Sports Digest: Portland tabbed top minor league sports market by Sports Business Journal

Portland’s minor league sports profile got a boost this year. One publication was watching.

The Sports Business Journal named Maine’s largest city the top minor league sports market, crediting “a community whose teams … are intricately connected to each other.” It’s the first time Portland has received the top ranking.

Portland has been home to the Sea Dogs since 1994, the Maine Celtics (formerly Red Claws) since 2009 and the Maine Mariners since 2018 (following the Portland Pirates from 1993-2016 and the original Maine Mariners from 1977-92). The city gained a new team in September 2023 with the arrival of the Hearts of Pine as a USL League One franchise, which will begin play in 2025.

In its article, the Journal described Portland as a “quintessential minor league sports town,” and credited the attendance figures for the baseball, hockey and basketball teams. It mentioned that the Sea Dogs have drawn an average of 6,021 fans per game the last two years, that the Mariners’ average attendance of 4,377 is 30% more than what the Pirates drew, and that the Celtics have topped over 1,000 season tickets for this year.

The Journal also pointed to early financial success the Hearts of Pine have had before their debut. According to the article, the team has sold $170,000 in merchandise since revealing its logo and name in April.

BASKETBALL

WNBA: The league’s players union opeted out of the current collective bargaining agreement, two years before its expiration. The league and union had the option to do so before Nov. 1.

The early opt-out marks a crucial juncture for the league. The WNBA signed an 11-year media rights deal worth $200 million a year, and had record attendance and viewership this year that culminated in New York beating Minnesota in overtime Sunday night in a decisive fifth game.

NBA: New Orleans Pelicans forward Trey Murphy III agreed to a four-year, $112 million contract extension.

BASEBALL

MAJOR LEAGUES: The average time of a nine-inning game in the League Championship Series rose 12 minutes to 3:16 this year along with an increase in scoring, though the overall postseason figure has fallen by two minutes to 3:00 in the second year of the pitch clock.

The LCS average was 3:40 in 2021, then fell to 3:26 in the first season of the PitchCom electronic pitch-calling device and 3:04 last year when the pitch clock was instituted.

• Chicago Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner had surgery on his right hand on Oct. 11, the team announced.

AUTO RACING

FORMULA ONE: The governing body for Formula 1 fined the organizers of the United States Grand Prix nearly $550,000 after a group of spectators invaded the track at the Circuit of the Americas while cars were still finishing their cooldown lap following Sunday’s race.

The FIA said about 200 fans in the grandstand opposite pit lane climbed a fence, dropped about six feet, then cleared another fence and barrier to get to the track. Fans are allowed in the area for the postrace podium celebrations but only after all the cars are off the track.

TENNIS

WTA RANKINGS: Aryna Sabalenka is No. 1 again after ending Iga Swiatek’s 11-month reign.

Sabalenka led Swiatek by 41 points, overturning a 69-point deficit from the week before, even though neither of the two played last week.

– Staff and news service report

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