Baseball Pilgrimages
Top Draws in 2014
By averaging 9,686 fans per home date, the Charlotte Knights at BB&T Ballpark were the top drawing team in all of minor league baseball. The Knights were also #1 in Triple-A, while the Frisco RoughRiders at Dr Pepper Ballpark averaged 6,614 to be the top drawing Double-A team. At the Single-A level, the Dayton Dragons' average of 8,437 at Fifth Third Field was easily the best for the classification. For short-season teams, the 6,260 average drawn by the Brooklyn Cyclones at MCU Park lead the way.
The Box Office Busts of 2014
The smallest typical crowd at a minor league ballpark was 753, which is what the short-season Princeton Rays averaged at Hunnicutt Field. For teams that play a full season of games, the Class A Bakersfield Blaze claimed the bottom spot by averaging 827 at Sam Lynn Ballpark. At the Double-A classification, the Huntsville Stars, with 1,460 in their final season at Joe Davis Stadium, had the worst average. The smallest average crowd at the Triple-A level was the 3,743 of the Syracuse Chiefs at NBT Bank Stadium.
Being Average
The average number of tickets sold per minor league game in 2014 was 4,044. The closest a team came to that number was the Tennessee Smokies, who averaged 4,102 at Smokies Park.
26 Got 'Em All In
Depending on league and level, teams have between 34 and 72 home games scheduled per season. Here's the games-by-league breakdown, with the teams listed in brackets having made it through their 2014 season with no home postponements, and thus no lost gates:
72 games
International, Pacific Coast
[Reno]
71 games
Eastern
[Trenton]
70 games
California, Carolina, Florida State, Midwest, South Atlantic, Southern, Texas
[Birmingham, Clearwater, Corpus Christi, Fort Wayne, High Desert, Lake Elsinore, Lancaster, Lansing, Modesto, Pensacola, Rancho Cucamonga, San Jose, Stockton, Visalia, West Michigan]
38 games
New York-Penn, Northwest, Pioneer
[Boise, Eugene, Hillsboro, Lowell, Salem-Keizer, Tri-City (NY), Tri-City (WA)]
34 games
Appalachian
[Burlington, Greeneville]
|
|
Regular season attendance for the 160 teams playing in the 14 minor leagues affiliated with major league baseball and based in the USA was 38,413,424 in 2014, when there were an even 9,500 game dates.
Listed on this page by league are the home attendance figures for all teams, which are sorted by highest to lowest average attendance within their respective leagues. As has long been custom, the numbers are based on tickets sold, so no-shows (unused tickets) are included in a team's attendance total and average.
Note that due to weather, not all teams have the same amount of home "dates," a category that is used instead of "games" since most teams are forced to play a varying number of single-admission doubleheaders to make up for games postponed by rain, etc. Doubleheaders count as one date because one ticket is sold for both games. Hence the number of dates, which is what average attendance is based on, is usually less than the number of home games played. In 2014 just 16.25% of teams had no postponements at home, and for only those 26 teams did dates equal games played.
All attendance totals and dates are from league websites. Ballpark information is from the Baseball Pilgrimages-compiled 2014 Ballpark Directory.
Triple-A
International League
7,021,590 tickets sold by 14 teams for 966 games (7,269 average)
Team | Total | Dates | Average | Ballpark (Capacity) |
Charlotte Knights | 687,715 | 71 | 9,686 | BB&T Ballpark (10,200) |
