The 2026 College World Series is underway in Omaha, bringing together fans, teams, traditions, and unique experiences from across the city. To help visitors, fans, and local residents make the most of the tournament, we’ve published interviews, event coverage, food features, and a visitor guide.
Whether you’re attending games, visiting Omaha for the first time, or following the tournament from home, we hope this collection of articles helps you learn more about the 2026 College World Series and the people, places, and experiences that surround it.
OmahaNebraska.com’s Interview withAmy Hornocker, Executive Director at College World Series of Omaha, Inc.
Amy Hornocker with statue
Amy, you’ve been doing this for several years now. What changes have you seen?
Every year, we’re trying to make things better. When I first started here, we were transitioning from the paper to the mobile ticket, and now we have almost everybody on the mobile ticket. I think one of the things that we are really excited about this year is that we replaced our original video board. It was original to the building in 2011, and we added a second one and then a ribbon. So since the stadium opened, we’ve been hearing from people that they’d really like to see another one. So all that stuff went in, and we actually have new lights that have the capability of doing light shows. We did about an $8 million upgrade in technology over there. So for the game presentation and venue experience, there’s going to be a lot more fun stuff to do.
How has it grown and evolved since you’ve become an executive director?
Well, it continues to grow. I think there’s more interest in the event as a whole, and we actually did an economic impact study with Ernie Goss from Creighton for the 2025 series. The last time we had enlisted Ernie was in 2019. So pre-pandemic in 2019 it was $88.5 million economic impact and last year it was $147.6 million, so it’s showing more than just a rebound from the pandemic. It’s popular, and there’s a lot of things that go into that…the teams that are here and that kind of stuff. But yeah, it continues to grow in popularity. We’ve had a really exciting regional round. The Super Regionals start today, so by Monday we should know who will be here. There’s been a lot of upsets, and there’s a lot of Cinderellas coming through, so I think one thing that’s kind of fun about college baseball is it seems like anybody can win.
There’s certainly a lot of dedication from the players and the coaches and the fans, and I think that really makes this a special experience.
Yes, definitely.
What challenges go into preparing Omaha or here for an event of this scale? How many did you have last year?
How many, attendance-wise? I think it was, like, 340-some thousand that went through our gates. That doesn’t account for the people that are down here just enjoying the atmosphere. I think it’s really cool to see how it used to just be kind of us in Baseball Village, and now we have the Millwork area that’s really building up, and there’s a ton of new stuff over here. And now west, over here by Kiewit’s headquarters, we have a new sports bar and an outdoor venue that will be another fun place for people to gather. We’re always saying that even if you don’t like baseball, you should just come down here because there’s just so much fun to be had, and as you mentioned, it’s a huge lift. We have five people working on it on our staff year-round, but we also have all the stadium staff and then the resources that the city provides: police, fire, public works, parks, everybody. We just had a meeting in April with everybody, and it’s, like, a room full of people that have a role in making sure that this thing runs smoothly.
I’m impressed, from the games and things I’ve attended, just how smoothly it goes.
Yes. MECA, who runs our stadium, are wonderful and they have a lot of pride in this, and so they’re good partners for us.
What feedback from fans has helped shape things for this year?
Of course we did hear about the scoreboard since we’ve opened, so we finally were able to make that happen. We hear about Wi-Fi. Those are things that we’ll look at, and just keeping the team or the fans engaged. We also look at different experiences for our student athletes to make sure that they have everything they need and they have a good experience while they’re here. So every year we’re looking at something new, and we have a lot of things in mind as we look forward. Our contract is through 2036. Obviously, we’ll want to start talking about an extension sooner rather than later on it, so we have some ideas cooking.
Are there still local nonprofit organizations hosting the event?
Yeah. We still have our team hosts. Some of these guys have been doing it since before I was born, and they love it. They have a lot of pride, so they go to the airport and meet the teams and then they will be with them throughout—they’re assigned to them, and they host one special event opening weekend that the team will get to go through…anywhere from Offutt Air Force Base, which they get to go down and tour the base, which is pretty cool, and then, too, the American Legion does a lunch and karaoke. So there’s just a bunch of different things that they do with the guys.
