One of the defining characteristics of Minor Sports Leagues is that they play to smaller crowds of fans. Minor-Leagues.com has compiled a series of posts that provides details of attendance figures.
is an affiliated Single-A professional baseball league founded in 1954. It operates in the United States Midwest, mostly in cities not served by MLB teams or their other minor league affiliates.
The Northern League (NL) is an independent professional baseball league founded in 1993 and was inspired by the original Northern League that started play in 1902 and folded in 1971. It operated with teams in the Northern, Midwest United States and Central Canada. The Nothern League operates in cities not directly served by Major or Minor League teams and is not affiliated with either. In 2010 the league folded and teams split by joining two other leagues.
Below is the fan attendance for the entire league from 2006 to 2010.
League | Sport | Season | # of Teams | Team Change | Games | Games Change | Total Attendance | TA Change | Average Attendance | AA Change | Source |
Northern League (Ind) | Baseball | 2006 | 8 (5 USA 3 CAN) | untracked | 372 | untracked | 1,432,330 | untracked | 3,850 | untracked | http://www.numbertamer.com/files/2007_Minor_League_PDF.pdf |
Northern League (Ind) | Baseball | 2007 | 6 (5 USA 1 CAN) | -25.00% | 374 | 0.53% | 1,471,697 | 2.75% | 3,935 | 2.21% | http://www.numbertamer.com/files/2007_Minor_League_PDF.pdf |
Northern League (Ind) | Baseball | 2008 | 6 (5 USA 1 CAN) | 0.00% | 279 | -25.40% | 1,289,330 | -12.39% | 4,621 | 17.43% | http://www.numbertamer.com/files/2009_Minor_League_Analysis.pdf |
Northern League (Ind) | Baseball | 2009 | 6 (5 USA 1 CAN) | 0.00% | 276 | -1.07% | 1,220,300 | -5.35% | 4,421 | -4.33% | http://www.numbertamer.com/files/2009_Minor_League_Analysis.pdf |
Northern League (Ind) | Baseball | 2010 | 8 (7 USA 1 CAN) | 33.33% | 384 | 39.11% | 1,478,694 | 21.17% | 3,851 | -12.89% | http://www.numbertamer.com/files/2011_Minor_League_Analysis.pdf |
The Northern League recruited college, ex-major and ex-minor league players. Former affiliated-league players that were injured or have other circumstances join the NL as an opportunity to get resigned by major league organizations. Other players consist of college players that were not drafted into MiLB, but seek the opportunity to be seen by major league scouts and possibly get signed by major league organizations. Other former MLB players join the NL as a way to stay involved in baseball after their career as a major league player, often as coaches and managers.
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