Indianapolis Indians | 660,289 | 70 | 9,433 | Victory Field (14,230) |
Lehigh Valley IronPigs | 614,888 | 68 | 9,042 | Coca-Cola Park (10,000) |
Columbus Clippers | 628,980 | 70 | 8,985 | Huntington Park (10,100) |
Buffalo Bisons | 535,275 | 66 | 8,110 | Coca-Cola Field (18,175) |
Louisville Bats | 567,256 | 71 | 7,990 | Louisville Slugger Field (13,131) |
Toledo Mud Hens | 545,265 | 71 | 7,680 | Fifth Third Field (8,943) |
Durham Bulls | 533,033 | 70 | 7,615 | Durham Bulls Athletic Park (10,000) |
Pawtucket Red Sox | 515,665 | 70 | 7,367 | McCoy Stadium (10,031) |
Rochester Red Wings | 422,454 | 66 | 6,401 | Frontier Field (10,840) |
Scranton/WB RailRiders | 401,618 | 68 | 5,906 | PNC Field (10,000) |
Norfolk Tides | 358,147 | 68 | 5,267 | Harbor Park (11,856) |
Gwinnett Braves | 303,959 | 71 | 4,281 | Coolray Field (10,427) |
Syracuse Chiefs | 247,046 | 66 | 3,743 | NBT Bank Stadium (11,117) |
Pacific Coast League
7,001,658 tickets sold by 16 teams for 1,114 games (6,285 average)
Team | Total | Dates | Average | Ballpark (Capacity) |
Sacramento River Cats | 607,839 | 71 | 8,561 | Raley Field (14,680) |
Round Rock Express | 595,700 | 71 | 8,390 | The Dell Diamond (10,000) |
Albuquerque Isotopes | 564,625 | 70 | 8,066 | Isotopes Park (13,279) |
El Paso Chihuahuas | 560,997 | 71 | 7,901 | Southwest University Park (9,500) |
Iowa Cubs | 492,060 | 70 | 7,029 | Principal Park (11,500) |
Fresno Grizzlies | 467,862 | 69 | 6,781 | Chukchansi Park (12,500) |
Salt Lake Bees | 470,565 | 70 | 6,722 | Smith's Ballpark (15,411) |
Oklahoma City RedHawks | 429,190 | 71 | 6,045 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark (13,066) |
Memphis Redbirds | 381,429 | 67 | 5,693 | AutoZone Park (14,200) |
Omaha Storm Chasers | 393,946 | 70 | 5,628 | Werner Park (9,023) |
Reno Aces | 379,439 | 72 | 5,270 | Aces Ballpark (9,013) |
Colorado Springs Sky Sox | 350,374 | 69 | 5,078 | Security Service Field (8,400) |
New Orleans Zephyrs | 348,796 | 71 | 4,913 | Zephyr Field (10,000) |
Nashville Sounds | 323,961 | 66 | 4,909 | Greer Stadium (10,139) |
Tacoma Rainiers | 305,446 | 65 | 4,699 | Cheney Stadium (9,600) |
Las Vegas 51s | 329,429 | 71 | 4,640 | Cashman Field (9,334) |
Double-A
Eastern League
3,705,945 tickets sold by 12 teams for 805 games (4,604 average)
Team | Total | Dates | Average | Ballpark (Capacity) |
Richmond Flying Squirrels | 418,147 | 66 | 6,336 | The Diamond (9,560) |
Reading Fightin Phils | 394,458 | 68 | 5,801 | FirstEnergy Stadium (9,000) |
Portland Sea Dogs | 359,427 | 65 | 5,530 | Hadlock Field (7,368) |
Akron RubberDucks | 350,704 | 68 | 5,157 | Canal Park (9,447) |
New Hampshire Fisher Cats | 340,299 | 66 | 5,156 | Northeast Delta Dental Stadium (7,000) |
Trenton Thunder | 361,369 | 71 | 5,090 | Arm & Hammer Park (6,341) |
New Britain Rock Cats | 302,865 | 68 | 4,454 | New Britain Stadium (6,146) |
Harrisburg Senators | 273,645 | 66 | 4,146 | Metro Bank Park (6,300) |
Altoona Curve | 275,823 | 67 | 4,117 | Peoples Natural Gas Field (7,210) |
Bowie Baysox | 248,630 | 69 | 3,603 | Prince George's Stadium (10,000) |
Erie SeaWolves | 209,299 | 67 | 3,124 | Jerry Uht Park (6,000) |
Binghamton Mets | 171,279 | 64 | 2,676 | NYSEG Stadium (6,012) |
Southern League
2,367,710 tickets sold by 10 teams for 669 games (3,539 average)
Team | Total | Dates | Average | Ballpark (Capacity) |
Birmingham Barons | 437,612 | 70 | 6,252 | Regions Field (8,500) |
Pensacola Blue Wahoos | 311,687 | 70 | 4,453 | Pensacola Bayfront Stadium (5,038) |
