Minor League attendance totals for 2017 were released for all the respective farm teams strewn throughout North America. Surprisingly the Dunedin Blue Jays were last among Florida State League teams while the Vancouver Canadians once again nabbed the top spot in the Northwest League.
The Toronto Blue Jays have some of the games brightest and most exciting prospects however that did not necessarily reciprocate at the gates of many of the Jays minor league affiliates.
The Blue Jays Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo finished 5th in attendance in the International League circuit totaling 526,574 Bisons enthusiasts through the gates. The herd averaged 8,101 fans per game up a small percentage from their 8,039 game average in 2016. The Indianapolis Indians (Pirates Affiliate) took the top spot with 641,141 fans.
The Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats came in at 7th for league attendance in the Eastern League loop. The Cats drew 284,108 fans this season down 16% from the 338,387 they corralled into the stadium in 2016. The Reading Fightin Phils (Phillies Affiliate) garnered first place with 411,698 through the turnstiles.
The High-A Dunedin Blue Jays have to be the most perplexing on the list seeing they had arguably the best prospect duo in baseball side by side for the second half of the season. The baby Jays finished last in attendance in the Florida State League drawing an uninspiring 38,956 fans, a drastic decline from the 50, 593 they drew in 2016. If Dunedin cannot draw fans with Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in their lineup than the never will. The Clearwater Threshers (Phillies Affiliate) took top honours with 200,201 fans.
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The Single-A affiliate Lansing Lugnuts landed in the 6th spot in the Midwest League with 303,843 baseball happy fans coming out to the ball park in 2017. The Lugnuts has Bo and Vladdy for the first half of the campaign up until the All-Star break however they still drew less than the 311, 190 in 2016. The Dayton Dragons (Reds Affiliate) led the league with 554,638 in paid attendance.
The Class-A short season Vancouver Canadians defended their attendance title from last season once again drawing the most fans in the Northwest League. The Canadians who are battling in the League Championship drew 239,527 an increase from their league leading 2016 total of 222,363.
The Bluefield Blue Jays Rookie affiliate finished in the middle of the pack at seventh in the Appalachian League with 21,595 down just over a thousand fans from 2016. The Pulaski Yankees were atop the pack with a yearly attendance of 77,880 in 2017.
Next: Toronto Blue Jays prospects who dominated in 2017
To view the complete attendance breakdown for all the leagues, check out the Baseball America article HERE: