During its second season, the independent United Shore Professional Baseball League found more success at Jimmy John’s Field.
Leading up to the 2016 campaign, the USPBL–led by experienced sports executive Andy Appleby–attracted plenty of attention. The inaugural season saw all three of its teams share Jimmy John’s Field in Utica, MI, and the year concluded with solid attendance numbers and positive feedback when it came to the fan experience.
There were some changes prior to the 2017 season, as the USPBL added the Westside Wooly Mammoths to create four-team slate. In addition, the league worked to fine tune the fan experience at Jimmy John’s Field by introducing some new amenities. The end result was a strong sophomore year, one that Appleby feels could give the league momentum going forward. More from Hometownlife.com:
“The first two years have gone much better than I anticipated,” said Appleby, a former senior vice president of the Detroit Pistons. “I mean, the ballpark itself is intimately better than I even had dreamed over several years back.
“And the nice thing about it is, there is hardly a day that goes by that we don’t make it better. We started out with a wonderful template and a beautiful ballpark, but we’re making positive changes all the time.
“Now, with two full seasons, we have not just satisfied customers and not just satisfied families, but we have tremendously satisfied partners as well, both from a suite, premium seat and sponsor perspective and also with our group picnic area,” he added. “We just had a banner year. And the best part is, we think there is more growth to come — and that’s just on the business side.”
Overall, it seems that the 2017 season managed to build off of the success of 2016. It was reported that the league sold out 92 of 150 games over the last two seasons, including 50 in 2017.
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