Louisiana and baseball

[JimLFT]

Originally Posted by mhounit

College baseball rules the day though .

Looking at college baseball attendance figures for 2009, Louisiana had three schools represented in the top 30.

1. LSU - 9,611 average! (Arkansas is a distant second with 7,906)
18. Tulane - 2,938
30. LA-Lafayette - 2,105

That's almost 15,000 average for just these three schools!

Then add in (I don't have attendance figures):

SLU (currently ranked 23rd in the nation)
ULM
La Tech
McNeese
UNO
Northwestern St.
Nicholls St.
Centenary
Grambling
Southern
LA College
Loyola
LSUS
Delgado

Did I miss anyone?

http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats...attendance.pdf

[vanburen81]

Originally Posted by mhounit

SOME support for the LSU team ? Are you kidding ? They have one of the best College ballparks in the nation . LSU has led the nation in attendance for 14 straight years AND has put over 10,000 fans in the seats for a SINGLE GAME many times . In contrast , the average attendance for the New Orleans Zephyrs is a little over 5,200 .
" Some support " , yeah . Right .

OK, I live in NOLA, not Baton Rouge so maybe I'm out of the loop a little. It's pretty strange that a town of about 700,000 in the metro area doesn't even have a minor league team though. I really don't think baseball is that popular in Louisiana, but people definitely have team spirit at LSU. I never hear people talking about baseball -- if they're talking sports it's football. Again though, not from Baton Rouge and haven't been to an LSU game, I'm sure it's fun.

[JimLFT]

Originally Posted by vanburen81

I really don't think baseball is that popular in Louisiana...

Again, we've all acknowledged that Pro baseball hasn't exactly made much of a footprint in Louisiana, but at the college level, it is huge. Not sure why Baton Rouge hasn't homed a minor-league team, but perhaps investors looking to potentially put one together in BR felt that any venture would be overshadowed by support for LSU.

And they would likely be correct. LSU baseball outdraws many, if not most, minor-league teams across the country.

I have yet to see a game at the new Alex Box, but you are right in thinking that it must be fun. No other venue beats it from what I've heard...

And THIS coming from a rabid Ragin Cajun fan from Lafayette...

Kudos to LSU for setting the bar in college baseball!

[mhounit]

Originally Posted by JimLFT

Again, we've all acknowledged that Pro baseball hasn't exactly made much of a footprint in Louisiana, but at the college level, it is huge. Not sure why Baton Rouge hasn't homed a minor-league team, but perhaps investors looking to potentially put one together in BR felt that any venture would be overshadowed by support for LSU.

I think that is probably the case . Go to an LSU football or baseball game and you will feel the energy . Many of the fans have some kind of attachment to the University , which makes it more special for them .