To see a database of LSU baseball attendance, click here.It may speak volumes about what winning national championships can do, or it may just be that undying spirit of the purple-and-gold Tiger faithful. Either way, LSU’s baseball team has had a decisive home-field advantage during the last 14 years, dating back to 1996, holding the best NCAA attendance crown in that span.But it’s been a long trip to get attendance to where it is today.Back in 1984, then-LSU baseball coach Skip Bertman inherited a program that was slowly being established as a winner, but overall attendance was lacking. The total attendance for the 1984 season was 22,021 over 24 games – an average of 918 fans per game.The total nearly doubled to 40,756 in 1985 and slowly climbed to reach an average of 7,476 per game in 2001 in Bertman’s last season as Tiger skipper.LSU made it to the College World Series for the first time in program history in 1986, and the championships started to fall into place. Slowly but surely, attendance grew. Attendance peaked Saturday at 10,019 in a 9-7 victory against Alabama.Long-time LSU radio announcer Jim Hawthorne credits the growth in attendance to the former LSU skipper, saying Bertman went to the community to promote the games.”People began to catch on to the fact that baseball is a sport that can be very entertaining,” Hawthorne said. “It was a sport where LSU had gotten to the point where they were going to win most of the time. Skip is a very charismatic guy, and it just developed into a monster.”Fast forward some 24 years after LSU’s first CWS appearance to last season. The Tigers’ total paid attendance during last season’s trek to their sixth national championship was 403,056, while their closest competitor was Ole Miss with 273,111. LSU’s mark shattered the previous mark of 318,798 set the season before.The fans have helped give LSU the home advantage it now enjoys. The team has a home winning percentage of .795 since 1984.”There is no place else anywhere in this country that comes anywhere near close to the fan support, the atmosphere and the loyalty you see with LSU baseball,” Hawthorne said.The original stadium held 2,500 when it was built in 1938. It increased to 7,760 over the years before the team moved over to the new 9,190-capacity stadium.Average attendance was 3,060 during the final regular season in the old Alex Box Stadium, while the new stadium averaged 5,751 last year.The capacity of the stadium was raised to 10,150 with the addition of the 960 bleacher seats in right field in the offseason, allowing for even more noise this season.That noise was raised to an apex during Friday night’s 12-5 victory in front of 8,556 fans, as numerous questionable calls and a Tiger rally got LSU fans barking back at the officials.”For us as a team, that kind of stuff shows us that the crowd is fighting right there with us,” said LSU senior first baseman Blake Dean. “It gets us fired up.”The story is much the same for LSU’s softball team in its new Tiger Park. Attendance reached 1,000 only nine times in the old stadium’s last season in 2008. It reached that amount a mere seven times in 2007.Attendance hit more than 1,000 in 16 of the first 17 games in the new park’s first season.”The fans love it,” said LSU softball coach Yvette Girouard. “It’s so fan friendly. You’ve got shade and the grass. I think that they have to be in heaven in this ball park.”Senior outfielder Rachel Mitchell said it’s the most beautiful park in the Southeastern Conference, and that has led to the increase in attendance. “The view for the fans is awesome,” she said. “I don’t think the other parks can compare to this one. I love it, everything from the press box to the roof to the seating to the locker rooms.”The additional seating capacity and attendance increases at both venues has allowed for more revenue.Senior Associate Athletic Director Herb Vincent said the increase in seating capacity and attendance at the new Alex Box Stadium has generated four times as much revenue for the Athletic Department as the old stadium.”The old Alex Box Stadium, just off ticket sales, was generating a gross revenue of about $1 million a year,” Vincent said. “The new one is generating about $4 million a year. That does not include parking, concessions, merchandise sales.”–Contact Andy Schwehm at [email protected]
Alex Box stadiums set attendance record for 14 years
April 20, 2010