New Jersey Jackals (Frontier League) @ Hinchliffe Stadium (Paterson, NJ)

A historic stadium gets a new lease on life

*This trip occurred on May 18, 2025.

Paterson, New Jersey.

That’s it. That’s the post.

Okay, so that’s not exactly the full story…

Paterson is notoriously feared by locals for being a “rough” town - so much so that even the local state park is considered questionable by some. The third largest city in New Jersey (for now - see the BlueClaws post for more on that), Paterson was a mill town back in the day before that industry died out and really hasn’t recovered. Dilapidated houses/buildings and roads in need of some work are abundant in Paterson, and this unfortunately includes the neighborhood Hinchliffe Stadium is located in. Heck, on a visit to downtown Paterson one time, I ended up in a parking garage that was dilapidated to the point where I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to get out of there alive!

However, for whatever reason, Jackals ownership thought that it would be the perfect spot to move their team after deciding that they didn’t want to be at Yogi Berra Stadium in Montclair anymore (the team was founded in 1998 and played their first 25 years in Montclair). They made the move in 2023, and…it hasn’t really worked out. I have no clue what their attendance numbers were in Montclair, but from what I’ve heard, attendance in Paterson has NOT been good (partially because Paterson). They claim to get a few thousand a game, but it seems like they're counting sales and not spectators: the game I went to was starkly empty - you could sit basically anywhere you wanted without anyone batting an eye.

As for the stadium itself…it is actually a significant historical landmark: named after a former mayor of Paterson who helped in its construction, Hinchliffe Stadium is known as being one of the few surviving stadiums today that hosted Negro League baseball (no matter what the government tries to say about the importance of the Negro Leagues). However…there come some concessions (and not the food and drink type) when you try to preserve that history. Fenway and Wrigley are known for being historic, but some will argue that once you look past that history, they still have aspects that make for a VERY uncomfortable experience. Hinchliffe may not have giant poles obstructing some seats, but it does have its own issues; for example, there are no plastic back seats like modern stadiums - just bleacher seating (though the team does have seatbacks available). In addition, alcohol is not served (something you rarely see outside of summer collegiate leagues), there's only one single concession stand on the first base side, and its menu is quite limited (plus their oven broke the day I went apparently). Also, the section my ticket was in supposedly received a prize for one of the opponents striking out, but you were supposed to be physically sitting in that section to claim it (i.e. not just holding a ticket). I have no clue if anyone got that prize, as the sections are not labeled at all!

The playing field is quite odd: the infield is in one corner of a field designed for football, but unlike other football/baseball stadiums that high schools use, there's no extra "field" for the baseball diamond. Therefore, the right field line is BEYOND short - very tall netting prevents left handed hitters from pulling easy homers to right (though the game I went to featured three home runs to right center). There's also an athletics track around the field, and parts of it are covered with turf as it's "in play" (again, super shallow right field). There's also very little to do outside of watch the game, as there's no side activities around the concourse (though the view is kinda nice).

If you're worried about your car, there's a large parking garage down the third base line (near the main gate), It is a little pricier than you may think it should be at seven dollars, but it does help as it also has quick and easy access to the stadium (also, some have used it to their advantage...).

Additionally, there's SUPPOSED to be a Negro League history museum in the outfield, but it was closed when I went (and I've heard that it's closed for other games as well). There was an indication that the Jackals' relationship with Paterson/Hinchliffe has changed since they moved in, which is interesting, to say the least…

I don't really want to speculate too much on this, but I do truly wonder what the future is for the New Jersey Jackals. Playing in front of tiny crowds in an awful baseball setup is not a good look, and given that the team on the field hasn't been great for a bit, it's hard to imagine that a once proud organization (five league titles split between three leagues - the most recent one being 2019) has such a murky future…

And in case you were wondering about the game: Jackals won 7-1. As of this being posted (August 12, 2025), that win represents 4.5% of their win total for 2025 - they've won 22 games so far, putting them firmly in last place in the entire Frontier League (not to mention their most recent home series getting cancelled due to a water main break...).

As a final note, A soccer team is moving in for 2026: the latest installment of the New York Cosmos.

MERCH

Before I continue, I HAVE to talk about the team’s “online store”, because it is WEIRD.

The Jackals’ “online store” is one of those custom spiritwear sites, so while there’s TECHNICALLY a much more extensive range of merch online…none of it is really as “official” (i.e. player hats, official team wear, etc.). This also means that novelty items such as baseballs and mini bats are only available at the game, as well as things such as game hats (plus New Era fitted hats, as the Jackals sell these as well at games).

Going back to the game, talking about merch leads to what is probably the weirdest thing about the Hinchliffe experience: their merchandise stand (an old converted carnival game) is outside of the gates. From what I've seen, there was something inside the stadium the first year, but it got moved out for some reason (I found what I think was the old space, and it was used for storage). There's not much to say about the stuff in the stand as it's mostly hats (some of which have weird alternate logos they never wear) and shirts; I was mildly interested in some old Negro League jerseys they had, but only one of them had a script stitched onto it and the ones they had in my size ALL had ink stains on them in DIFFERENT PLACES. I did, however, end up getting a hoodie because I liked the design of it.

In addition, this is the first time within these reports that I can say that I had seen the team BEFORE this year - I went to a game in 2022 when they were still at Montclair State University. I bought a few of their hats then, as well as a super old (and rather beat up) jersey (in addition to getting more hats when visiting the carnival stand in 2024 - I thought about watching the game, but the line for tickets was too long). Sadly, said 2022 visit somehow did NOT include me getting a replica championship ring from their 2019 championship, as I don’t recall seeing them being sold (this is something I've gotten from other independent teams, including one owned by the same group as the Jackals).