MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL 2012 ATTENDANCE ANALYSIS Compiled and Written by David P. Kronheim [email protected] © 2013 2012 MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL ATTENDANCE TABLE OF CONTENTS Pages Summary of 2012 Minor League Baseball Attendance 2-4 How Data Was Compiled. List of Sources. How Baseball’s Minor Leagues are Organized…..…………... 5-6 NAPBL and Independent Leagues Overview………………………………………………………………..…….. 7 Effect of Weather on Attendance. Number of Playing Dates by Season……………………………………… 8 Playoff and All Star Game Attendance. Biggest Gains and Declines in 2012 by Classification………….… 9 Number of Teams with Attendance Increases. TV Markets……………………………………………………. 10 Small Changes in Team Attendance. Average Attendance per Date…….…………………………………… 11-13 Teams with the Biggest Gains and Declines in 2012…………………………………………………………….. 14 New Markets, New Ballparks, and ‘Same Ballpark’ Attendance Growth……………………………………….. 15 2012 Individual Team Attendance Growth Compared with 2002, 1992, and 1982……………………………. 16-18 Minor League Baseball in Major League Markets………………………………………………………………… 19-20 NAPBL Annual Total Attendance (1946-2012), Yearly Number of Teams, Average Attendance per Team.. 21 2012 NAPBL Minor League Attendance Highlights……………………………………………………………….. 22 Annual NAPBL Full-Season and Short-Season Team Attendance Leaders 1940-2012…………………….. 23-24 NAPBL Total Attendance Highs and Lows…………………….………………………………………………….. 25 NAPBL INDIVIDUAL LEAGUE AND TEAM HIGHLIGHTS Class AAA - International, Pacific Coast, and Mexican Leagues……………….……………..………………… 26-29 Class AA – Eastern, Texas, and, Southern Leagues………………………… ………………………………….. 30-32 Class A Full-Season - California, Carolina, Florida State, Midwest, and South Atlantic Leagues…..……….. 33-38 Class A Short-Season, and Rookie – Northwest, New York-Penn, Appalachian, and Pioneer Leagues…… 38-40 NAPBL Individual Teams – 2012 Attendance, Average per Date, Changes vs. 2011………………………… 41-45 NAPBL and Independent Leagues – 2012 Total and Average per Date Attendance, Changes vs. 2011….. 46 INDEPENDENT INDIVIDUAL LEAGUE AND TEAM HIGHLIGHTS Independent Leagues Overview, Yearly Attendance and Team Leaders…….………………………………… 47-48 Atlantic, North American, American Association, Pecos, Can-Am, Frontier, and Freedom Leagues……….. 49-53 Independent League Individual Teams – 2012 Attendance, Average per Date, Changes vs. 2011………… 54-55 Single Season Attendance Highs for all NAPBL and Independent Teams…………………………………….. 56-61 Minor League and Major League Attendance Growth - 2012 vs. 1999, 1989, 1979, 1969.….……….…….. 62-68 Minor league Attendance Growth vs. Other Sports………………………………………………………………. 69-70 New Ballparks. Minor League Baseball Attendance Compared to Minor League Hockey Attendance…… 71 Minor League Attendance Records in Cities that Later Joined the Major Leagues…………………………… 72 1949 - Minor League Baseball’s Best Attendance Year until 1999 (all leagues) and until 2004 (NAPBL)…. 73-76 1961 and 1962 - Minor League Attendance Reaches a Low Point………..…………………………………….. 77-79 Minor League Attendance Recovers in a Big Way, College Baseball Attendance, Just For Fun Stats…….. 80 2012 MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL ATTENDANCE This report is an analysis of Minor League Baseball attendance for the 2012 season. Features include: A summary of 2012 Minor League Baseball attendance highlights. Attendance notes for each league and for individual teams. Listing of 2012 total attendance and per-game average attendance for every league and team. A comparison of 2012 vs. 2011 total attendance. A table shows attendance increases and decreases for all leagues and teams. It also notes the year nearly all current Minor League ballparks opened. A list of teams with the biggest gains and worst declines in attendance in 2012. A feature on the growth of Minor League Baseball in Major League Baseball markets. A section about the tremendous increase in Minor League Baseball attendance over the past 43 years. Tables show how league attendance has grown vs. 1999, 1989, 1979, and 1969. There is also a comparison of Minor League attendance growth with attendance gains for other sports. A comparison of individual team attendance in 2012 with attendance in 2002, 1992, and 1982. 2012 Playoff and All-Star Game attendance. A look back at 1949, when Minor League attendance was a then-record-high 39,640,443. That record was not broken until 1999 (for the combined total of NAPBL and Independent leagues), and 2004, just for NAPBL teams. There were many more teams and leagues in 1949 than now. This section lists attendance for each 1949 league, and also lists the individual teams with the highest and the lowest attendance in each league. It also notes attendance in cities which had Minor League teams in 1949, but now are in the Major Leagues. A look back at 1961, when Minor League average attendance per team reached its lowest post World War II low, and at 1962, when total attendance was at its post-war low. A yearly listing of teams leading the NAPBL Minor Leagues in