Jacksonville Suns | 300,538 | 65 | 4,624 | Baseball Grounds
of Jacksonville (11,000) |
Tennessee Smokies | 283,038 | 69 | 4,102 | Smokies Park (6,000) |
Montgomery Biscuits | 244,534 | 64 | 3,821 | Riverwalk Stadium (7,000) |
Chattanooga Lookouts | 242,627 | 69 | 3,516 | AT&T Field (6,362) |
Mississippi Braves | 211,200 | 67 | 3,152 | Trustmark Park (8,480) |
Jackson Generals | 135,248 | 67 | 2,019 | The Ballpark at Jackson (6,000) |
Mobile BayBears | 106,297 | 63 | 1,687 | Hank Aaron Stadium (6,000) |
Huntsville Stars | 94,929 | 65 | 1,460 | Joe Davis Stadium (10,200) |
Texas League
2,840,914 tickets sold by 8 teams for 541 games (5,251 average)
Team | Total | Dates | Average | Ballpark (Capacity) |
Frisco RoughRiders | 449,773 | 68 | 6,614 | Dr Pepper Ballpark (10,000) |
Tulsa Drillers | 403,732 | 65 | 6,211 | ONEOK Field (7,833) |
Corpus Christi Hooks | 393,769 | 70 | 5,625 | Whataburger Field (7,500) |
Springfield Cardinals | 354,227 | 69 | 5,134 | Hammons Field (6,750) |
Arkansas Travelers | 326,179 | 64 | 5,097 | Dickey-Stephens Park (7,000) |
Northwest Arkansas Naturals | 319,109 | 69 | 4,625 | Arvest Ballpark (6,500) |
Midland RockHounds | 299,586 | 67 | 4,471 | Security Bank Ballpark (6,669) |
San Antonio Missions | 294,539 | 69 | 4,269 | Wolff Stadium (6,200) |
Class A
California League
1,646,252 tickets sold by 10 teams for 698 games (2,359 average)
Team | Total | Dates | Average | Ballpark (Capacity) |
Lake Elsinore Storm | 220,069 | 70 | 3,144 | Lake Elsinore Diamond (7,866) |
San Jose Giants | 200,124 | 70 | 2,859 | Municipal Stadium (5,208) |
Inland Empire 66ers | 195,841 | 69 | 2,838 | San Manuel Stadium (5,000) |
Stockton Ports | 195,500 | 70 | 2,793 | Banner Island Ballpark (5,200) |
Modesto Nuts | 172,902 | 70 | 2,470 | John Thurman Field (4,000) |
Lancaster JetHawks | 170,532 | 70 | 2,436 | The Hangar (4,500) |
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes | 166,993 | 70 | 2,386 | LoanMart Field (6,615) |
High Desert Mavericks | 147,231 | 70 | 2,103 | Mavericks Stadium (3,808) |
Visalia Rawhide | 120,003 | 70 | 1,714 | Rawhide Ballpark (2,468) |
Bakersfield Blaze | 57,057 | 69 | 827 | Sam Lynn Ballpark (2,700) |
Carolina League
1,981,673 tickets sold by 8 teams for 520 games (3,811 average)
Team | Total | Dates | Average | Ballpark (Capacity) |
Frederick Keys | 324,446 | 65 | 4,991 | Harry Grove Stadium (5,400) |
Winston-Salem Dash | 299,645 | 66 | 4,540 | BB&T Ballpark (5,500) |
Wilmington Blue Rocks | 278,316 | 64 | 4,349 | Frawley Stadium (6,532) |
Potomac Nationals | 243,559 | 63 | 3,866 | Pfitzner Stadium (6,000) |
Myrtle Beach Pelicans | 241,026 | 66 | 3,652 | TicketReturn.com Field (5,200) |
Salem Red Sox | 220,782 | 66 | 3,345 | LewisGale Field (5,503) |
Carolina Mudcats | 215,149 | 64 | 3,362 | Five County Stadium (6,500) |
Lynchburg Hillcats | 158,750 | 66 | 2,405 | City Stadium (4,281) |
Florida State League
1,236,128 tickets sold by 12 teams for 776 games (1,593 average)
Team | Total | Dates | Average | Ballpark (Capacity) |
Clearwater Threshers | 195,063 | 70 | 2,787 | Bright House Field (8,500) |
Daytona Cubs | 143,273 | 58 | 2,470 | Jackie Robinson Ballpark (4,000) |
Fort Myers Miracle | 119,102 | 64 | 1,861 | Hammond Stadium (9,300) |
Charlotte Stone Crabs | 118,430 | 64 | 1,850 | Charlotte Sports Park (6,823) |
Tampa Yankees | 111,521 | 68 | 1,640 | Steinbrenner Field (11,076) |
Bradenton Marauders | 104,584 | 65 | 1,609 | McKechnie Field (8,500) |
St. Lucie Mets | 94,650 | 64 | 1,479 | Tradition Field (7,160) |
