SEC Announces Baseball Attendance Campaign
3/17/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Southeastern Conference has announced its plans for an attendance campaign during the 2005 baseball season, aimed at drawing more than 1.5 million fans to SEC ballparks during the 2005 season. The promotion, entitled "Pack the Parks - The Drive for 1.5" will commence immediately and be updated regularly on the SEC's official website, www.SECSports.com.
The SEC has designed various logos to accompany the campaign, as well as a 30-second television spot that will air regionally throughout the 2005 regular season. These items can be accessed, as well as current and past SEC baseball attendance information, on the SEC's official website as well.
"We are very excited about this promotion of Southeastern Conference baseball," SEC Commissioner Mike Slive said. "From our ballparks, to the outstanding coaches, to the tremendous support of our fans, baseball in the SEC is something very special. We want to continue to grow that tradition, while at the same time, reaching out to new fans as well."
Year after year, the SEC continues to be the benchmark in college baseball attendance. The SEC and its member schools own virtually all regular season, conference tournament, NCAA Regional and Super Regional attendance records. The SEC and one of its institutions have led the NCAA in total and average attendance for the last nine seasons in a row, and 14 of the last 20 years.
Last season, the SEC drew more than 1.3 million fans to it's ballparks, an increase of over 200,000 from the 2003 season. The SEC reached the one-million mark in 2004 in late April, the earliest it had ever reached that figure. The SEC's baseball attendance in 2004 was over 500,000 more than the next closest conference, the Big 12, who totaled nearly 812,000 a year ago. Three of the top five and seven of the top 12 schools in NCAA baseball attendance in 2004 were SEC schools.
The SEC reached the one-million mark in attendance for the first time in 2002.
Conference play in the SEC begins this weekend. The 2005 SEC Tournament will be held May 25-29 at the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Ala. The 2004 SEC Baseball Tournament drew 75,259 fans, despite inclement weather. That total was still the second highest conference tournament attendance in the country in 2004.
2004 SEC Baseball Attendance
*HomeTeam Dates Total % Capacity AverageLSU 31 245,986 102.3 % 7,935Miss. State 33 211,277 42.7 % 6,402Alabama 33 146,110 71.4 % 4,427Arkansas 33 139,926 71.9 % 4,240South Carolina 36 132,132 61.2 % 3,670Auburn 33 111,627 82.6 % 3,382Ole Miss 33 114,558 99.2 % 3,471Florida 36 80,686 44.8 % 2,241Georgia 33 58,799 54.1 % 1,781Tennessee 33 44,369 33.6 % 1,344Vanderbilt 33 28,961 55.7 % 877Kentucky 32 12,399 12.9 % 387TOTALS 399 1,326,830 3,325
*Regular-season only. Some teams have played doubleheaders at various points of the season, giving them less home dates than they have played actual home games.
TOP FIVE HOME CROWDS OF 2004
Date Matchup AttendanceApril 17 Florida at Mississippi State 10,617April 17 Tennessee at Ole Miss 9,260March 6 Houston at LSU 8,683May 21 Auburn at Arkansas 8,653May 22 LSU at Ole Miss 8,574
NEUTRAL SITE TOP CROWDS
May 11 Georgia vs. Georgia Tech 28,836 (Turner Field - Atlanta, Ga.)April 27 LSU vs. Tulane 21,343 (Louisiana Superdome - New Orleans, La.)March 7 LSU vs. Tulane 10,916 (Zephyr Field - Metairie, La.)
2003 SEC Baseball Attendance
*HomeTeam Dates Total % Capacity AverageLSU 33 245,813 96.0 % 7,448Mississippi State 33 201,015 40.6 % 6,091Alabama 33 163,549 79.9 % 4,956Auburn 30 87,052 70.8 % 2,901South Carolina 33 93,372 47.2 % 2,829Ole Miss 35 73,154 59.7 % 2,090Arkansas 28 60,303 36.5 % 2,153Florida 36 65,109 36.2 % 1,808Georgia 34 56,009 50.0 % 1,647Tennessee 33 41,398 31.4 % 1,254Vanderbilt 29 24,181 52.9 % 833Kentucky 31 10,225 11.0 % 329TOTALS 388 1,121,180 2,890
*Regular-season only. Some teams have played doubleheaders at various points of the season, giving them less home dates than they have played actual home games.
TOP FIVE HOME CROWDS OF 2003
Date Matchup AttendanceApril 12 Auburn at Mississippi State 11,763May 9 Auburn at LSU 8,512May 10 Auburn at LSU 8,437April 26 Tennessee at LSU 8,310Feb. 7 Northwestern State at LSU 8,132
NEUTRAL SITE TOP CROWDS
April 29 LSU vs. Tulane 18,319 (Louisiana Superdome - New Orleans, La.)Feb. 15 Alabama vs. Houston 14,484 (Minute Maid Park - Houston, Texas)March 11 LSU vs. Tulane 10,870 (Zephyr Field - Metairie, La.)
