■ TEAMS (FIRST SEASON): Pacific Coast League Iowa Cubs (1969), NBA D-League Iowa Energy (2007), Indoor Football League Iowa Barnstormers (2008), AHL Iowa Wild (2013)
■ VENUES (YEAR OPENED): Principal Park (1992; renovated 2005, 2006 and 2013), Wells Fargo Arena (2005)
Des Moines continues its climb up the rankings in our survey. The city ranked No. 148 in 2009 before jumping to No. 31 in 2011 and continuing upward to No. 8 in 2013. Now, it’s up to No. 6, fueled by steady metrics from the city’s four teams.
The Class AAA Cubs have been a stalwart among MiLB clubs, having played in Des Moines since 1969 and keeping an affiliation with its Chicago parent club since 1981. The team’s attendance has had little variance over the past several years, and its 2.49 million over the past five seasons ranked among PCL teams in our study behind only the Albuquerque (N.M.) Isotopes and Round Rock (Texas) Express. The total also made Des Moines the only market in the study whose Class AAA club’s attendance was higher than the market’s five-year population total (2.23 million).
Also playing favorably for the city’s ranking: Principal Park is slated for $1.7 million in upgrades by 2017.
Meanwhile, Wells Fargo Arena has seen its tenants have success in recent years as well. The NBA D-League Energy affirmed its commitment to the market in May 2014, reaching a single-team affiliation with the Memphis Grizzlies. The Energy has been one of the league’s top draws each of the last two seasons. The AHL Wild has played at Wells Fargo Arena for two seasons now after the club relocated from Houston in 2013, and while its attendance fell 4 percent in year two compared to the inaugural season, the Wild still ranked above the league average (and No. 14 in the 30-team league) for 2014-15 attendance.
The arena also is getting $2.5 million in renovations this summer, including a new center-hung LED video display and three new marquee displays for outside the arena from Daktronics.
