Pecos League struggling with attendance. Contingency plans are in place

The Pecos League continues to be a work in progress. 

Since all but taking over the Continental Baseball League, the Pecos League is attempting to market their brand of baseball in areas where success is a rarity. 

The inaugural season features six teams in New Mexico and West Texas (Alpine Cowboys, Carlsbad Bats, Las Cruces Vaqueros, Roswell Invaders, Ruidoso Osos and White Sands Pupfish), each showcasing a 68-game schedule. 

While any new league will face struggles, individual teams certainly aren’t immune from their own obstacles; the Carlsbad Bats are 2-25. 

Inconveniences and hurdles aside, the dynamics of this league certainly differ from the norm.

“According to the Las Cruces Sun-News, last year Vaqueros had a team salary of roughly $20,000. Players were being paid a minimum of $200 a month with a cap of $400. Dunn was reportedly quoted as saying that in 2011 teams will entertain a $35,000 cap with players now making between $200 and $500 a month. 

Here’s the kicker. Ten of the 30 on the roster will not be paid. 

Talk about love of the game!”

And

“The league's high power offenses are fuelled by high altitudes and smaller ballparks.”

Right now, getting through the 2011 season with all teams intact is the main objective.

The worry about attendance has set off a few alarms as of late. The league website now has a page titled; Pecos Attendance Highs and Lows

With one-third of the season complete, basic necessities are still a concern.

Ruidoso GM Billy Page says, "We are just trying to break even and establish baseball and hope to be alive in 2012 with lights. The Baseball Part is the easy part. If I would have had started in December we would have been fine."

The majority of teams are averaging a few hundred fans per game, while the most established team, the Alpine Cowboys, played all their games during the month of May at home and will play all of June’s on the road, at the same time competing for fans with local high school playoffs.

The 2012 season is still on track to begin on schedule with at least two more squads looking to begin play: Del Rio Texas, Odessa, Clovis and Pueblo are the front-runners.

Despite the unrest, the league is being honest. They know it’s a long road to be successful in this business. To compare the Pecos League with the other Independents would be foolish, even though the North American Baseball League is a first year organization.

Those looking for similarities will not find any. The NAL is at nearly 150,000 fans after less than 30 games.

First- year projects always have their ups and downs with the Pecos League being no different, but with four new teams possibly in the mix and the likes of Las Vegas, NM, Farmington, NM, Rio Rancho, NM and Albuquerque, NM on the radar, next year could be a whole other story.

In my conversation with Andrew Dunn, commissioner of the Pecos League, the alarm surrounding attendance is not due to performance on the field.

Las Cruces is struggling to draw fans due to complications with their grandstand, but to lack of travel, expenses are very low. According to Dunn, the league is setup to average 200 per game. Attendance in Alamogordo and Roswell are well above the norm averaging 335 per game.

For those who have been following the League since I began reporting on it, you will be happy to learn that the “Indy Curse” has not yet tainted this start-up. With what I’ve learned preparing for this piece, success is only a matter of time with Dunn at the helm.

“We are committed to play in our cities for 2012 season and we have no financial losses…”

Couldn’t have said it better myself!

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Devon is the founder of The GM’s Perspective

Devon is a former professional baseball player with the River City Rascals& Gateway Grizzlies, and is now an independent scout.