If They Switch It, Will You Still Come?
The allure of going to Myrtle Beach Pelicans minor league baseball games can be seen from three perspectives, in no particular order:
- It’s a great opportunity for tourists and locals alike to see a professional baseball game, in an intimate setting and at a fraction of the cost involved in seeing the big leaguers play.
- For our summer tourists, who drive a significant chunk of the team’s annual attendance figures, it’s an added attraction that can slot in nicely with their other off-the-beach activities.
- For Atlanta Braves fans, it’s a chance to get an up-close look at the organization’s rising stars before they hit the big time at Turner Field.
It’s the last point in particular that stands to change the most this month, if the rumors and speculation prove true that the Pelicans will soon end its 11-year affiliation with the Braves and hook up with the Texas Rangers for the 2011 season and beyond.
Fueling the speculation are the facts that a) the Pelicans and Braves have yet to renew their affiliation agreement; b) the Rangers have yet to renew their agreement with their current high-A minor league affiliate in Bakersfield, California; c) the Rangers seek upgrades in both location and facility over their current high-A situation; and d) the Pelicans’ principal owner, Chuck Greenberg, recently acquired the same status with the Rangers.
As Alan Blondin at The Sun News reported last week, the process of major and minor league teams shoring up their next-season affiliations is typically finalized by Oct. 1, so the speculation will be put to rest in short order.
In the meantime, we’re left to wonder how the market would embrace a minor league baseball team whose big league club resides 1,200 miles away, as opposed to the team sitting just one state away that’s driven much of the Grand Strand’s major league rooting interest for far longer than the Pelicans have been in existence.
For those who embrace the first two perspectives stated above, it won’t matter all that much. But for Braves fans – especially those who regularly frequent BB&T Coastal Field clad in Braves replica jerseys of former Pelicans players now with the big club – there’s a longstanding connection that compels them to buy tickets in the first place. If the Rangers enter the picture, will losing that connection keep these folks away? Or will they simply trade in their Jason Heyward and Brian McCann jerseys for those of Michael Young and Ian Kinsler, and keep on coming?
We’ll know the answers soon enough, but invite you to weigh in here with your thoughts.
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