Omaha Baseball Village vendors prepare for College World Series

OMAHA, Neb. —

Omaha Baseball Village is preparing to welcome fans for the College World Series, with vendors setting up tents and new additions planned for this year’s event.

Dozens of local vendor tents were set up this weekend, signaling the arrival of the College World Series.

“The beer is going to be cold. The food’s going to be great, the fans are going to be happy,” Omaha Baseball Village marketing director Jenny Peters said.

But of course, the atmosphere will change as crowds arrive.

“It’s almost like an eerie feeling because usually it’s just so busy. You can’t even like walk,” vendor Melanie Rezac said.

Omaha Baseball Village is ready to host hundreds of thousands of fans, with new features this year.

“The Omaha Baseball Village is going to essentially look the same to fans coming through, except when you look in the tents, because we have about 35 new vendors,” a representative said.

Melanie Rezac, owner of 555 Boutique in Lincoln, has been coming to the College World Series for the past four years.

“This is our first year where we upgraded. I feel like every year we’ve kind of just moved up, but it’s just a great investment for my business. I probably do a fourth of my year’s business just here in these two weeks. So, it’s definitely worth the investment. And then exposure, branding as well,” Rezac said.

Preparations for the event involve a detailed process, according to Peters.

“We let the vendors kind of run their way through here and get unloaded, go through inspections, and then we put the final pieces in. So that’s the decorative things, the fun zones, you know, the golf, the baseball, the batting cages, things like that, and then all the signage to direct people where to go,” Peters said.

Omaha Baseball Village opens Thursday evening, with Fan Fest and all the action beginning Friday.