While Minor League Baseball has been setting attendance records for the past five years, the Syracuse Chiefs have not shared the same great fortune. In fact, the Chiefs' average a measly 5,400 fans a game in a stadium that can seat up to 11,000. Furthermore, rivals of the Chiefs, such as the Pawtucket Red Sox, average around 10,000 fans per game. Syracuse Chiefs director of business development Andy Gee attributes the low attendance to the busy lives today's kids lead. "Kids and their families have always been our biggest draw. There is more stuff that these kids have going on in their own athletics that they cannot make it to as many games as they used to." Gee also claimed that cities like Pawtucket are more family friendly than Syracuse, allowing more children and their families to attend baseball games. Another reason for the Chiefs' poor attendance may be their affiliation with the Toronto Blue Jays. Pawtucket is only about an hour from Boston, so there are naturally lots of Red Sox fans curious about what players are on Pawtucket. Toronto, on the other hand, is over three hours away from Syracuse, not to mention the Blue Jays do not have nearly the fan base that Boston does. This Friday, the Chiefs are holding "College Night," where college students have the chance to win $1,000 and even $10,000 scholarships.
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