Dragons Selected as Organization of the Year

Dayton, Ohio--Ballpark Digest has named the Dayton Dragons as the 2011 Minor League Baseball "Organization of the Year." This annual award honors one organization for excellence in Minor League Baseball during the 2011 season.

The Dayton Dragons broke the all-time sports record for consecutive sold-out dates in 2011 when they completed their 815th consecutive sell-out on July 9th. The event brought tremendous exposure to Minor League Baseball, the Dayton Dragons, and the Dayton region and was covered by hundreds of media outlets including USA Today, CNN, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and many others. The previous record of 814 was set by the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association from 1977-1995. The Dragons have sold out every game in franchise history since the club's inception in 2000 and will finish the 2011 season at 843 consecutive sellouts.

The Dragons have led all of Single-A professional baseball in attendance for each of their 12 seasons, finishing in the top 10 among all 160 minor league clubs every year. The Dragons have broken the all-time Single-A season attendance record four times and currently hold the mark. They surpassed the 7 million mark in all-time attendance in 2011 as well.

The Dragons are owned by Mandalay Baseball Properties along with sports icons Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Archie Griffin. On July 23rd, Johnson, Griffin, and numerous other dignitaries gathered at the Dragons game at Fifth Third Field to celebrate the new record. The Dragons game was momentarily stopped in the sixth inning when Cincinnati Reds players Drew Stubbs, Chris Heisey, and Logan Ondrusek, all former Dragons players, arrived at the ballpark via helicopter and addressed the crowd.

The Dragons success is based upon family-affordable ticket products, unsurpassed customer service, high-quality family entertainment, and community involvement.

"The Minor League Baseball industry includes many great operators and staffs, so it is a tremendous honor for the Dayton Dragons to be selected for this award," said Robert Murphy, Dragons President. "Dayton is a great baseball market and has the absolute best sports fans in the country ... our success is a credit to our fans, our community, our ownership group, and to our corporate partners."

The Dragons ownership group, Mandalay Baseball Properties was named "Baseball Organization of the Year" by Ballpark Digest in 2008.