Now I want to combine the charts and see if there are any patterns or any relationship in Minor League attendance trends.
Tampa Bay Minor League Baseball Average Attendance
April:
Here we see the Threshers average attendance climbing, the Yankees dropping, the Marauders increasing then decreasing, and the Blue Jays staying level.
I explored April average attendance earlier in 2016 and came to the following conclusions:
Every Minor League team has seen their April attendance increase since 2007.
- Marauders: +976 per game
- Threshers: +660 per game
- Yankees: +276 per game
- Blue Jays: +198 per game
However, since 2013 the Tampa Yankees April attendance has dropped 21%. It is possible this could be because of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
May:
As I mentioned in the Tampa Yankees trend analysis, 2007 was an anomaly due to a Roger Clemens rehab start. Because of a Yankees steep drop - possibly due to Lightning playoff runs - and Marauders steady increase, the Marauders have caught the Tampa Yankees in average May attendance. The Blue Jays and Threshers have slightly increased.
June:
In the last 10 years, the Threshers attendance has increased less 100 per game and the Blue Jays average June attendance has increased by six. After a huge gain, the Marauders have only increased 200 per game. Meanwhile, the Yankees have decreased almost 700 fans per game in June since 2007.
July:
Since 2007, Threshers average July attendance has increased over 500 fans per game. Blue Jays average attendance has increased over 250 and Marauders attendance increased over 600. Adversely, Tampa Yankees average July attendance has dropped over 300 per game in the last 10 years. Yankees average attendance in 2016 was below Marauders attendance and slightly above Blue Jays attendance.
August/September:
Over the last 10 years, the Threshers an average August increase of 25 fans per game. Marauders attendance has increased nearly 300 fans per August game. On the other hand, Blue Jays average August attendance decreased over 300 fans per game and Tampa Yankees has decreased 800 fans per game in August.
Conclusion:
We don't see much, if any, correlation between Minor League team attendance. According to these charts, even Dunedin and Clearwater do not have much of a relationship. The Tampa Yankees attendance decline needs to be explored. The Marauders have also seen increases early in the season and decreases in the later months.
In my Rays analysis, I broke down average attendance by weekend and weekday attendance. I may want to see if Minor League trends follow the Rays trends in regards to average difference between weekend and weekday attendance in each month. By comparing the difference between weekend and weekday attendance, we can start analyzing local fan behavior.
Perhaps fans are more likely to go to Minor League Baseball during the week. Perhaps there is no correlation between the Rays and each Minor League team.