Hongye baseball team. The whole space is filled with baseball-related elements.

(right) The players’ locker rooms offer a great deal of space, with each individual having their own dedicated locker. The chairs are custom-made by a supplier that also works with US National Basketball Association. The fashionable design reminds one of American country club facilities.

Sustainability and thoughtfulness

The Taipei Dome is human-oriented. The operations management team has not only ensured that attendees will get a premium baseball watching experience, but they have also given attention to details like the traffic flow and usable space for players, umpires, grounds­keepers, and performers.

Camille Yang, associate vice president in the Stadium Operation Department, takes us behind the scenes. The field is surfaced with crimp-pile artificial turf (made with wavy or coiled rather than straight strands) produced by Japan’s Mizuno Corporation; it is springy and protects players’ knees. The red soil of the pitcher’s mound and around the bases was all imported from the United States and has the same specifications as the dirt used in American Major League Baseball (MLB). The players’ locker rooms are like those in American country clubs, and even the chairs were custom-made by a US National Basketball Association supplier. In addition, the Taipei Dome contains Taiwan’s only dedicated locker room for female umpires. Meanwhile, for spectators with disabilities, it provides assistive monitors as well as more wheelchair spaces than required by law.

Green sustainability and the spirit of corporate ­environmental, social, and governance (ESG) priorities are at the core of the stadium. Discarded protective netting and red soil are donated to baseball teams in remote communities or at base-level schools. The ceilings, floors, and walls of VIP suites are made with recycled materials, while Farglory takes old bats and gloves from teams in remote areas and repurposes them into coffee tables. For the operations management team, upgrading the venue does not always mean discarding old materials; it means considering which items can be given a new life.

The Dome has already hosted overseas teams from nations including Japan and Korea, and Yang says that these foreign teams have provided positive feedback about every detail of their experiences in the stadium. Even specialists at BrightView, a company that has extensive experience handling field operations for MLB and international baseball events, consider the Taipei Dome to be a first-rate stadium that comes up to inter­national standards.

During the preparatory stages for the Taipei Dome, plans were also laid to establish a Taiwan Baseball Museum. The operations management team has collected more than 3,600 artifacts, including memorabilia from the Chinese Professional Baseball League’s inaugural season, signed baseballs, the league magazine, and objects related to the first game held in the Taipei Dome, all of which are carefully preserved. The museum is expected to open in 2027 and will serve as a hub for spreading baseball education and culture.

A stadium worth studying

Today the Taipei Dome is not just for baseball, but has also hosted basketball games, concerts, and the annual Rotary International Convention. It has even been visited by a professor from New York University who brought along a whole class of students. The professor hoped that this venue, which has energized redevelopment of the surrounding commercial area and helped expand baseball ticket revenues tenfold, can serve as a research case study.

“We hope that the Taipei Dome will become an indicator venue studied internationally,” says Janus Lee. With the completion of the phased opening of Far Eastern Garden City (a shopping center which links the Dome with Songshan Cultural and Creative Park), and the addition of the InterContinental Taipei hotel and the Taiwan Baseball Museum, the latter scheduled to open in 2027, the Dome is evolving from a sports stadium into the centerpiece of a district that brings together sports, culture, entertainment, commerce, and urban life. The Dome and its surrounding facilities are showcasing the confidence and charm of the “baseball island” of Taiwan. 

This check-in wall for entertainers outside the dressing rooms is a signature photo spot for performers. All those who have held concerts in the Dome, both Taiwanese and foreign stars, have had their photos taken here.

More than just a sports facility, the Taipei Dome is the centerpiece of a whole complex that links together athletics, culture, entertainment, commerce, and urban life. Visitors are invited to come here to experience Taiwan’s baseball culture at its most captivating. (courtesy of Taipei Dome)

The Taipei Dome offers a completely novel baseball viewing experience, and has been there for citizens through many important international sporting events. The photo was taken at the World Masters Games, held in Taiwan for the first time in 2025.