Brevard County Manatees | 78,465 | 61 | 1,286 | Space Coast Stadium (7,200) |
Jupiter Hammerheads | 71,713 | 63 | 1,138 | Roger Dean Stadium (7,000) |
Palm Beach Cardinals | 74,887 | 68 | 1,101 | Roger Dean Stadium (7,000) |
Lakeland Flying Tigers | 64,396 | 64 | 1,006 | Joker Marchant Stadium (9,000) |
Dunedin Blue Jays | 60,044 | 67 | 896 | Florida Auto Exchange
Stadium (5,509) |
Midwest League
4,142,818 tickets sold by 16 teams for 1,068 games (3,879 average)
Team | Total | Dates | Average | Ballpark (Capacity) |
Dayton Dragons | 573,709 | 68 | 8,437 | Fifth Third Field (7,230) |
Kane County Cougars | 415,571 | 69 | 6,023 | Fifth Third Bank Ballpark (7,400) |
Fort Wayne TinCaps | 406,715 | 70 | 5,810 | Parkview Field (8,100) |
West Michigan Whitecaps | 391,653 | 70 | 5,595 | Fifth Third Ballpark (9,684) |
Lansing Lugnuts | 338,249 | 70 | 4,832 | Cooley Law School Stadium (11,000) |
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers | 250,131 | 63 | 3,970 | Fox Cities Stadium (5,900) |
Quad Cities River Bandits | 237,005 | 61 | 3,885 | Modern Woodmen Park (4,024) |
South Bend Silver Hawks | 258,836 | 69 | 3,751 | Four Winds Field (5,000) |
Lake County Captains | 226,454 | 65 | 3,484 | Classic Park (7,273) |
Great Lakes Loons | 230,019 | 69 | 3,334 | Dow Diamond (5,200) |
Peoria Chiefs | 217,632 | 66 | 3,297 | Dozer Park (7,500) |
Bowling Green Hot Rods | 180,350 | 64 | 2,818 | Bowling Green Ballpark (4,559) |
Cedar Rapids Kernels | 171,011 | 67 | 2,552 | Veterans Memorial Stadium (5,300) |
Clinton LumberKings | 111,329 | 65 | 1,713 | Ashford University Field (4,000) |
Burlington Bees | 70,649 | 67 | 1,054 | Community Field (3,200) |
Beloit Snappers | 63,505 | 65 | 977 | Pohlman Field (3,500) |
South Atlantic League
2,983,882 tickets sold by 14 teams for 922 games (3,236 average)
Team | Total | Dates | Average | Ballpark (Capacity) |
Lakewood BlueClaws | 380,573 | 68 | 5,597 | FirstEnergy Park (6,588) |
Greensboro Grasshoppers | 369,170 | 68 | 5,429 | NewBridge Bank Park (7,499) |
Greenville Drive | 346,187 | 69 | 5,017 | Fluor Field (5,700) |
Charleston RiverDogs | 280,075 | 65 | 4,309 | Riley Park (5,800) |
Lexington Legends | 282,158 | 67 | 4,211 | Whitaker Bank Ballpark (6,994) |
Delmarva Shorebirds | 210,130 | 65 | 3,233 | Perdue Stadium (5,200) |
Rome Braves | 177,531 | 69 | 2,573 | State Mutual Stadium (5,100) |
Asheville Tourists | 174,893 | 68 | 2,572 | McCormick Field (4,000) |
Augusta GreenJackets | 169,194 | 67 | 2,525 | Lake Olmstead Stadium (4,322) |
West Virginia Power | 140,484 | 62 | 2,266 | Appalachian Power Park (4,500) |
Hickory Crawdads | 148,414 | 69 | 2,151 | L.P. Frans Stadium (5,062) |
Savannah Sand Gnats | 124,013 | 60 | 2,067 | Grayson Stadium (4,000) |
Kannapolis Intimidators | 119,377 | 62 | 1,925 | CMC-NorthEast Stadium (4,700) |
Hagerstown Suns | 61,683 | 63 | 979 | Municipal Stadium (4,600) |
Short Season/Rookie
Appalachian League
320,103 tickets sold by 10 teams for 324 games (988 average)
Team | Total | Dates | Average | Ballpark (Capacity) |
Greeneville Astros | 48,619 | 34 | 1,430 | Pioneer Park (3,572) |
Johnson City Cardinals | 40,351 | 32 | 1,261 | Howard Johnson Field (2,500) |
Burlington Royals | 40,497 | 34 | 1,191 | Burlington Athletic Stadium (3,500) |
Kingsport Mets | 30,464 | 32 | 952 | Hunter Wright Stadium (2,500) |
Danville Braves | 30,385 | 32 | 950 | Legion Field (2,588) |
Bristol Pirates | 25,743 | 30 | 858 | DeVault Memorial Stadium (2,000) |
Bluefield Blue Jays | 26,446 | 32 | 826 | Bowen Field (2,250) |
