GWINNETT BRAVES STRUGGLE TO FILL COOLRAY FIELD
With the temperature balmy but bearable and a pleasant breeze wafting in from center field, Saturday Aug. 13 was a great night for baseball at Coolray Field.The Gwinnett Braves, taking on the Pawtucket Red Sox, were two games out of first place. Playoff tickets would go on sale the following Monday. If fans needed an extra incentive, rehabbing Atlanta Braves catcher Brian McCann was behind the plate. Still, nearly one out of every four seats was empty.
On average, less than half of Coolray’s 10,427 seats are filled when the Gwinnett Braves play at home in Lawrenceville. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. A consultant’s study used by county officials to justify spending $64 million on the stadium said Gwinnett’s demographics and economy made it “one of the strongest markets in the country to support a minor league baseball team.” Conventions, Sports & Leisure International estimated the team would average 6,000 to 6,500 fans a game after an initial “honeymoon” period in which attendance might be higher. In 2009 the team drew an average of 5,858 fans a game – up from 4,455 the previous year when the team played in Richmond, Va.But the average fell to 4,818 last year and has rebounded slightly to 5,084 this year, with just two home games left.The Gwinnett Braves rank 24th out of 30 AAA teams in average attendance this year. ( THE REST )
I was very surprised to read this, thinking that sport mad Georgia would be all over AAA baseball, as in love with the sport as I am with my local REDWINGS ( even though I was a very bad fan this season...) Comparing the two teams and settings is very much an apples and oranges thing. The REDWINGS have been a part of the fabric of ROCHESTER since 1899 ( let that sink in ) and have been through three different MLB parent teams. So folks here are not as tied into the MLB aspects of AAA but there to support our team. That and Summer really is a bigger deal up here after six months of hard winter.. that snow clad opening day means hope.
The vast majority of baseball fans around here root for the Evil Empire, with a sprinkling of RED SOX to keep things spicy. Our closest MLB team is Toronto. Rochester is now the farm team of the MINNESOTA TWINS, but there is very little Twins allegiance to be found. Our team SUCKS, really.. second year in a row of 90 loses, and yet the other night when we were there, the place was very much alive, full of happy baseball loving fans, there to support our team ( and yes, see real live MLB players )The Twins are also having a very off year. The Atlanta Braves have the NL Wild Card sewn up, and yet this has not carried over to the G Braves, at all, I guess..
One thing about AAA here is that a family can afford to go and have a really nice day/night out with out really braking the bank, at all. A four dollar ticket , a two dollar hot dog..etc, reading on down the AJC article you will find out that the G-Braves have a THIRTY FIVE dollar ticket to their park, that is just some crazy when the real deal is rigth down the road. ( with traffic, yes, it can be three hours.. but that is for another story...)
Hopefully for the area, the GBraves can get some Mark Etting going and get some folks inside their lovely brand spanking new ball park.
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