What are some of the behind-the-scenes preparations that people don’t normally see?
We’ll have road closures starting next week where they bring down barricades, and this is all for pedestrian safety, public safety. One funny story I tell a lot is that there is somebody from Public Works whose job is for the sewer perfume, just to help our visitors a little down here in the low spots of the downtown area sometimes.
Wow.
There are so many stories like that. You see all the tent companies. We were talking about this the other day, the little things that go on that people have no idea about.
It’s a new thing to learn about, sewer perfume.
Yes, always. Yeah, one thing we’re excited about is we had a local foundation that was generous enough to provide our first-ever drone show. After game two, so Friday night postgame, it’s actually an America 250 celebration, but it has baseball flair. We’re going to have 400 drones, and it has been interesting to learn about all the rules and regulations around putting drones in the air. Anyway, that’ll be exciting for people to see. There will be an end game component, like a video of the show, but if you are outside the stadium, you’ll be able to see the drones.
Where’s a good place for spectators inside and outside the stadium?
Inside, pretty much everywhere it’ll be visible because they came in and flew and then they sat in different seats outside. It will be over the convention center, so anywhere around there it should be visible.
What are you most excited about for this year?
I would say the drone show. We also are going back to the zoo. We have a closed team event on Thursday night to welcome the teams to Omaha, and they get to bring their families. We were trying to think of ways that they could see other parts of the city, and last year we went to the zoo for the first time, and it was fun. It was just like a bunch of very large guys, like children, running around the zoo. I think that’s another thing we take for granted, being an Omaha person, is how wonderful our zoo is and how cool it is. They get to do animal encounters, so they’ll get to feed the alligators, and there’s a cheetah that they’ll get to see, so it’s pretty cool. They’ll eat there. And then the other thing we wanted to make sure of is that they could see their families, because they’ve been in a really long season, and they go from Regional to Super to here. To give them a chance to reunite with their families without people around was important to us.
We’ve already touched upon what’s new for fans this year. On the games itself, for special events and family activities, what do you have on the different days?
Obviously these are always subject to what’s going on in the world, but for Game 1 we will have a flyover of F-16s—I believe that’s South Dakota Air National Guard. There’s the drone show. Kids’ Day is Monday, Game 8, so after the game, kids run the bases, and that’s always a popular event. Game 10, Tuesday night, is Heroes in the Heartland, so it’s a salute to first responders and military in our community. Teacher Appreciation Day is Game 11, Wednesday, at 1, so we’ll have some teachers that were nominated to be honored, and we’ll have some concession gift cards for teachers who come to the games so they can have some free food on us. Then we’ll have another flyover on Saturday, Finals 1. Those are F-16s from Colorado, I think. Another special thing that’s going on where there’s some involvement with the College World Series is that the United States Navy does what they call Navy Week where they go into markets where they don’t have a huge presence. All over the city a ton of Navy people will be coming in. So we’ll have an anthem and color guard. Their brass band will be here at one point, but they have some stuff sprinkled across the city that they’re doing. So that’s kind of interesting.
What week is that one?
I think they start on the 12th, and then they’re here until the 21st. On Friday night, our off night, on June 19th they are planning a show at the Gene Leahy Mall with a bunch of different Navy bands, like woodwinds and brass, so that’s something for people to do on our off day.
Okay. I don’t remember that previously.
Yeah, they go around the country, and this is the first time they’ve done this event here in Omaha.
Thank you. What are some of the well-known and lesser-known College World Series traditions?
Yeah, so Zesto’s, obviously the ice cream place, when it opened for Big Tens, we were always excited because, like, “Oh, the College World Series is coming.” Rocco’s has the Jello Shot Challenge that they do every year, and they donate proceeds to the food banks of the teams that had the most. LSU won by a lot, so a big check went to the Baton Rouge Food Bank. So that’s kind of become a fun tradition. And I’m sure there are other things I don’t know about yet.
What trends are you seeing in attendance or visitor behavior compared to previous years?
