The early results indicate that the new Copa de la Diversion promo in Minor League Baseball is a hit, as the Albuquerque Isotopes (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) and San Antonio Missions (Class AA; Texas League) attracted sellout crowds this weekend.
“Copa de la Diversión,” or “Fun Cup,” is a season-long event specifically designed to embrace the culture and values that resonate most with participating teams’ local U.S. Hispanic/Latino communities. That means new branding and merchandising. It’s been running since April 8 in MilB, with 33 teams participating.
The Isotopes set a single-game attendance record on Saturday night at Isotopes Park as 16,975 fans attended the first Mariachis de Nuevo México game. The Cinco de Mayo crowd broke the previous record of 16,348 set on July 4, 2014.
“We want to thank our fans for their amazing support in helping us establish this attendance record and supporting our push for the Copa Cup,” said Isotopes General Manager John Traub in a press release. “We have been absolutely blown away by the support for the Mariachis. We are so grateful for this community and the support they continually show the Isotopes organization.”
In San Antonio, the Missions drew the largest crowd to Wolff Stadium since 2004 to see the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio take the field. The 8,337 fans on hand were rewarded with an exciting game: the Chanclas won 9-8 on a Kyle Overstreet walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth.