2016 Attendance by the numbers (source: NYPL website)
| Team | Total | Openings | Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn Cyclones | 207,702 | 37 | 5,614 |
| Tri-City ValleyCats | 149,847 | 35 | 4,281 |
| Hudson Valley Renegades | 152,328 | 36 | 4,231 |
| Aberdeen IronBirds | 141,070 | 35 | 4,031 |
| Lowell Spinners | 139,943 | 37 | 3,782 |
| State College Spikes | 125,875 | 38 | 3,313 |
| Mahoning Valley Scrappers | 92,117 | 35 | 2,632 |
| Vermont Lake Monsters | 83,955 | 36 | 2,332 |
| Connecticut Tigers | 82,488 | 36 | 2,291 |
| Staten Island Yankees | 85,513 | 38 | 2,250 |
| West Virginia Black Bears | 78,774 | 36 | 2,188 |
| Williamsport Crosscutters | 60,429 | 35 | 1,727 |
| Auburn Doubledays | 52,811 | 37 | 1,427 |
| Batavia Muckdogs | 30,007 | 37 | 811 |
Total attendance fell 107,891 (6.8%) to 1,482,859, the lowest total since 2000. Average per date was down 200 to 2,919, finishing under 3,000 for the first time since 2000.
There were 2 fewer dates played in 2016 than in 2015, with 24 rainouts. 3 teams had gains in total attendance, led by Connecticut. 3 teams, led by Vermont, had increases in average per date. Staten Island had the largest declines in both total attendance and average per date.
Average per date in the New York-Penn League had topped 3,000 for 15 straight years until 2016, after never reaching this level before. Total attendance first reached one million in 1995, and has been above that every year since then.
The league reached a significant attendance milestone in 2013 as attendance since the start of the league in 1939 surpassed the 50 million mark. This league, whose original name was the P.O.N.Y. (Pennsylvania, Ontario, New York) League, has now drawn 55,610,287. 2015 was the 15th straight year that the league drew at least 1,500,000, but that mark was missed in 2016. In 1939, the 6 teams in the league drew a total of 267,212.
Average attendance per team first topped 100,000 in 2001, and has been above that figure every year since then. The league had a 75,284 average per team in 1949, when it played a longer schedule. That figure was not surpassed until 1995. The average per team was below 50,000 each season from 1952 through 1988. The lowest average per team was 19,196 in 1967, the first year this league played a short-season. That year Auburn led the league in attendance, drawing 26,991. Erie finished last at the gate, with a total of 9,988.
The lowest team attendance since the short-season schedule began was 9,474 in 1980 by Auburn. In 1990, Pittsfield became this league’s first team in the short-season era to draw 100,000. As late as 1993, none of the 14 teams in the New York-Penn League reached 100,000. 6 of 14 teams did it in 2016.
For the first time in their 16-year history, the Brooklyn Cyclones did not lead all short-season teams in both total attendance and average per date. Vancouver of the Northwest League drew better. Total attendance fell 22,956 to a team-low 207,702, and average per date was also a team-low 5,614 down 620. The Cyclones have new competition for sports dollars from the Barclays Center, an arena that is home to the NBA Brooklyn Nets, and starting in the 2015-16 season, the NHL New York Islanders. Brooklyn has drawn 4,268,362 in their 16 years, reaching 4 million faster than any short-season team. Spokane held this record previously, and it took that team 28 years to top 4 million. Eugene, OR of the Northwest League hit 4 million in its 39th short season.
In 2002, the Cyclones set the short-season record of 317,124, averaged 8,345 per date, and sold out every game. Attendance also topped 300,000 in 2003, and was above 250,000 each year from 2001 through 2010. In 2001, the Cyclones drew 289,382, breaking the New York-Penn League mark set by Mahoning Valley (206,287) in 2000, and the short-season record of 249,995 set by Portland of the Northwest League in 1996.
In 37 home dates in 2016, the Cyclones drew a higher total than 38 of 60 full-season Class A teams, 6 of 30 Class AA teams, and 9 of 16 Mexican League teams, all of whom played many more home dates than the Cyclones.