We continue to see it remain steady or in a little bit of a climb. Like I mentioned, it does depend on who’s here as far as a team fan base. We have some teams that have not ever been here before, like I mentioned, so it will be interesting to see what this year’s turnout looks like. We also have the youth tournaments in town. Almost a thousand teams come in and out for different sessions, so they buy a lot of our outfield seats, and they’re consistent. I think we’re staying about the same or climbing, just kind of depending on who’s here.
And how far in advance do visitors typically prepare or plan for their Omaha trip?
Some people will book their hotel for next year when they leave here if they can. And then some people will be trying to find tickets on Monday when they know that their teams are getting here. So it just depends. It’s hard to get a hotel at this point, I know, so people get pretty creative. We also have the World Cup going on in Kansas City and there’s, like, games, but they say that there’s a lot of time in between, so they feel like there may be some visitors even just for a day, because they’re looking for something to do, and we’re not far up the road. So we’ll see.
What surprises do you think first-time visitors might notice when they come to Omaha?
I think that they’ll be surprised by how vibrant the community is and how there are so many things to do and just the ease of getting from the airport to the stadium. People are surprised at how close that is, and I think they’ll be surprised by the food and entertainment options that they’ll have.
We have some really great options nearby and a little further away. too.
One of the major questions we get is brunch locations, so we’ve got a list of those.
Oh, that’s good to know. I’ve been having a hard time finding a brunch place.
Yes. Lola’s is the one downtown. But some of these folks, when they have time, they like to explore.
What neighborhoods have people been exploring?
I think Blackstone has become part of that, because it’s not terribly far from here. So that’s one neighborhood that we point people to, and Benson, Midtown area, Dundee. It’s not terribly far, but it’s kind of a different vibe from down here.
What advice would you give someone who is attending for the first time?
I would say our website is a really good resource: CWSOmaha.com. We have all the ticket information, all the information on the ways that you can get tickets, transfer them, and sell them now that they’re mobile. We also have city information. I think something interesting this year is that we’ve been working with the city on a GIS system. We’ll have a map on our site that will be kind of real time that we’ll be able to update, like with Park Omaha parking lots we’ll provide updates on which ones have spots available. What’s important is that while a lot of construction will stop, for the Series, some of the streetcar stuff has to remain, so just learning how to navigate around that, we have that information available on the website. We’ll communicate that through our social channels, and MECA will, and I know the police department will describe the best ways to get in and out of downtown. Obviously with large events you have to be bring your patience regardless of the street conditions, so plan way ahead. So that’s the resource for most questions you might have, and we also have a live chat feature on there that if you can’t find the answer to a question, then it uses some AI, and if that doesn’t help you, it will escalate to a live person.
For families who will be visiting Omaha for the first time, what types of places would you recommend or make sure they experience between games?
Omaha Baseball Village is a really good spot. Our Fan Fest is great. There’s a lot of fun, it’s interactive, and it’s free. You don’t even have to have a ticket. There are fun, interactive things in Fan Fest, like wiffle ball, the Ferris Wheel, the batting cages. Omaha Baseball Village has a ton of vendors. You can buy gloves, bats, sunglasses, all that stuff. But outside of downtown, obviously the zoo. The Kiewit Luminarium is right behind CHI. So if you’re looking for other things to do, there’s a ton of stuff that we’ll promote through Visit Omaha on our website. There’s even like Fontenelle Forest. There are just a ton of things to see if you want to explore.
We covered a little bit of this, but what’s new this year? Is there anything else to add?
There will be some new things in Fan Fest. The drone shows are new, and the video boards.
What do you think makes Omaha a successful host city?
Everybody who gets involved is helping us to be successful. There’s a lot of pride in it. And then, just the way that the community makes sure that everything’s fun and safe. People just keep coming back for that.
I know there’s such a love for the College World Series here.
Yeah.
I’ve lived other places, and I’ve just not noticed that kind of love anywhere else, so that’s really nice. What would you like visitors to remember when they’re leaving Omaha?
Hopefully that they had a good experience and that they can tell everyone back home about that we’re not just a cornfield.
We get that a lot.
Yeah, yeah.
Or people are like, “Nebraska, where’s that?”
Yes.
How important do you think it is for the College World Series to serve as sort of an introduction for others to Omaha and Nebraska?
