We have another record to note: The Myrtle Beach Pelicans (High A; Carolina League) set a new mark for average game attendance this season, with 3,877 fans per night topping last year’s record-setting mark.
In addition, the team’s total attendance of 240,357 is the third-best attendance mark all time, despite eight lost gates this season.
“It’s been an incredible season, and we want to thank all of our local fans as well as the visitors from around the world for coming out to enjoy this year of Pelicans baseball,” said Andy Milovich, Pelicans President and General Manager. “The broad appeal of the Chicago Cubs brand when combined with our data-driven approach, Play It Forward community initiative, an active sports tourism program, and an incredibly creative marketing and promotional effort has made 2015 the greatest year in Pelicans baseball history. Of course, none of what we do is possible without the best staff in Minor League Baseball, who pushed to make every night a tremendous success from Opening Day through the final homestand.”
Over the course of the season, the Pelicans drew 15 sellout crowds, including the final home game on Saturday night, and on three occasions this season, the club drew a max-capacity, standing-room-only sellout crowd of 6,599 fans: April 9 (Opening Night), July 2, and July 30.
This year’s average attendance is the best in the 17-year history of the franchise, surpassing the 2014 record of 3,652 per game. The 3,877 per game average this season ranks fourth in the Carolina League, and if it finishes in that spot, it will be the highest rank for the club to finish a season since the 2010 campaign, when the Pelicans were fourth in the league with 3,282 fans per game.
The gross attendance record is from the 2008 season, with 242,397 total fans attending Pelicans home games. That season, there were no cancelled games and only two lost gates, with a total of 68 openings. This year, the Pelicans had eight lost openings from either postponements, cancellations, or make ups as part of doubleheaders, and yet the club still finished just 2,040 fans short of the record.