American Association of Professional Baseball Wraps Up Record-Setting 2024

MOORHEAD, Minn. - Oct. 2, 2024 - PRLog -- When the Kane County Cougars finished off a rare playoff sweep, winning all three of its Miles Wolff Cup postseason series to claim the title, it capped a banner season for the American Association of Professional Baseball (@AA_Baseball). Attendance in both the regular season and playoffs were up, streaming and TV viewership saw huge gains and media interest reached new heights as the MLB Partner League and its 12 teams celebrated throughout 2024.

Here are a few superlatives around the AAPB in 2024:

• Every regular season and Miles Wolff Cup playoff game was available for free live viewing on aabaseball.tv, resulting in more than 50,000 more hours of viewing, an increase of 29% over 2023.
• Attendance was up by 4% over 2023 during the regular season (1.61MM, average 2,791 per game) and 51% in the playoffs (2,058 per game vs. 1,366 in '23). Host Winnipeg and Kane County drew 6,180 for the third game of the Wolff Cup Final at Blue Cross Park. That attendance mark led all MLB Partner Leagues once again.
• The Cougars made history as the third team to sweep the playoffs with a 7-0 record across three rounds
• An estimated 3-4 million fans watched linear broadcasts of AAPB contests, through Fubo Sports Network, Unbeaten, local distribution, and an agreement with Gray TV (https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/05/13/288...) to air games across its over-the-air network
• The AAPB newsletter gained new heights of popularity, more than doubling its subscriber base to more than 20,000
• Social Media took a major leap forward, with league and team engagement at an all-time high. Combined followers on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/AmericanAssociationBaseball), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/americanassociation/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/AA_Baseball) and TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@aabaseball?lang=en) surpassed the 42,000 mark, a more than 15% increase. Reach on those platforms totaled more than 12.1 million.
• The baseball world took notice when Iowa legislator JD Scholten returned to the Sioux City Explorers after a 17-year hiatus, with a whirlwind of media acclaim that included ESPN (https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/40528521/state-representative-jd-scholten-sioux-city-explorers), USA Today (https://www.usatoday.com/videos/sports/baseball/2024/08/08/jd-scholten-iowa-state-lawmaker-leaves-law-firm-to-focus-on-baseball/74678692007/), Barstool Sports (https://www.barstoolsports.com/blog/3518859/44-year-old-iowa-congressman-signs-emergency-contract-with-his-an-independent-baseball-team-promptly-throws-7-scoreless-innings), Sports Illustrated (https://www.si.com/mlb/iowa-state-lawmaker-jd-scholten-emergency-start), the Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/07/10/iowa-representative-baseball-sioux-city-scholten/) and dozens more. Scholten then delivered the jersey he wore during the season to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
• Numerous AAPB alumni had super seasons after signing with MLB organizations. Bryan Torres won the Texas League batting title at .331 and had 33 stolen bases; Matt Lloyd was second in the circuit with 77 RBI; the Boston Red Sox bullpen trio of Chris Martin (Grand Prairie, 2010) Brennan Bernardino (Winnipeg, 2018), and Cam Boozer (Chicago, 2021).
• In all, 19 AAPB alums played in MLB in 2024, the third most in league history and three made their MLB debuts.