Despite the 2016 decline, Brooklyn’s average of 5,614 per date still topped 56 of the 60 full-season Class A teams, 26 of the 30 teams in Class AA, 12 Mexican League teams, and even 10 teams in Class AAA. In their 16 years, the Cyclones have played 589 dates, averaging 7,247 per date. Attendance has been above 7,000 at 375 of these dates. Their season average per date reached 7,000 from 2001 through 2011.
The Aberdeen IronBirds, who are owned by Cal Ripken Jr., had the lowest attendance in their 15-year history. Total attendance fell by 10,688 to 141,070, and average per date was down 185 to 4,031. There were 3 lost dates. In 2014, total attendance fell 39,579, the largest decline of any short-season team, and average per date fell 1,099, the 5th worst NAPBL decline. In 2013, the IronBirds had the worst decrease of any U.S. NAPBL team. (Saltillo and Reynosa of the Mexican League had larger declines that year). Total attendance has fallen by 103,904 (42.4%) since 2012, from 244,974. Average per date is down 2,416 (37.5%) since 2012. Prior to 2013, the IronBirds had topped 225,000 in total attendance, and 6,000 in average per date in all 11 seasons they played.
Connecticut set a total attendance record-high (as a short-season market), for the 4th straight year. Total attendance was up 3,900 to 82,488. Average per date was down 20 from the record-high set in 2015, to 2,291. The Tigers shared Thomas Dodd Stadium with the homeless Hartford Yard Goats, who played 12 of their ‘home’ dates there. The full-season team record in Norwich is 281,473, set by a Class AA Eastern League team in 1995, and the best average per date for that team was 4,201, also in 1995.
In 2014, Tri-City (Troy, NY) set a team record in total attendance for 11th time in 12 seasons. The ValleyCats drew a team record-high 161,171. Total attendance fell 3,845 in 2016 to 149,847, ending a run of 6 straight years above 150,000. Attendance has been above 100,000 in all 15 seasons, has topped 140,000 in each of the past 9 years, and is 44.1% since 2003. The average per date has been above 4,000 in each of the last 9 seasons, and was 4,281, up 12, in 2016.
Staten Island had its lowest total ever, as total attendance fell 33,682 to 85,513, their first year below 100,000. The decline in total attendance was the worst of any short-season team in 2016. Average per date was 2,250, down 971. That was the sharpest decline by any U.S. NAPBL team. Only Carmen and Oaxaca of the Mexican League had bigger per date losses. This was the first time the Yankees averaged less than 3,000. Total attendance is down 123,505 (59.1%) since 2009, and average per date is down 3,654 from the 5,904 average in 2009. The Yankees drew over 200,000 in 2009 and 2010. A plan to re-name the team was put off for one year, so it will be the Staten Island Yankees again in 2017.
Hudson Valley topped 4,000 in average per date for the 22nd consecutive year. (They missed by 54 in their first season.) The Renegades have drawn at least 138,000 every year since starting play in 1994, and have been above 160,000 in 10 of these seasons. Total attendance for those 23 years is 3,613,285 in 835 dates, an average of 4,327 in a park that seats 4,494. Highest game attendance there is 5,601, set in 2015. In 2016, total attendance fell 11,439 to 152,328, and average per date was down 195 to 4,231.
Lowell had tiny declines in total attendance and average per date to their lowest figures since 1997. The Spinners drew 139,943, averaging 3,782 per date. The total was down 525, and the average per date fell by 14. August 31, 2010 was the last game of a 413 date sellout streak that began on August 3, 1999. Lowell surpassed 150,000 for 17 straight years until 2015, and average per date was at least 5,000 for 11 straight years from 2000 through 2010. In 2008, the Spinners were part of a Minor League double-header that drew 36,234 at Fenway Park in Boston.
