SBD and SBJ next Monday will unveil our biennial ranking of the country’s top minor league markets among more than 225 communities nationwide. It is a project that takes into consideration more than 400 teams and close to 50 leagues as well as almost 250 million fans in total minor league attendance over the past five seasons. The countdown to No. 1 is underway, and today we look at the No. 4 market -- San Bernardino County, Calif.
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SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, CALIF., MINOR LEAGUE TEAMS
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| TEAM |
FIRST
SEASON
|
VENUE |
YEAR
OPENED
|
| Single-A California League Inland Empire 66ers |
1987
|
San Manuel Stadium |
1996
|
| Single-A California League High Desert Mavericks |
1991
|
Mavericks Field at Stater Bros. Stadium |
1991
|
| Single-A California League Rancho Cucamonga Quakes |
1993
|
LoanMart Field |
1993
|
| ECHL Ontario Reign |
2008
|
Citizens Business Bank Arena |
2008
|
| |
|
|
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BIGGER IS BETTER: San Bernardino County is the country's largest county by geographic size, and it squeezes in three California League baseball teams and one of the best-drawing clubs in the ECHL. The market has ranked as high as No. 2 in our study (in '11) and has only missed the Top 10 once, ranking No. 20 in '07. The Inland Empire 66ers have led the way at the gate among those three baseball teams the past three seasons, averaging 2,493 fans per game in '12. The Ontario Reign topped all ECHL clubs at the gate from the '09-10 season through '11-12, and despite a 20% increase in attendance at Citizens Business Bank Arena last season, the team ranked second leaguewide with its 7,575 average (trailing Fort Wayne’s 7,583 average). The market retains its Top 10 status because its attendance total still outnumbers its population, and those fans are still filling the seats despite a three-and-a-half year stretch with a double-digit unemployment rate. A bankruptcy court judge earlier this summer confirmed a late August hearing to determine whether the city of San Bernardino is eligible for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection, a request it filed for last summer.
ON DECK: Tomorrow: Our No. 3 market: A former top-ranked market that has seen success with both an 80-year-old hockey team and a first-year indoor soccer club.
