Joliet Slammers attendance up 38% in 2019

The Slammers had a 38% increase in attendance in 2019, according to numbers provided by the team.

The season also marked a second season of stadium upgrades, with Joliet spending about $300,000 on the city-owned baseball park the year after adding artificial turf.

John Wilson, the Slammers’ vice president for sales and marketing, provided a recap of the baseball season last week to the Joliet City Council Stadium Committee.

The Slammers ranked second in Frontier League attendance this season, up from ninth a year ago, Wilson said.

The team won the Frontier League championship in 2018, but attendance was dampened by bad weather early in the season, the team said at the time.

Better use of social media helped boost attendance, Wilson said, who joined the Slammers for the 2019 season.

“We did more on our social media outlets than we ever have in the past,” Wilson told the Stadium Committee.

Average attendance was 2,536 at Slammers games this year, he said.

The Slammers also had a successful event season, bringing in 350 events in addition to scheduled Slammers games, Wilson said. Those events included the stadium's first wedding Saturday.

Wilson said the team had a larger front-office staff in 2019 and plans to add two more positions for the 2020 season.

Stadium improvements in 2019 included the extension of protective netting to the ends of both dugouts. Wilson said parents appreciated the safety measure.

The stadium elevator, which had been subject to breakdowns, was upgraded by the city this year, and there were no breakdowns, Wilson said.

Joliet spent $308,000 on stadium maintenance and improvements, said Mike Eulitz, public assets manager for the city.

In addition to the elevator, money was spent on new sinks and faucets in stadium restrooms, lighting, painting, signs, plumbing repairs and other improvements, Eulitz said.

The next big project is adding drainage at the berms that provide lawn seating along the foul lines. During rainy periods, dirt from the berms erodes onto the artificial turf field, which eventually would create turf problems, Eulitz said.

In 2018, Joliet installed artificial turf, the centerpiece of a $1.6 million stadium project that included new drainage and relocation of the outfield wall.