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Cats come back

Baseball will be back in the Bay in 2011.
Baseball will be back in the Bay in 2011.

Thunder Bay Border Cats owner Brad Jorgenson on Tuesday confirmed the Northwoods League team will return to the circuit for a ninth season, but said they’ll need a drastic improvement in attendance to consider going forward after that.

The Cats finished second-last in the league in attendance in 2010, drawing just 651 fans a night.  The league averaged, buoyed by more than the 5,800 a night Madison attracts, was 1,646 in 2010, about 340 less than 2006, the league’s healthiest at the gates.

Jorgenson said the team needs to average about 1,000 attendees a game to make it financially viable.

“We are asking for the fans to recommit to this organization. If you care about baseball at all in Thunder Bay, we need your support,” Jorgenson said, pleading with the public to repatriate the stands at Port Arthur Stadium, where the Cats drew a team-high 1,254 fans a game in 2005 and 2006.

Attendance has dropped every year since.

Jorgenson said he thinks the number is doable, given past history and the unquestioned support for the World Junior Baseball Championship that saw standing-room only crowds fill the stadium.

“I think it’s not a stretch to look for a 1,000 in the future here. We’re the second-largest market in the 16-team league. And we came 15th in attendance last year. We can do better than that,” Jorgenson said.

“We’ve had to expansion teams the past year and their population base is 18,000 people each. One of them did around 1,100 people per game. The other one did 1,400 people per game.”

The team has been criticized in some circles for a lack of marketing. The Cats used to hold fireworks displays after Friday games, which a source who at the time was a member of the front office staff said would add an extra 400 to 500 fans a night.

They also did bobble-head giveaways and had an all-you-can-eat sports deck available for a $10 premium. All-you-can-drink alcohol packages, which pads attendance in some stadiums south of the border, is outlawed in Ontario.

Assistant general manager Bryan Graham said the club plans to look at some different ticket initiatives and some extra promotional nights to make the Border Cats experience a little more fan friendly.

“Over the course off the offseason we’re definitely going to look in that direction to make some more promotions and ticket packages available to give fans a little more incentive to come out to the ballpark.”  

The owner, who bought the team from founder John Wendel before the start of the 2008 championship season, said he’s not sure how long he can continue to operate the team should the hoped-for increased fan base not materialize.

“Maybe we’ll answer that at the end of 2011. But to continue we certainly need 800 to 1,000 fans. Anything less than that would be very difficult to move forward,” he said.

Evelyn and Gary Bakich have been coming to games for years, and took their love of the game far enough to billet Cats players each summer since 2005, the year the franchise won its first NWL championship.

Evelyn Bakich said she’s glad the team is returning to Thunder Bay, though she never thought Tuesday’s announcement, called to discuss the future of the franchise, was going to announce its demise, a conclusion many in the community jumped to when the news conference was made public.

“I honestly believed they’d be back next year and I’m thrilled they’ll be back,” she said.
“This clears the air and we know we’re going forward from here,” said her husband.

The two are fixtures in the infamous Section 2, known league-wide for its rowdy, but lovable fans who heckle any opponent who happens to come within earshot.

Gary Bakich isn’t sure why fan support has dropped.

“Possibly the economic slowdown has caught up to every facet of life in sports. As Brad mentioned, it looks like we might be turning the corner here economically and baseball will pick up as well as the rest of industry in Thunder Bay.”

Jorgenson, who is also looking for additional sponsors, said season ticket sales to date are on par with last year’s numbers.




Leith Dunick

About the Author: Leith Dunick

A proud Nova Scotian who has called Thunder Bay home since 2002, Leith is Dougall Media's director of news, but still likes to tell your stories too. Wants his Expos back and to see Neil Young at least one more time. Twitter: @LeithDunick
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