SBJ/SBD Names Quad Cities No. 1 Among Nation's Minor League Markets

The Quad Cities, a region in southeast Iowa and northwest Illinois, is the "No. 1 market in our ranking of the nation’s top minor league markets" for '15, according to David Broughton of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. Two Single-A Midwest League teams, the Quad Cities River Bandits and Clinton LumberKings, "call the Quad Cities home," as do the ECHL Quad City Mallards, who "play across the river" from Davenport, Iowa, in Moline, Ill. In their most recently completed seasons, the three clubs "attracted 497,531 fans to their games, just 1,081 below the market’s all-time high generated six years ago." The teams’ collective attendance "has increased in each of the past four years," and the 11% growth rate seen over that time "is more than five times the market’s population growth rate during the same period." River Bandits co-Owner & Managing Partner Dave Heller said, "When you have a city and you have a state that is supporting the team and the venue, that’s a great market. When you have two states and two cities that are doing it, all in the same market -- what more could you ever ask?"

C'MON N' RIDE IT: Mallards President Bob McNamara "boasts that full-season-ticket renewals" for '15-16 are at 87%. He said that as of the end of July, the club "has almost hit its target" of a 25% increase in overall season-ticket revenue compared to last season. He added that the league finalized the '15-16 schedule in April, which "has helped the marketing and ticket folks sell more, particularly with group sales, which will make up" about 30% of gross ticket sales this season. Meanwhile, the LumberKings "are the only remaining charter member of the Midwest League and have operated continuously" since '54. The club "does not draw as well as its market brethren," filling just 42% of its seats over the past five seasons. But its average of 1,600 to 1,800 fans per game "has remained steady over the past eight years and aligns with the market’s low rate of population growth, and its 62-year tenure carries weight in our methodology" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 8/17 issue).