PCL breaks previous attendance record

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- As the Pacific Coast League playoffs commence, the league celebrated another milestone in its setting of a new attendance record as more than 7.4-million fans attended PCL ballparks during the 2006 regular season, the League announced on Wednesday.

For the second consecutive season, the PCL averaged over 6,600 fans per game, reaching a total of 7,413,505 fans and surpassing the previous season's attendance record of 7,346,408 fans.

Sacramento led the way with over 728,000 fans, followed closely by Memphis (692,426) and Round Rock (677,706). Albuquerque and Iowa rounded out the top-5 as they, along with Oklahoma, surpassed the 500,000 mark again.

Iowa Cubs fans boosted the per-game average at Principal Park by nearly 500 patrons a game for a League-best six percent increase.

Colorado Springs also saw a significant improvement in its total attendance with a 12-percent increase from its 2005 mark, while Portland followed with an 11-percent increase.

Together with the International League, Triple-A baseball drew nearly 14 million fans.