Minor Leagues = Major Fun
3 Reasons to attend a local minor league game
Minor league sports get a bad rap. The ridiculous promotions (i.e. Nobody Night record for lowest attendance) and absurd team names (i.e. Rocket City Trash Pandas) probably don’t help with the reputation, and I’ll admit I was definitely skeptical when invited to a game. I thought “Is this REALLY going to be worth the time and energy?” After attending a few minor league games, I have to say minor league sports have made a major comeback.
Here are 3 reasons to catch a minor league game:
New Stadiums. A key part of the comeback story is the serious investment in upgrading from run down leftover stadiums to constructing new modern downtown stadiums. The United Soccer League (USL) championship league has new stadiums popping up in downtown locations like Weidner Field (pictured above). These plans aren’t slowing down in size or dollars with plans for new construction projects including an ambitious $1 billion 20,000 seat stadium for the Indianapolis Indy Eleven1. With the smaller capacity in most minor league stadiums, you won’t get stuck in an upper deck section where you need binoculars to see the game either.
Entertainment. The prime example for entertaining minor league teams is undoubtedly the Savannah Bananas baseball team. The Savannah Bananas have become a lead attraction and exploded in popularity even recently selling out at the Boston Red Sox Fenway Park2. At first, my kids giggled at the sound of their name, but now they instantly recognize the Savannah Bananas apparel at sports stores (now that’s brand awareness!). For comparison, I don’t think they would recognize logos from more than 5 Major League Baseball teams.
Aside from the Bananas, most minor league sports teams are making a real investment in the talent on the field and the results show with some highlight worthy plays (more on that later). Aside from the talent on the field, minor league teams are moving away from the gimmicks and going with the crowd pleaser entertainment. You’ll feel like you’re getting more than just a game with fireworks, concerts, or merchandise giveaways.
Easy to Access and Group Tickets. For many families, the reality of driving over an hour and paying $40+ per ticket means that professional sports are a rare occurrence. Recently, I asked families on our youth soccer team about interest in going to a Colorado Springs Switchbacks game, and I was blown away by the response. We pooled together 34 tickets (average of $16 per ticket) to bring nearly our entire soccer team and families to a game. We had almost an entire section to ourselves including front row seats! After joining a parade of youth soccer teams on the field before the game, we settled into our seats and enjoyed the game.
Towards the end of our Switchbacks game, I was impressed with the overall experience and started to look forward to our next game. I felt satisfied with the experience and observed the different generations of fans having fun when all of a sudden - Gooooooooooal! - we were treated to an absolutely magical scissor kick goal in the closing minutes of the game!3 With fireworks blasting, the Switchbacks players raced to our corner of the stadium to celebrate the goal while reaching out to swap high fives with our kids.
In that moment, the families in attendance weren’t concerned about where these teams ranked across professional soccer leagues. We were raging fans cheering our local team to victory and, most importantly, we were spending time together.
Switchback goal at minute 5:46 - 9.23.2023| Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC vs. Sacramento Republic FC - Game Highlights