RockHounds celebrate 5,000,000
Based on tickets sales the momentous occasion is should take place on Saturday, July 16. Currently the team's attendance stands at 4,989,816. The RockHounds open a nine-game homestand on Friday with a four-game series vs. the Tulsa Drillers. When the winning fan walks through the gate they will be congratulated by the RockHounds front office and awarded with a prize package that includes a RockHounds jersey, 5 season tickets, dinner for 5 inside the Diamond Club Restaurant and more great prizes. The fan will also throw out a ceremonial first pitch at a future RockHounds game.
RockHounds General Manager, Monty Hoppel says, "The fans support that we are blessed with is incredible. We are the smallest market in the country for Double-A baseball, and we are first in per capita attendance on an annual basis."
The organization began play in 1972, as the Midland Cubs, and has seen dramatic increases in attendance over the course of 34 seasons. In the organizations first year, 1972, the team drew 71,747 fans. The lowest attendance in franchise history came in 1976, when 66,457 fans came through the turnstile. In 2004 the RockHounds drew 274,548 fans, just short of the all-time attendance record of 276,380.
Much of the team's off-field success has come in recent years with the opening of a new stadium in 2002. The biggest one year increases came in 1985 (the year the team changed affiliations from the Cubs to the Angels) when attendance climbed by more than 26,000. "People in the Permain Basin love baseball, and their continued support is what allows this organization to thrive," Hoppel said. In 1990 the team saw a jump in attendance of 33,000 when the current ownership and management group gained control of the franchise. However, the largest jump in attendance came in 2002 when the team drew nearly 130,000 more fans than in 2001.
Other attendance highlights include 1995 and 1996, the only two years the team drew more than 200,000 at Christensen Stadium.