Pulaski Mariners | 26,160 | 32 | 818 | Calfee Park (2,500) |
Elizabethton Twins | 26,590 | 33 | 806 | Joe O'Brien Field (1,500) |
Princeton Rays | 24,848 | 33 | 753 | Hunnicutt Field (1,950) |
New York-Penn League
1,559,946 tickets sold by 14 teams for 506 games (3,083 average)
Team | Total | Dates | Average | Ballpark (Capacity) |
Brooklyn Cyclones | 231,628 | 37 | 6,260 | MCU Park (7,500) |
Lowell Spinners | 165,129 | 38 | 4,346 | LeLacheur Park (5,000) |
Hudson Valley Renegades | 159,084 | 37 | 4,300 | Dutchess Stadium (4,494) |
Tri-City ValleyCats | 161,171 | 38 | 4,241 | Bruno Stadium (5,000) |
Aberdeen IronBirds | 150,300 | 36 | 4,175 | Ripken Stadium (6,300) |
State College Spikes | 134,927 | 37 | 3,647 | Medlar Field at Lubrano Park (5,570) |
Staten Island Yankees | 122,442 | 36 | 3,401 | Richmond County Bank Ballpark (7,171) |
Mahoning Valley Scrappers | 109,545 | 35 | 3,130 | Eastwood Field (6,000) |
Vermont Lake Monsters | 84,091 | 37 | 2,273 | Centennial Field (4,415) |
Connecticut Tigers | 78,118 | 37 | 2,111 | Dodd Stadium (6,270) |
Williamsport Crosscutters | 61,249 | 35 | 1,750 | Bowman Field (4,200) |
Auburn Doubledays | 44,640 | 36 | 1,240 | Falcon Park (2,800) |
Batavia Muckdogs | 33,376 | 35 | 954 | Dwyer Stadium (2,600) |
Jamestown Jammers | 24,246 | 32 | 758 | Diethrick Park (3,000) |
Northwest League
981,774 tickets sold by 8 teams for 301 games (3,262 average)
Team | Total | Dates | Average | Ballpark (Capacity) |
Spokane Indians | 193,865 | 37 | 5,240 | Avista Stadium (7,162) |
Vancouver Canadians | 180,187 | 37 | 4,870 | Nat Bailey Stadium (6,500) |
Hillsboro Hops | 138,732 | 38 | 3,651 | Ron Tonkin Field (4,500) |
Eugene Emeralds | 108,067 | 38 | 2,844 | PK Park (4,000) |
Everett AquaSox | 92,642 | 37 | 2,504 | Everett Memorial Stadium (3,682) |
Salem-Keizer Volcanoes | 95,083 | 38 | 2,502 | Volcanoes Stadium (4,252) |
Boise Hawks | 87,519 | 38 | 2,303 | Memorial Stadium (3,426) |
Tri-City Dust Devils | 85,679 | 38 | 2,255 | Gesa Stadium (3,700) |
Pioneer League
623,031 tickets sold by 8 teams for 290 games (2,148 average)
Team | Total | Dates | Average | Ballpark (Capacity) |
Ogden Raptors | 108,504 | 36 | 3,014 | Lindquist Field (6,700) |
Billings Mustangs | 105,358 | 36 | 2,927 | Dehler Park (3,071) |
Missoula Osprey | 84,429 | 36 | 2,345 | Ogren Park Allegiance Field (3,500) |
Idaho Falls Chukars | 79,895 | 35 | 2,283 | Melaleuca Field (3,400) |
Orem Owlz | 83,179 | 37 | 2,248 | Home of the Owlz (4,500) |
Grand Junction Rockies | 81,382 | 37 | 2,200 | Suplizio Field (7,014) |
Great Falls Voyagers | 49,520 | 37 | 1,338 | Centene Stadium (3,200) |
Helena Brewers | 30,764 | 36 | 855 | Kindrick Legion Field (2,100) |
|
|
Most teams play all of their home games in one ballpark, but there are annual and yearly exceptions. In 2014, the El Paso Chihuahuas were forced to play their first four home games in Tucson's Kino Stadium due to construction delays at their new ballpark in El Paso, where the Chihuahuas relocated to after being based in Tucson from 2011-13. Meanwhile, as has been the case since 1996, the Birmingham Barons played one game at Rickwood Field, their home ballpark from 1910-1987. Other teams to play elsewhere at home in 2014 included the Brevard County Manatees (one game at Holman Stadium in Vero Beach) and Johnson City Cardinals (two games at Thomas Stadium, which is in Johnson City). Tickets sold for those games contributed to each team's overall home attendance figures. |
|