Well, we take a lot of pride in that, and we hope that we can be a piece of what makes Omaha attractive. So even if it’s for a visitor or if it’s for someone that may want to come live or work here—there’s always the conversation about brain drain and young people leaving—and so we feel like we could be a really good selling point for making this a fun place to live and work and visit.
And I’ve noticed around the ballpark so much economic activity and new businesses over the years.
Yes! So when they moved from Rosenblatt, the thought of this downtown ballpark was obviously twofold. Like, we needed a really nice facility to host this, but also their vision was that it would help revitalize the north downtown, and it’s been so cool to see how this has transformed. And not even just the north downtown, but our park systems with the riverfront and Gene Leahy Mall opening within the last few years. So, from when this went in to now has been super fun to see.
I’ve noticed these ripples economically.
Yes.
They’re really interesting, including, of course, Millwork Commons.
Yes, which is so great over there. It’s just very lively, and you go in near the Ashton and you’re just trying to get a coffee and they are always having some sort of activity.
People don’t even realize that we have all throughout, sprinkled through Omaha, in the different areas, award winners.
Oh, yeah, great coffee.
Are there any questions you would have liked me to ask that I didn’t ask?
No, I think we covered it. I think it’s gonna be a really fun year to see. There’s four teams that have never been to Omaha before, and they’re in the same side of the bracket, so they will come here and play each other. So for someone it’ll be their first time here and their first win here. So in the state of college athletics and NIL and all that stuff to see to get new people here. You know, schools that maybe don’t have the big brand. That’s pretty fun. And Omaha does a great job of embracing a Cinderella.
I know a lot of people here will be fans of any particular team.
Yeah, and then obviously we still have the schools from Mississippi. There’s three teams from Alabama. So the Southeast represents well, they travel well, so we’re excited with whoever we get.
Thank you.
CWS Omaha, Inc., Building Exterior with Signage
College World Series of Omaha, Inc.
808 N 13th St.
Omaha, NE 68102
(402) 554-4422 https://cwsomaha.com
OmahaNebraska.com Interview with Patrick Leahy, CEO of Firstar Fiber
CEO Patrick Leahy with facility in background
Please tell me a little bit about your journey here and what you did before coming here.
After college I worked in politics for U.S. senator Ben Nelson. Through there, I got some roles in non profit, in fundraising, consulting.
And that’s where I met the owner and founder of Firstar Recycling, Mr. Dale Gubbels. And when he was looking to retire, I was looking for a new challenge and he gave it to me.
How did that prepare you for your role now?
I think recycling, even though it’s about materials, aluminum cans, plastic bottles, cardboard, it’s very much a people business, whether it’s community relationships, business relationships, relationships with the mills. So the politics aspect, just being able to work with people from all different stripes and from different interests has helped out.
And then to recycle right, you really need strong processes. We need a good mix of workers and equipment doing the right things. And I think my background in the military brings those two things together.
What did you do in the military?
A little bit of everything. My main job is nuclear, biological and chemical, weapons, so that’s intelligence and nuclear weapons.
So then you’re very familiar with all the toxic aspects of the materials.
Yes. There’s nothing here quite like that.
Of course, yes.
I don’t want to equate those two. Yes. But ” safety first” is definitely a motto in the military. Risk mitigation. And I would say that translates in the recycling manufacturing industry is “safety first”.
So, that must have been a huge priority when you took over.
Yes, yes. I think there was already a strong foundation in the culture. But the recycling industry as a whole sees challenges with fires, especially fires related to lithium ion batteries. It’s something that no matter if you have a strong foundation in safety, you can always do better and you always need to keep it going.
There are so many different types of plastics. How do you sort those so they become different products?
The sortation process is in all of the above. You have the manual – human beings doing it. You have mechanical equipment and machinery helping with the sortation process, using gravity, weights, stuff like that. You also have the AI Machine Learning, robotics that are scanning things and looking at it from the material composition is inserting. It’s all three that are at play in our process to get you a good clean product. Only number one, it’s only number two. So only a certain kind.
On the AI side, are they testing the materials and using computer vision or how is that done?
