IL attendance rises by 240,000

The International League today announced that its 2005 final official attendance of 6,747,392 was the third highest attendance total in the 122-year history of the League and an increase of over 240,000 fans from one year ago. The all-time IL record was set in 2002 with 6,815,633 fans. The League fell less than 10,000 shy of surpassing the second highest mark in history, which was set in 2001 with 6,757,150 fans.

Eleven IL clubs reported an incease in their annual attendance in 2005, led by Durham, Pawtucket, and Toledo, all of whom set franchise attendance records. The Durham Bulls, with 520,371, eclipsed their all-time Triple-A attendance mark, set in 2002 (519,122). The highest attendance total in the IL this year belongs to the Pawtucket Red Sox, who set a franchise attendance record for the second consecutive season. Their mark this year of 688,421 is the highest total in the International League since 1998 (Buffalo - 768,749).

Toledo witnessed the single largest increase in attendance from 2004, as the Mud Hens' annual total jumped by over 47,000 fans to 592,046. Thanks in no small part to the team's playoff push, Toledo outdrew its previous high of 567,804 set in 2002 during the club's first season at Fifth Third Field. The fan support in Toledo was never more evident than during the Governors' Cup Playoffs, as over 7,000 fans per game turned out to watch the Hens win their first League Championship in 38 years.

A big factor in the success at the gates across the IL this year was the cooperation of Mother Nature. Two clubs, Durham and Pawtucket, were able to complete the season without a single weather-related postponement. Overall this season, the International League had 18 fewer postponements than a year ago.

The IL's attendance figures helped set new marks for Triple-A Baseball and Minor League Baseball during the historic 2005 season. Along with the Pacific Coast League, which set an all-time attendance mark of nearly 7.35 million fans, Triple-A Baseball exceeded the mark of 14 million fans for the first time ever. In all, over 41.3 million fans visited Minor League Baseball parks in 2005, also a new record.