Jersey Shore BlueClaws 2023: As home opener looms, can minor leagues continue rebound?
LAKEWOOD – As Joe Ricciutti sat at a bistro table inside ShoreTown Ballpark’s Blue Wave Bar, the president and general manager of the Jersey Shore BlueClaws struck an optimistic tone.
Granted, there was nowhere to go but up after the round house punch the COVID-19 pandemic delivered to minor league baseball, forcing the cancellation of the 2020 season.
But now social distancing, which marked the 2021 season, and masking are in the rearview mirror. And combined with last year’s revamping of the entire minor league system, with fewer affiliated teams and a more cost-effective schedule, there’s a sense that a corner’s been turned.
The BlueClaws, entering their 22nd season, play their home opener against the Greensboro Grasshoppers Tuesday (6:35 p.m.) at ShoreTown Ballpark.
Be sure to check out the BlueClaws’ home schedule and calendar of promotional events at the end of this story.
Attendance rising?
The BlueClaws average attendance in their inaugural season in 2001 was 6,938, and topped the 6,000 mark as recently as 2010. But attendance averaged just 3,881 last season.
As an industry, minor league baseball saw a total attendance of 30.9 million in 2022. And while that was up from 22 million a year earlier, it was still below the pre-pandemic number of 41.5 million in 2019. The average attendance was 4,044 that year, compared to 3,910 in 2022.
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Can attendance ever return to those gaudy numbers from the late 2000s?
“I think they’re attainable but I think they don’t come easy,” Riciutti said.
“What we’re saying is come out and experience a live baseball game. Come out and experience a live event - make the decision to come. You’re going to love it.
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“In 2007, if you wanted to see a minor league baseball game, you went to the game. Now, it’s almost like you’re consuming entertainment on demand. So I can sit in front of my television and pick any game I want, stream any game at home and get a beer out of my fridge. But the experience is transactional. If you’re talking about the live event, the transaction isn’t just this one thing, it’s all of this stuff. It’s the sights it’s the sounds. It’s the smells, it’s the food, it’s the friendly staff that’s happy to greet you. It’s the mascot doing goofy stuff. It’s all of that stuff that’s the experience. The game is part of the experience.”
Can minor league baseball thrive?
With inflation having eaten into household budgets, Riccuitti feels minor league baseball is a more attractive option than ever.
“When you think about what is happening with the economy, when everything else is getting expensive around us, minor league baseball is still a great value,” he said. “I think about my days with the Staten Island Yankees, when we were owned by a company that owned seven teams around the country and we had our two best years in 2009 and 2010. We grew exponentially in a bad economy.
“Minor league baseball is unique in the sense that it is still very affordable. Parking is $5, a ticket is reasonably priced. We have tickets with food included in it so you come out with your family, say it’s $11 a ticket, you don’t have to take your wallet out of your pocket for the rest of the night if you don’t want to. That’s a great value. There’s not a lot of other entertainment that does that.”
Return to normalcy
In terms of the light at the end of the tunnel for minor league baseball, a lot more will be known after the 2023 season, with the 2020 season canceled and pandemic restrictions limiting what was possible in 2021.
“I’d say 2022 felt more like a normal season, but it wasn’t quite there yet,” Ricciutti said.
“There was still a little bit of hesitancy. There were some businesses that still weren’t doing group outings, and that is a tremendous part of our business. But you’ve seen some of those organized outings, schools and camps, businesses were saying ‘let’s do a group outing.’ It was much better. It was closer, but it wasn’t what it was. This year, it’ back to being that. We’re seeing those bits of hesitancy disappear.”
The BlueClaws sold out 14 games in 2022, and Riccuitti feels 20-25 sellouts are possible this season.
Balancing act
As it sought to rebound from the pandemic last season, minor league baseball contracted from 160 affiliated teams to 120.
In addition, the schedule shifted to six-game series in one city, with Monday off. And while the move was designed to restrict travel and reduce costs, it has also had a positive impact on the team’s legion of full and part-time employees at ShoreTown Ballpark.
“We all went away and joined the circus. Right? Our spouses and our kids didn’t,” Ricciutti said. “So when you have some predictability to your schedule, it’s like every other week, we know we can have dinner together. It’s not as disjointed.
“If you can find a good work-life balance, which is kind of unheard of in this industry, then you can still attract really good people. That way you don’t wind up getting to a point where once they get into their early 30s and they have families they want to be home with them they want some semblance of normalcy. What winds up happening is they just time out of the business and say ‘this is fun, but this isn’t for me anymore.’ “
2023 JERSEY SHORE BLUECLAWS HOME SCHEDULE
April 11-14: Greensboro Grasshoppers, 6:35 p.m.
April 15: Greensboro, 4:35 p.m.
April 16: Greensboro, 1:05 p.m.
April 25: Brooklyn Cyclones, 6:05 p.m.
April 26: Brooklyn, 11:05 a.m.
April 27-28: Brooklyn, 6:35 p.m.
April 29: Brooklyn, 4:05 p.m.
April 30: Brooklyn, 1:05 p.m.
May 16: Wilmington Blue Rocks, 6:05 p.m.
May 17: Wilmington, 11:05 a.m.
May 18-19: Wilmington, 6:35 p.m.
May 20: Wilmington, 4:05 p.m.
May 21: Wilmington, 1:05 p.m.
May 30: June 3: Brooklyn, 7:05 p.m.
June 4: Brooklyn, 1:05 p.m.
June 6-10: Hudson Valley Renegades, 7:05 p.m.
June 11: Hudson Valley, 1:05 p.m.
June 20-24: Rome Braves, 7:05 p.m.
June 25: Rome, 1:05 p.m.
July 4-8: Hudson Valley, 7:05 p.m.
July 9: Hudson Valley, 1:05 p.m.
July 25: Aberdeen IronBirds, 6:05 p.m.
July 26: Aberdeen, 11:05 a.m.
July 27-29: Aberdeen, 7:05 p.m.
July 30: Aberdeen, 1:05 p.m.
Aug. 1: Brooklyn, 7:05 p.m.
Aug. 2: Brooklyn, 12:05 p.m.
Aug. 3-5: Brooklyn, 7:05 p.m.
Aug. 6: Brooklyn, 1:05 p.m.
Aug. 15-19: Asheville Tourists, 7:05 p.m.
Aug. 20: Ashville, 1:05 p.m.
Aug. 29-Sept. 2: Aberdeen, 7:05 p.m.
Sept. 3: Aberdeen, 1:05 p.m.
PROMOTIONAL SCHEDULE
April 11: Fireworks
April 26: Education Day
May 17: Education Day
May 19: Marvel Super Hero Night
May 20: Touch-Some-Trucks Day
May 21: Bark in the Park
June 2: Fireworks
June 8: First Responders Night
June 9: Pride Night; Fireworks
June 10: Irish Heritage Night
June 11: Salute to Dad Day
June 23: Girl Scout Family Night; Fireworks
June 24: Marvel’s Defenders of the Diamond Night
July 4: Independence Day Celebration; Fireworks
July 6: Military Appreciation Night
July 7: Fireworks
July 26: Camp Day
July 28: Fireworks
July 29: Salute to Heroes Night
Aug. 2: Camp Day
Aug. 4: Star Wars Night; Fireworks
Aug. 5: Marvel Super Heroes Night; Fireworks
Aug. 18: Boy Scout Night; Fireworks
Aug. 19: Splintered Sunlight concert
Sept. 1: Autism Awareness Night; Fireworks
Sept. 2: Fan Appreciation Night
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Jersey Shore NJ BlueClaws 2023: Can minor leagues continue rebound?
