Here in South Carolina, and most of the southern states, college baseball is bigger than even MILB. They don’t make much revenue, but the interest is definitely there. South Carolina’s baseball program is why Columbia went so many years without having a minor league team. Early last decade, South Carolina was selling out their 8,242 seat stadium for almost every SEC game.

I’m in favor of moving the season back at least a couple of weeks, maybe not the full month. I’m a College of Charleston alum. We have a pretty high-level program for our league, selling beer at the games. But who wants to go to a game in February? You could start the season the first weekend of March.

CofC “averaged” 540 fans this year (our stadium seats 2,000). But this was with so many home games in February. Except for a very few (schools in Louisiana, Mississippi, a few others), basketball is what almost everybody is talking about in February and what students are going to.

Most of the time the players on both teams are counted and even the staff. There are many games where half that number is probably more logical.

You’re also competing against high school baseball and softball in most of the nation in March through May. Minor league baseball and college baseball get two completely different audiences in most places. Minor league gets the casual folks just looking for a night out, college baseball the die-hard fans.

And in markets where there’s no MILB, things would be even better. UNCW basically has the entire Wilmington market to itself, other than a CPL team. They have a 3,500 seat stadium. Play some home games in June when you’re pretty much the only thing in town? You’d get bigger crowds.