Some of it’s pre-programmed and then it’s learning what things look like along the way and updating itself, to get better at a capture. It’s just using either infrared or color spectrum to make those calls as well as size.
What different types of things would you like people to know about your company that maybe they should know already and then also what they might not know.
I’m going to say about the industry, first. I think people should know why recycling is different in different locations because every recycling center is set up to handle things in a different way. Always check with your local recycling center or your local agency or government to determine what you can recycle. So you can make sure that you recycle. Because there’s nothing worse than people putting something in the cart that they think is recycled, but it’s not. It just ends up causing the system problems, slowing things down and costing more money back.
So, that’s the first thing I’d say is look to your local entity to recycle.
About Firstar specifically, I would say what makes this unique, in addition to just being a great culture, great people, is we take both commercial and residential single stream at the same facility in the same process.
We do it about half and half. Typically, recycling centers will focus on one or the other, but we’re doing both.
On top of that – with what we’re doing with our plastic feed processing and making the lumber – we’re one of the first material recovery facilities that’s vertically integrated. And we prove that this would be a model that others will follow over time.
So, that’s the two things that really make us unique.
Are you going to be building, depending on how these tests go, a plant in Hawaii and other places? Or are you going to be working with something that’s existing there?
Both. We may not be the ones that build it, but we may, whether it is licensing out our process or franchising it out. What we would prefer to do is work with a local partner because your local partner will have an understanding of the community, the government agencies involved, the construction firms like the end consumer of the product over the number of pallets, floor mats or ground mats, whatever. So it would definitely be a partnership. Who that partner is … ?
OmahaNebraska.com thanks Firstar Fiber, Inc. for the tour and interviews earlier today.
Kudos to Firstar Fiber, Inc. for their work to find new, innovative uses for discarded plastic.
Today, they turned plastic fishing nets into plastic pucks to make recycled plastic lumber.
Marine debris is a serious problem for our oceans. How can this be turned into an opportunity? Enter Firstar Fiber and Center for Marine Debris Research.
The Center for Marine Debris Research collected plastic fishing nets and sent them to Firstar Fiber. They learned of Firstar Fiber’s work from an industry publication and reached out to them.
Dale Gubbels holds the shredded and cleaned material.
Firstar Fiber continued cleaning and shredding to further prep the materials.
CEO Patrick Leahy stands in front of equipment describing its use.
The materials are then heated and extruded into the equipment.
The blue-green melted plastic is extruded from the carousel for the demonstration.The melted plastic is extruded more, cools further and is removed for the demonstration.Puck is removed and set to cool with other pucks for the demonstration.
For actual production, the melted extruded materials go into the form in the carousel and come out as lumber.
Green toned plastic Lumber is shown stacked on a pallet
Depending on the type of plastic added and temperatures, this can be turned into different types of lumber.
Visit later for more in our series on Firstar Fiber.
Center for Marine Debris Research
Hawaii Pacific University
1 Aloha Tower Drive
Honolulu, HI 96813
T:+1 808 544-0200
Toll Free:+1 866-CALL-HPU https://www.hpu.edu/cncs/cmdr/
The College World Series Pre-Game Press Conference was held this morning, virtually, on 16 June on Zoom.
Speakers included:
Jack Diesing, President of College World Series of Omaha, Inc.
Anthony Holman, NCAA Managing Director, Championships and Alliances, Operations and Playing Rules
Mayor Jean Stothert, City of Omaha
Diane Duren, Chairwoman of MECA Board of Directors
Jack Diesing, President of College World Series of Omaha, Inc.
Anthony Holman, NCAA Managing Director, Championships and Alliances, Operations and Playing Rules
Mayor Jean Stothert
Diane Duren, Chairwoman of MECA Board of Directors
Topics included:
New App-New app is available for the CWS. Please see the below for more details.
Cashless Concessions- No cash will be accepted at concessions.
Reverse ATMS- For people needing to turn cash into a card, reverse ATMS will be available.
Paperless Tickets- Tickets will be digital. If you do not have a cell phone or computer, you will still be able to attend. Admissions will be open and you can buy your ticket there.
Food- Favorites will be returning from years past.
Fans and Players-No interactions between the fans and players this year.
