Here in Kansas City up until the last couple of years when suddenly the Royals got good, people with a pro baseball “itch” were going to the minor league T-Bones.At times attendance at TBones games rivaled Royals games.
And why not? Pro baseball at about half the cost where one can sit close to the action.
In your area what minor league teams do so well that they have become a real rivalry to the “pro” teams?
PS. I’m not counting college football and basketball here although they really do serve that role.
Unlikely, since CommunityAmerica Ballpark has a capacity of around 6,500 and KC Royals attendance averaged 33,000 per game last year.
I’ve never been to a minor league stadium that comes close to the size of a MLB park. Looking at the AAA Pacific Coast League, for example, most parks are right around 10,000 capacity and the biggest is just over 15,411(in Salt Lake City, with the closest MLB franchise more than 500 miles away in Denver). The MLB team with the worst 2015 attendance (Tampa Bay with 15,403) would pack the biggest minor league stadium to capacity every game.
Just to be as fair as possible the OP implied that the attendance was close “At times” before the Royals got good the last few years.
In the year prior to them becoming a good team Royal attendance was quite a bit lower, averaging between 18 and 22K per game depending on how brutal they were. In a year like 2005 when they averaged 16,928 a night - the team was an absolute dirigible fire - it is conceivable that the worst-attended Royals game might have had a number comparable to the best-attended T-Bones game, if there was a weeknight game in bad weather when the team was clearly established as a disgrace (which didn’t take long.)
Of course, even then at best one might be able to find one night a year when the attendance is comparable. I doubt the Royals have in recent history ever drawn less than the maximum capacity of the T-Bones’ ballpark.
Minor league baseball is not well attended, generally speaking, which is a shame because AAA baseball in particular is absolutely first rate. To the moderate-to-casual fan the quality of ball is difficult to distinguish from MLB; most of the players have played MLB, or are going to. Some teams do okay - Buffalo, Indianapolis, Charlotte, Sacramento and a few others push over 9,000 a game.
I’m not going to do a super detailed analysis but my suspicion is, if you really analyze it, that minor league teams do better if they are more removed from big league sports, and if asked to complete REALLY close to the major league product will do badly, the Gwinnett Braves being the most obvious example. I don’t think it’s a super solid correlation though. Vegas does poorly despite being a long way from any pro franchise; Columbus does pretty well despite being a reasonable drive from two MLB teams. Toledo is just an hour from Comerica Park and does well and isn’t nearly as big a city as many AAA team towns.
I suppose Toronto could someday replace replace the AHL Marlies and give the town its second NHL team (or first if you want to bash the Maple Leafs. But I don’t think they are a real threat. The Leafs are incredibly popular, although Forbes now rates them as only third richest NHL franchise.
Maybe 115 years ago the American League was a former minor league moved into big cities and challenged the poorly run National League with lower prices and less hooliganism by players. It took 50 years and some unique circumstances but the Red Sox and Yankees drove their older NL rivals out. But I find it hard to believe you could do it now. Too much money with attendance, tv, etc.
Maybe it’s an Ohio thing. The Dayton Dragons, in an 8200 seat ballpark, have sold out for 1121 consecutive games. Dayton is only an hour from Cincinnati.
European soccer can throw up a few anomalies. For example Rangers in the 2nd tier of Scottish football both have higher average attendances than the current league leaders in the English Premiership (this is a bit of a cheat though as on whole attendances in the English Premiership are much larger than in the Scottish Premiership).
In the years before the timely passing of Bill Wirtz (2007), the AHL Chicago Wolves could at least threaten the NHL Blackhawks in attendance. The Wolves were averaging about 8,000 and the Hawks 12,000, and there tended to be more no-shows at Hawks games.
The Columbus Clippers benefit from a nice new park right smack in the business district/government area of the Ohio state Capitol. I attended games in their old stadium which was in an unattractive neighborhood next to a cemetery. Not quite the same appeal
On Long Island NY the Ducks of the independent Atlantic League do very well. They can draw 400,00 fans a year in their 6,000 seat ballpark. They certainly don’t challenge the Yankees and Mets an hour away. They emphasize fun, low prices ($10 seats, free parking, reasonable food and drink prices for a stadium). They have a large enough population base (1.5 million in Suffolk County,1.3 in Nassau County which is about 15 miles west), easy access by a highway. The various minor league teams in the New York area have learned to work with the two big league teams. 30 years ago the Mets opposed a proposed minor league team in Brooklyn. Today they have one as the Yankees do in Staten Island.
There was a time in the 1980s and 1990s when Louisville and Buffalo approached 1 million fans. Some wags suggested that since in 1899 the Pittsburgh Pirates were bought by the Louisville Colonels owner who moved the best players to Pittsburgh, it would be appropriate if the poor-drawing Pirates moved to Louisville.
I have gone to several of the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigsminor league games, and they are a terrific value. The play is almost as good as the majors (but not quite - sometimes the throw from the shortstop to first base is, uhh, exciting), the cost is much less, you’re sitting much closer to the field, and you get the impression that everybody who works there really wants you to have a good time. The food concessions are pretty good (and relatively inexpensive), too. Highly recommended.
The Dayton Dragons, in an 8200 seat ballpark, have sold out for 1121 consecutive games. Dayton is only an hour from Cincinnati.