MiLB attendance up 6.8 percent over record-breaking 2004

 

Attendance at Minor League Baseball games got off to a flying start in April as nearly six million fans went through the turnstiles. That represented a healthy increase of 6.8 percent over April 2004, based on average crowd per playing date. The 2004 regular season attendance total of 39,887,755 fans was an all-time record for 103 years of Minor League Baseball.

 

The 176 teams in 11 full-season leagues averaged 3,717 fans for each of the 1,586 playing dates, an increase of 237 fans per opening. In raw numbers, the total attendance of 5,894,835 for April was up 584,952 (11 per cent) over last season, but represented 60 more playing dates because the season opened a day earlier and with improved weather conditions.

 

Seven of the 11 leagues reported increases with the Pacific Coast (15 percent), Texas (15.3 percent), California (27.3 percent) and South Atlantic (12.3 percent) leagues in double digits. The International (3.5 percent), Mexican (8.1 percent) and Eastern (4.1 percent) leagues also reported gains.

 

The PCL had the largest gain in fans per outing, getting an average of 761 more for each of its 179 playing dates. The Triple-A circuit led all Minor League Baseball with an average crowd of 5,821. The International was next with 5,449. The Texas was tops among Double-A leagues at 4,730, while the South Atlantic led the Class A leagues with 2,825.

 

--May 18, 2005

the averages are only up b/c they got rid of that zero-attendance minor league team in montreal