Ground was broken for the ballpark on June 15, 1999, with former
New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman in attendance. Campbell's Field was funded by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, a loan from the
Delaware River Port Authority, a grant from
Rutgers University, and private financing obtained by the builder, Quaker Construction. During construction, the stadium was owned by the Cooper's Ferry Development Association. Upon completion, it became the property of Rutgers, which signed a lease with Camden Baseball, LLC to operate the stadium in conjunction with the Atlantic League. The new ballpark involved a $24 million construction project that included $7 million for
environmental remediation costs. Prior to construction, Campbell's Field was a vacant, undeveloped parcel of land that historically housed businesses that included the Campbell Soup Company Plant No. 2, Pennsylvania & Reading Rail Road's Linden Street Freight Station, David Baird & Company's lumber mill and Eavenson & Sons’ soap manufacturing company. Campbell's Field opened in May 2001, and was one of the projects designed to spark urban renewal in Camden. The ballpark was honored in 2003 by
DigitalBallparks.com and in 2004 by
Baseball America as the "Ballpark of the Year." Campbell's Field was honored with several local awards, including the Camden County Improvement Authority Entertainment Award in 2000, the International Masonry Institute Golden Trowel Award in 2001, the Urban Land Institute's Award for Excellence in 2002, the Downtown New Jersey Excellence Award, the New Jersey Business and Industry Association Good Neighbor Award, and the Distinguished Award for Engineering Excellence given by the Consulting Engineers Council of New Jersey in 2003. In April 2009, Campbell Soup announced that it would continue to have its name on the ballpark at least through 2020. In 2011 Campbell's Field is where the
United States national rugby league team achieved victory in the Atlantic pool of
2013 Rugby League World Cup qualifying, booking the nation's first ever
Rugby League World Cup appearance. The stadium's financing totaled $35 million in loans and bonds from banks and various state and county public agencies, including the
New Jersey Economic Development Authority (which issued a $7 million bond), the
Delaware River Port Authority (a $6.5 million loan) and
Rutgers University ($2 million). Threatened with foreclosure in 2015 amid millions of dollars in outstanding rental fees, the Camden County Improvement Authority (CCIA) acquired the property for $3.5 million and came to agreement on a 15-year deal with the team to repay the money through ticket surcharges, though the demise of the Riversharks later that year meant that only one payment was made towards that surcharge. While the stadium incurred annual debt service payments of $300,000, the facility brought in $100,000 in annual revenue, mostly from Rutgers University for rental fees for the
Rutgers University–Camden Scarlet Raptors baseball team to use the stadium as its home field. In October 2015, after failing to reach an agreement with CCIA on the revised terms of a lease agreement, the stadium's primary professional tenant, the Camden Riversharks, ceased operations. In September 2018, a contractor was awarded the $1.1 million task of demolishing the stadium. Demolition and surface preparation for the new complex was funded by the city of Camden and Rutgers University. The $16 million athletic complex, called Camden Athletic Fields, officially opened on May 2, 2022. ==College and Atlantic League baseball==