Considering the state of the economy, a three to four-percent drop would be somewhat acceptable in most any business. It may be even less shocking in sports, where spending is very discretionary.<\/p>\n
One can only hope the revenue drop is no more severe, and if that is so the Independent Baseball industry would appear to have escaped the business worries of 2009 pretty well.<\/p>\n
The Independent Baseball Insider\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s<\/em> annual review of attendance in the eight non-affiliated leagues appears likely to come in slightly less than eight million spectators for the first time in the last three seasons. It was down nearly six per cent from last season\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s final count of 8,249,119 through Wednesday, but the Atlantic League<\/strong> still has another 11 days to go. It would appear the final count will be down between three and four per cent.<\/p>\n Based on figures reported to official league statisticians and compiled by the Insider<\/em>, \u00e2\u20ac\u212209 attendance totaled 7,788,738 through Wednesday, and the deficit will drop to about 300,000.<\/p>\n The Atlantic League, which plays a 140-game schedule compared to less than 100 for each of the other leagues, is the overall leader and will finish well above two million for the second year in a row. Its crowd count had reached 1,996,874 heading into play Thursday, and is on pace to finish only slightly below last year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s record of 2,208,734.<\/p>\n The Golden League<\/strong>, which operates in the Southwest, West and Western Canada, recorded a sizeable increase, jumping by 202,707 to 631,109, gaining when league-leading Tucson<\/strong> (139,149) and second place Victoria, British Columbia<\/strong> (93,691) joined the nine-team circuit. Several other teams recorded increases.<\/p>\n The giant franchises of the industry, which has grown from a two-league startup in 1993 and has seen more than 30 of its players wear major league uniforms again this season, remain virtually unchanged with Northern League<\/strong> giant Winnipeg<\/strong> drawing the most fans per game (6,180) and Long Island, NY<\/strong> of the Atlantic League again on top in overall attendance. The Ducks<\/strong> continue to draw just over 100 per cent of capacity (at 6,019) with total attendance of 391,224 and four more dates on the home schedule. St. Paul, MN<\/strong> (5,689) continues to pace the second highest drawing league, the American Association<\/strong>, while Somerset, NJ<\/strong> (5,388) of the Atlantic League and Kansas City, KS<\/strong> (5,340) of the Northern League round out the top five.<\/p>\n The league-by-league attendance:<\/p>\n