With most of the minors ending the regular season yesterday, lots of teams are reporting attendance figures for the season, so most of today's news will concern year-end numbers. In this story: the Kinston Indians report a year-end increase for the sixth-straight season.The Kinston Indians (High Class A; Carolina League) increased their attendance for the sixth straight season, welcoming 133,049 fans to Historic Grainger Stadium this year. The K-Tribe averaged almost 2,000 fans for each of their 70 home games this season. The attendance total is the second highest this decade, barely below the 133,169 that came through the gates during the 2001 season. The 130,000 fan plateau has been reached in back-to-back season for the first time since the 1997 and 1998 campaigns. It is also just the eighth time the K-Tribe has broken the 130,000 fan plateau in their 46 years in the Carolina League.
The mark is impressive considering Kinston did not have any home games over the Memorial Day, Fourth of July or Labor Day Holidays. The K-Tribe also had 21 of their first 24 games at home in the usually attendance bare month of April.
“We thank all of our fans in Eastern North Carolina for coming out in record numbers again this season,” says K-Tribe General Manager Shari Massengill. “Our fans know that K-Tribe baseball is the best deal around for affordable, family fun.”
Since Massengill took over as General Manager for the K-Tribe, the Indians have seen attendance increase 29%, as the K-Tribe drew 103,069 fans in the 2005 season before Massengill was named GM.
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