Travis R. Martin, CPA

If the student-athletes at your school are playing in front of more empty seats than filled ones, maybe it is time to get creative.

Nearly everything I was seeing in the Minor League Ballparks – the wacky promotions, the entertaining mascots, and the carnival-like atmospheres – could easily be applied to high school athletics. Here’s how.

There’s a bizzaro-world of Minor League promotions. A twilight-zonesque place where fans are given their freebie on the way out the door. A place where elderly ushers dressed in drag escort fans to their seats. A place where half-eaten hot dog buns are tossed into the stands. And yes, God help us, a place where the music of David Hasselhoff is used to pump up the crowd.

Modern Woodmen Park combines classic stadium architecture, modern amenities, and dramatic river views to create a ballpark experience that is one of the best in all of Minor League Baseball.

In professional sports you have big market teams and small market teams. And then you have the Beloit Snappers, a Class A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, who play in a market so small, it almost warrants classification as a micro-market. Indeed, if there were a baseball franchise version of life-support, the Snappers would be on it.

“People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it’s a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of [...]

Elfstrom Stadium – Geneva, IL Opened: 1991 with renovations completed in 2009 Capacity: 7,100 Ticket Prices: Kane County has a tiered ticket pricing system with regular, prime, and premium dates ranging from $8 to $14 depending on the type of seat and date. Parking: Free and ample parking next to stadium on a beautiful brick [...]

48 miles of interstate. That is all that separates Minor League Baseball’s Kane County Cougars from the friendly confines of Wrigley Field and the Chicago Cubs. Add a few more miles of Chicago streets and the Cougars’ market includes no fewer than five more major league franchises – the White Sox, Bulls, Bears, Blackhawks and [...]

The South Bend Silver Hawks celebrate Plumber Appreciation Night, among other wacky things, in order to draw people to the ballpark.

Bowling Green, KY – Minor Leagues, Major Opportunities Game 1 One mislocated fastball. That’s all that stood between a trio of Bowling Green pitchers and a no-hitter on Monday as the Hot Rods opened up a five game homestand with a 6-1 victory over the Greenville Drive. Newly minted South Atlantic League All-Star Chris Andujar [...]