Two impressive attendance milestones to note: the Omaha Storm Chasers (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) welcomed the two-millionth fan to Werner Park tonight, while the Birmingham Barons (Class AA; Southern League) surpassed 400,000 fans for the second year in a row.
Entering tonight’s game, the Storm Chasers were just 2,443 fan away from two million, as the total attendance number in the four-plus years of Werner Park’s existence was 1,997,557. The lucky fan was Brent Jackson from Omaha (shown below with Storm Chasers President/GM Martie Cordaro), who was awarded two 36-game ticket packages, one personalized Storm Chasers Road Jersey, a suite for Saturday, September 5 with food and beverages provided as well as various Storm Chasers memorabilia and gifts.
This season, the Storm Chasers have seen 322,590 fans attend the 60 game dates. During the inaugural season at Werner Park in 2011, the Storm Chasers welcomed 410,326 over the 69 openings and attracted 415,650 fans over 70 openings in 2012. A total of 390,957 fans attended during the 2013 season in 69 openings, as well as 393,946 Storm Chasers fans in 2014 in 70 openings. In addition, 16 Pacific Coast League playoff games at Werner Park during the 2011-14 seasons have drawn a total of 64,088 fans.
In Birmingham, for the second consecutive year Regions Field’s regular-season attendance has topped the 400,000 mark. Through 62 home games in 2015, the Barons’ attendance sits at 400,506.
“We are very appreciative and thank the entire Birmingham community for their continued enthusiasm and support during this 2015 season,” Barons General Manager Jonathan Nelson said. “While Regions Field has received multiple national honors, we are proud to continue to provide fun and entertaining promotions, exciting baseball on the field and the honor in playing in the top AA ballpark in America.”
It is the first time since 1948 and 1949 that the Barons have hosted back-to-back seasons with more than 400,000 fans during the regular season. Rickwood Field, the last Birmingham venue to accomplish the feat, saw the Barons bring home a Dixie Series championship in ’48, led by slugger Walt Dropo.
Regions Field welcomed its millionth fan June 2, reaching the milestone in just 169 games, and posted its highest single-game attendance of 8,577 on August 15. Additionally, the Barons have posted 12 sellouts in 2015. Overall, Regions Field has sold out 27 times, and 28 including the 2014 White Sox exhibition.
The Barons posted their highest attendance since 1994 last season as 437,612 flocked to downtown Birmingham to enjoy Regions Field. Last season’s attendance figure currently stands as the franchise’s second-highest attendance behind 1994’s “Jordan Year” mark of 467,868.
The Barons have played 202 regular season games, five playoff games and White Sox exhibition at their downtown home, pulling in a total of 1,264,085 in less than three years. The ballpark’s all-time average attendance is 6,114 fans per game. Regions Field has hosted 27 sellouts, including 12 in 2015.