Louisville Planning Many Promotions to Halt Slipping Baseball Attendance

Fans of the Louisville Redbirds, top farm club of the St. Louis Cardinals, will be treated this year to more than just a view of their favorite baseball team in action.

“We’re installing a $30,000 sound system in Cardinal Stadium,” said General Manager Dale Owens. “Redbirds’ Stadium will rock and roll next season. I don’t care if we lose 10 to 1, people are going to leave the stadium, saying, ‘Man, I had fun tonight.’ ”

And, he said, additional promotions and corporate support this year should help boost attendance back to the 900,000 level. Louisville, a member of the American Assn., holds the minor league attendance record of 1,052,438 set in 1983.

Former Redbirds owner A. Ray Smith, currently working to bring major league baseball to St. Petersburg, Fla., brought the Redbirds to Louisville from Springfield, Ill., in the fall of 1981. An attendance record of 868,418 came the following year, shattering the former minor league mark of 670,563 set in 1946.

The Redbirds broke their own record the following season when they became the first minor league team to draw over 1 million fans, attracting 1,052,438 to Cardinal Stadium. Attendance has declined since then, but is still averaging about 700,000 a year in the six-year period.

Owens said there will be giveaways of cars and boats and other incentives to make a night at the ballpark a fun time.

“We’re putting together marketing schemes with some corporate sponsors that will get people into the ballpark,” he said. “We’re committed to having a good show for our fans. We’re also doing a Derby festival event where we have a ballgame, a major concert and a fireworks show.”

The Redbirds introduced new uniforms, announced an 18-game spring schedule and a new season-ticket sales push.