Hounds To Set Attendance Record of 300,000
For the franchise, however, the twenty-eleven season will stand as one of the milestone seasons in 40 years of professional baseball in West Texas
This weekend, the RockHounds will set a new franchise attendance mark, when the 300,000th fan passes through the gates at Citibank Ballpark
To celebrate the milestone, the RockHounds will have a prize package for 'fan number three hundred thousand."
The fan who pushes the attendance mark to 300,000 will receive two American Airlines gift certificates, to be used anywhere American Airlines flies. The fan will also receive a souvenir package from the RockHounds.
Fan #300,001 will also receive a souvenir package from the 'Hounds.
The new attendance mark is expected to be reached Saturday night (August 27) when the RockHounds host the Frisco RoughRiders. First pitch is at 7:00 P.M., with gates opening at 5:30. The night will culminate, fittingly, with a post-game fireworks show.
The 2011 season has marked the franchise's fortieth anniversary, and is also the 10th anniversary season at Citibank Ballpark (formerly known as First American Bank Ballpark).
In each of the 10 seasons at Citibank Ballpark and the Scharbauer Sports Complex, the RockHounds have drawn more than 250,000 fans.
Entering the 2011 season, total attendance for RockHounds games in the first nine seasons at Citibank Ballpark was nearly two-and-a-half-million (2,452,241).
Average attendance through the first nine seasons was more than 270,000 (272,471). Those figures reflect the paid attendance for Texas League regular season games, and do not include playoff, exhibition or all-star games.
RockHounds General Manager Monty Hoppel on reaching 300,000 fans in 2011:
"To reach 300,000 fans is really a testament to everything involved with this franchise. It starts with the remarkable work our staff does, not just during the season, but all year 'round. Combine that with the outstanding support we have always received from this community, and you have a very special relationship."
"Many franchises peak during the 'honeymoon' phase, the first two seasons in a new stadium. To see this milestone reached in our tenth year makes it all the more special. We were always told two-hundred thousand fans wasn't attainable here, so this is, truly, a milestone season for the franchise and professional baseball in West Texas."
Attendance Milestones
1972
The Midland Cubs draw 71,474 in the franchise's inaugural season. The team playes at Cubs Stadium, which would later be re-named Angels Stadium, and is now known as Christensen Stadium.
1981
The Cubs reach the first true milestone in franchise history, drawing 100,000 fans for the first time (105,294).
1990
The franchise has new ownership, as Miles Prentice and Bob Richmond purchase the club, with Monty Hoppel the team's new general manager. In the first year of the new ownership, the Angels will break the existing attendance mark by more than 30,000, drawing 168,742.
1995
The Angels achieve a milestone once thought to be "unreachable" in a market the size of West Texas, drawing more than 200,000 fans (202,830).
2002
A new era of professional baseball in West Texas is ushered in as the RockHounds draw 276,830 fans at First American Bank (now Citibank) Ballpark in the inaugural season of the Scharbauer Sports Complex.
2007
The RockHounds are named Minor League Baseball Franchise of the Year
2008
The RockHounds draw 292,563 fans to Citibank Ballpark, a mark which stood as the all-time attendance mark entering the 2011 season.