attendance, which includes the full- season and short-season leaders, going back to 1940. Yearly total independent leagues attendance since 1993, along with team leaders. A listing of each current Minor League market’s record-high attendance. A table of record-high Minor League attendance in cities that later joined the Major Leagues. NOTE TO LEAGUES, TEAMS, AND MEDIA You can download this report, and the 2012 Major League Baseball Attendance Analysis, in PDF form, at numbertamer.com. Go to the website’s ‘Baseball Reports’ page for the PDF links to each report. Permission is granted for you to copy, distribute, publish, and use any of the material, including tables, appearing in these attendance analyses. Credit to numbertamer.com would be appreciated. Please contact David Kronheim ([email protected]) if you have any questions about these reports. Comments, corrections and suggestions are always welcome. Note that these reports are copyrighted. 2012 MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL ATTENDANCE Page 2 SUMMARY OF 2012 MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL ATTENDANCE Combined NAPBL – known as ‘Minor League Baseball’ (Major League affiliated leagues) and independent leagues regular season attendance was 48,408,316 in 2012, up 325,486 (0.7%) from 2011. This was the first increase since 2008. Combined attendance fell 2.9% in 2011, 0.1% in 2010, and 3.8% in 2009. The 204 post-season NAPBL games drew 666,348, an average of 3,266 per game. Attendance data was available for 46 independent league post-season games, and they drew 110,241, an average of 2,397. 10 NAPBL All-Star games drew a combined 92,930. In 2012, there were 2 more NAPBL teams, and the same number of independent league teams who reported attendance, as in 2011. These teams had 188 more playing dates overall in 2012. NAPBL leagues had a combined 167 more dates, and the independent leagues had a combined 21 more dates in 2012 than in 2011. Figures exclude the Freedom Baseball League which played 83 dates, but did not report attendance. Combined 2012 NAPBL/Independent average attendance per date was 3,710, down 29 from 2011. The 15 NAPBL Leagues that charge admission to their games drew 41,280,382, which is a gain of 28,329 (0.1%) from 2011. The 2 additional teams in 2012 (Aguascalientes and Carmen of the Mexican League) drew a combined 386,557. The other 174 teams actually had a combined decrease of 358,228. These 15 leagues averaged 3,967 per date, down 62 from 2011. The 55 teams in the 6 independent leagues that reported attendance drew 7,127,934, up 297,157 (4.4%) from 2011. Their average per date rose by 92 to 2,697. The increase in overall Minor League attendance is impressive when taking into account the improving, but still sluggish, economy. Some very hot weather certainly cut crowds for part of the summer in many places, even though the number of dates played was up. ‘MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL’ (Major League Affiliated Leagues – Formerly NAPBL) In the recent past, attendance was helped by team relocations and new ballparks. But only one completely new park (in Pensacola) opened in 2012, and there were only 2 net team moves. Carolina (Zebulon, NC) of the Southern League moved to Pensacola. Kinston of the Carolina League replaced the team in Carolina, so the net move was Kinston to Pensacola. Casper of the Pioneer League moved to Grand Junction. Due to a complete reconstruction of their park, Scranton-Wilkes Barre of the International League played their home games in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Pawtucket, Lehigh Valley, and Batavia. 5 NAPBL leagues had increases in total attendance in 2012. The Mexican League posted the best total and percentage increases, up 492,319 (14.8%), as they added 2 teams in 2012. If you compare only the 14 Mexican League teams that operated in both 2012 and 2011, their gain in total attendance is 105,762. The Midwest League had a 101,061 increase. Pioneer League attendance rose 3.6%, and their gain of 88 in average per date was the best among all MLB affiliated leagues. The Carolina and Appalachian Leagues were the only other NAPBL leagues to have an increase in average per date. The Carolina League set new highs for total attendance and average per date. Total attendance rose 87,450, a gain of 4.9%. Average per date was up 74 to a record-high 3,522. International League total attendance declined 159,620, the worst drop in total attendance of any NAPBL league. The Florida State League had the largest percentage dip in total attendance, down 6.3%, with 27 fewer dates played in 2012 than in 2011. The International League also had the biggest decrease in average per date, down 257. Mexican League average per date was down 226. 171 NAPBL teams played in the same market in 2012 as in 2011. Total attendance rose for 67 teams in 2012, and fell for 104 teams. 87 teams increased their total attendance in 2011, while 86 teams had declines. 83 teams had gains in 2010, with 90 showing a decline. In 2009, just 57 teams had gains while 114 were down.