Last season the Ironpigs finished second in attendance in all of AAA baseball. SECOND! SECOND IN ALL OF AAA BASEBALL! While this is commendable, looking back at 2009 you can see what kept us Ironpig fans in second place. Yes, I said Ironpig fans. This is your stat! We make this happen!
2009 season
Final Attendance Top 3 at AAA Level
9,526 avg — 666,797 total — Columbus Clippers
9,162 avg — 641,335 total — Lehigh Valley Ironpigs
9,126 avg — 657,095 total — Sacramento River Cats
Now you all can say this post is a plug, it’s an ad for the Ironpigs to add more money to their wallets but think of it this way… the higher the attendance, the more money they make, the more they can afford to spend to entertain us. Want to keep the team in the area for a long time? Go to the games. Want to see more funny videos of Ferrous and FeFe? Go to the games. Want to see more giveaways at the gates? Go to the games!
Back to my original thought. Last year, the attendance in April and May killed the attendance average. It was almost like people forgot they were there. I remember many early season games sitting in the outfield by myself honking the horn and wondering where the people were. April and May would have put us, the Lehigh Valley, in first place last year. Instead, we settled for second and as I once heard.. Second place is the first loser.
Tomorrow it will be one week until the first game at CCP in 2010. Although it is an exhibition game, it’s for charity.. go to the game. Get out there and cheer. Feel the energy of the field and of the fans. April 14th cannot come soon enough.
16 days…
noisenation.mlblogs.com 
You are absolutely correct, and this has been part of my philosophy as well. I consider myself–while but a IronPig fan–an evangelist for the organization. Minor league teams move all the time. We could lose the ‘Pigs and get stuck with a lower level of baseball for a worse organization. Or worse yet, non-affiliated ball. Or an empty CCP with no rent coming in.
Oh, not anytime soon, but the point is: The folks in charge of the ‘Pigs work hard to keep the quality level high. We need to support them to keep them around. Buy tickets, go to the park, get a hot dog and a beer–maybe a hat. And, if you can’t make it, give your tickets away so that your seat will be full.
With the All-Star buzz, and a favourable schedule (it wasn’t just cold last April, we had a TON of games) I bet we get #1 this year. Sac has a bigger stadium and Columbus’ new digs are a year old now. We can do it!
You know what else would help? Winning. More from me, on that, later…
This area really supports minor league baseball pretty well.
Wilmington draws well.
Reading has drawn really well, especially in the dead of the summer.
We all know that your Pigs draw very very well.
Even Lancaster and Camden do a nice job considering it’s unaffiliated ball.
The bottom line is this is a big baseball area. I think the fact that it costs so much money to go to CBP helps out the minor league teams in the area. I don’t know how a family of 4 can afford to go down there anymore without spending $200.00
Rain in the spring helped keep the attendance low in April and May.
It was a rainy summer last year .. .. ..
You know I was in the Majestic club house store a few days ago and noticed a full stock of heavy duty multi-use Ironpig poncho’s. There was also an ample supply of the el’cheapo model. Fear not Pig fans, you are covered in case it rains! OINK!
Yeah, maybe they can move ‘golf umbrella day’ from the end of May to….nah, sell some umbrellas first! 🙂
They have lots of those nice warm hats with the flaps, too!
Early 2009 attendance figures:
SWB
Th 4/9: 10,000
Fr 4/10: 8,494
Sa 4/11: 7,797
Su 4/12: 5,822 (Easter) Season Low
SYR
Mo 4/13: 8,619 (4:05 start time..chili cookoff)
Tu 4/14: Rained out
We 4/15: 6,179
Th 4/16: 7,391
PAW
Fr 4/24: 9,894
Sa 4/25: 10,000
Su 4/26: 10,000
Mo 4/27: 6,845
TOL
Th 4/30: 6,965
Fr 5/1: 7,421
Sa 5/2: 8,375
Su 5/3: 8,121
BUF
Mo 5/4: Rainout
Tu 5/5: 6,424
We 5/6: 6,892
Th 5/7: 8,622 (10:35 AM)
Other low attendance games:
Fri 7/3 (the 12:05 game on day/night doubleheader day) 7,006.
Thu 7/9 6,091
There was also a game lost due to rain on Fri 7/17 which was made up as part of a doubleheader on 7/18 when the Phanatic came to town.
Continuing the above post, there was also a lost date from the Monday May 4th rainout vs. Buffalo. That game was made up as part of a doubleheader on Friday September 4th.
That means the 9,162 avg — 641,335 total is for just 70 games. If not for the 2 rainouts I’d guess you could add at least 16,000 to those figures had there been 72 home dates. The Friday July 17th game would have drawn close to 10,000 on a fireworks night and the Monday May 4th game (“Rally” appearance + karate night) probably would have drawn no less than 6,500.
I also recall hearing that the Scranton game played at Coca Cola Park as an away game attendance was in Scranton’s top ten draws of the season. Hopefully that new drainage system in Scranton can make it through this rainy weather.