🔒WooSox finish second season ranked 6th in attendance, with 19% increase

The Worcester Red Sox saw significant improvement in attendance in their second year at Polar Park, after finishing sixth overall in an inaugural season amid the challenges COVID presented in 2021.

On the field, the team finished in the middle of the pack in Minor League Baseball’s International League East after they won just more than half their games, but the WooSox finished fifth of the 30 Triple A baseball teams in average per-game attendance and sixth among the 120 minor league teams at all levels.

“The season was an extraordinary display of enthusiasm by fans. Their enthusiasm has exceeded our expectations,” WooSox President Charles Steinberg said.

In its first season, the team faced reduced capacity due to COVID-19 restrictions at the beginning of the season and the public’s mixed feelings about safety during the spikes in cases throughout the year. At the end of the year, the WooSox were sixth place by total attendance and per-game attendance.

The WooSox average attendance per game during the 2022 season improved 18.6% over their inaugural 2021. This puts them on par in terms of growth with other teams in the top 10 for average attendance per game like the Columbus Clippers (18.3%) and the Nashville Sounds (13.2%).

However, six other teams in the top 10 for attendance outpaced the WooSox in attendance growth, including Lehigh Valley IronPigs (31.2%), Charlotte Knights (30.7%), and Indianapolis Indians (28%).

One explanation for the discrepancy could be a difference in COVID restrictions in 2021.

“The 2021 season saw different capacity limits from market to market, so while comparing year-over-year gains you will find varying results as those were not in place for the start of the 2022 season,” Mike Luteran, Major League Baseball’s vice president of ticketing, said via email.

The Albuquerque Isotopes saw a 37% increase in average attendance per game in 2022, but according to Forest Stulting, media relations manager for the Isotopes, the team was limited to 50% capacity for about half of the 2021 season.

A strong start

Victor Matheson, an economics professor at Worcester’s College of the Holy Cross offered another explanation for why the WooSox growth seemed middling compared with other teams, saying the issue wasn’t the team lagging behind others in growth in 2022.

“It’s that the WooSox did exceptionally well in 2021. New teams experience a novelty effect, or honeymoon effect, in their first year,” Matheson said.

In 2022, the WooSox outperformed other minor league teams that got their start in 2021, said Matheson.

The Rocket City Trash Pandas (Double A) saw their attendance drop 12% in 2022. In Wichita, Wind Surge (Double A) attendance was down 17%, and the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (Single A) saw their attendance grow by 8% in their second year.

In general, Triple A teams have not fully returned to 2019 attendance numbers. According to Luteran, 2022 Triple A attendance is 94% of attendance in 2019.

The WooSox, though, have more than exceeded their attendance in 2019, which was the team’s last season in Pawtucket, R.I. Their total attendance of 331,010 that year was the lowest since 1989. In 2022, the team attracted 532,152 fans to Worcester’s Canal District.

Teams, like the Isotopes, are facing issues with the uncertain economy and inflation, Stulting said

“A family of four who would go to 10 games in the past might cut back to five,” said Stulting.

Capitalizing on the honeymoon

The WooSox have benefited from the novelty factor of being a new team playing in a new market in the most expensive minor league baseball stadium ever built, at $160 million. That novelty will slowly begin to trail off, Matheson said.

“This was the year that should be used as a high-water mark. Starting next year you can check the numbers to see if they start trailing as the novelty wears off,” said Matheson.

The WooSox have no intention of letting their attendance numbers decline, Steinberg said. In the off season, the team is making plans to reach out to fans of different ages, demographics, and geographical areas.

The team is discussing new attractions to lessen barriers for families and fans who are older or have disabilities. Steinberg said the team is looking into adding more playground equipment for younger kids as well as a fast-pitch game or batting cage for kids who are a little bit older.

The WooSox are looking into ways to make the park more accessible for people with mobility issues, he said.

The team is planning 10 different Heritage Nights to celebrate different cultures, in addition to its Los Wepas de Worcester program celebrating Latin American cultures.

Special event nights are another key to driving attendance in Minor League ballparks. The Isotopes’ most attended game in 2022 was a Breaking Bad night featuring the stars of the popular television show.

The WooSox are looking into raising the cap on the number of season tickets they will sell for the 2023 season.

“Season ticket holders are the backbone,” said Steinberg, “We’re discussing rolling out a new rewards system for season ticket holders in 2023.”

The team implemented a cap in its first two seasons, something not all teams do. In the team’s first season, it sold 2,100 season tickets and 2,300 in 2022. The caps were meant to protect tickets for fans who want to see an individual game and for group sales.

“Season tickets still remain the foundation to any club’s fan base. While Minor League Baseball teams have a heavy focus on group ticket sales to help attract more people to their games, season tickets remain critical to their business model and growing that fan segment will be very impactful in growing the overall business,” said Luteran.

Geographically, Steinberg sees fans in the upcoming seasons coming from near and far.

“There are more fans from Rhode Island than we anticipated. We thought the border would be a barrier,” said Steinberg, “We want fans from Groton, New Hampshire, to Groton, Massachusetts, to Groton, Connecticut.”