Minor League Baseball Attendance Up 1.1% For '08

Minor League Baseball drew 43.3 million fans this season, up 1.1% from last year, and marking an all-time record for the fifth consecutive season. The Triple-A International League led all of minor leagues in average attendance with 7,317 fans per game, up 5.6% from last year, while also marking setting a total attendance record with over seven million fans through the turnstiles for the first time in league history. The Triple-A Pacific Coast League (PCL) led all leagues with 7.2 million fans across its 16 teams, but saw average attendance drop 2.7% from a year ago. Amongst other leagues, the Texas, Midwest and Pioneer Leagues also each set new attendance marks this season. Eight leagues saw average attendance decline in '08, with the Single-A Florida State League showing the biggest drop (-4.5%). The PCL Sacramento River Cats led all teams with 700,168 fans at Raley Field, while the Double-A Trenton Thunder became the first team in the history of Minor League Baseball at the Double-A level or below to draw 400,000 fans for 14 consecutive seasons. The following lists league-by-league attendance for Minor League Baseball in '08, with comparisons to last season (THE DAILY).

* = Pulaski Mariners returned in '08 after one-year hiatus due to MLB team affiliation issues. The franchise recently announced the new Mariners affiliation would be extended through 2010.