Indians, TinCaps Set Attendance Marks
The 12 millionth fan is expected at tonight's game against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Minor League Baseball teams in the state’s two largest markets have set regular season attendance records. The Indianapolis Indians reported a total of more than 662,000 fans and the Fort Wayne TinCaps say over 400,000 fans went through the turnstiles for 67 home games.
The Indians say the 2015 total marks the sixth straight year with increased attendance at Victory Field, while the TinCaps beat a previous Parkview Field record from the year before.
The Indians’ final regular season home game was Saturday and drew a sellout crowd of 14,828. That was enough to push this season’s total higher than the previous record of 660,289 fans, which was set last season. The team also posted records in sellouts and crowds of at least 10,000.
Over the last four seasons, the Indians have drawn more than 2.5 million fans, which the team says is the most of any U.S.-based Minor League Baseball organization.
Baseball America earlier this year ranked Victory Field sixth on its list of Top 25 Minor League Baseball ballparks. For the first time, the field will host football games this fall as part of the inaugural Victory Field Gridiron Classic. The games are scheduled for October 2 (Fishers v. Cathedral) and October 16 (Brownsburg vs. Hamilton Southeastern).
The TinCaps averaged 5,971 fans per game at Parkview Field throughout the regular season and have exceeded the 400,000 fan plateau four times since the ballpark opened in 2009. President Mike Nutter said "the support of fans in this region is amazing. Fort Wayne has the best fans in Minor League Baseball, as evidenced by setting attendance records in Parkview Field’s seventh season." The team says the Dayton Dragons were the only Midwest League team with a higher per-game attendance average in 2015 than the TinCaps.