The Auburn Doubledays had 2,141 gain in 2016, drawing 52,811. It was the 5th time Auburn has reached 50,000 in the last 8 years. In their 58 previous seasons, they reached 50,000 only 6 times, with a low of 9,474 in 1980. Average per date has topped 1,000 for 22 straight seasons, and is up 23% since 2013. Their ballpark is small, with a capacity of 2,800. Average per date rose 19 in 2016, to 1,427.
Batavia has not reached 45,000 since 1973, and has been below 40,000 in each of the last 8 seasons. The only years since 1950 with attendance above 50,000 were in 1970, 1971, and 1973. A full-season team in Batavia drew 67,680 in 1946. The Muckdogs drew 30,007, down 2,214, in 2016, their lowest total since 1987. Average per date fell by 110 to 811, the lowest since at least 1991.
Mahoning Valley (Niles, OH) drew 92,117, down 18,962, with 3 lost dates. Average per date fell 370 to 2,632. 2016 was the first season that total attendance was under 100,000, and that average per date didn’t reach 3,000. The Scrappers topped 200,000 in 1999 and 2000, their first 2 seasons, but haven’t done it since. They have not reached 130,000 since 2005. Average per date was 5,641 in 1999, the Scrappers’ first season, and also topped 5,000 in 2000 and 2001. It was above 4,000 in the club’s first 7 years, but not since.
State College has topped 125,000 in all 11 of their seasons. But the Spikes had their lowest total (125,875, down 1,900) ever in 2016. Average per date dipped 50 to a team-low 3,313. The average was over 4,000 in 2007 and 2008. The Spikes, who play on the campus of Penn State University, drew 6,111 for a game in 2016, the biggest crowd ever for pro baseball in State College. Next door, at Beaver Stadium, home of Penn State Football, the largest crowd was 110,753 vs. Nebraska in 2002. Top 2016 attendance was 107,280 vs. Ohio State.
Vermont had an increase of 953 to 83,955, but still finished below 100,000 for the 10th straight year. The Lake Monsters had reached 100,000 in 12 of the 13 seasons (1994-2006) before that. Average per date rose 89 to 2,332. The average has not reached 3,000 since 2002. Centennial Field in Burlington has a grandstand built in 1922, and has been undergoing a series of renovations. It seats 4,415.
Williamsport drew 60,429, down 3,652. This was the 9th straight year below 70,000 for the Crosscutters, and the lowest total since 1999. Average per date dipped 53 to 1,727, with 3 lost dates. This market has drawn 100,000 only in 1948, 1960, and 1988, when it had full-season teams. The New York-Penn League Crosscutters began play in 1994, and averaged at least 2,000 per date only from 2002 through 2005.
The West Virginia Black Bears replaced the Jamestown Jammers for the 2015 season. They play in Granville, which is right next to the campus of West Virginia University in Morgantown, and share their ballpark with the WVU baseball team. They drew 78,774 in 2016, down 5,022. Average per date was fell 77 to 2,188.
Jamestown played its final season in 2014, and drew just 24,246, the lowest total attendance of any NAPBL team. The Jammers had 6 lost dates. Their average per date of 758 was 2nd lowest (Princeton of the Appalachian League averaged 753) among NAPBL teams. The short-season record-high in Jamestown was 63,069 in 2001. The city’s full-season record-high was 143,016 in 1942. They also topped 100,000 in 1946 and 1949. But the team had not reached 50,000 since 2004.
Team relocations and new parks have resulted in a significant increase in New York-Penn League attendance in the past 24 years. In 1992, the league’s 14 teams drew a total attendance of 684,064, an average of 48,862 per team, and an average of 1,422 per date. The 2016 attendance total of 1,482,859 is a gain of 116.8% from 1992. 2016 average attendance per team was 105,919, and the average per date was 2,919. In 2016, 12 of the 14 teams in his league played in a ballpark that opened between 1994 and 2015. The only teams with an older park in this league are Vermont and Williamsport, whose ballparks opened in the 1920’s.
Credits: New York-Penn League Logo from MiLB.com
The Stedler Report is not affiliated with Minor League Baseball or the New-York-Penn League
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