In the often-quirky world of minor-league baseball, stability can be a rare commodity. Remember the Victoria Capitals of the Canadian Baseball League and equally defunct Victoria Seals of the equally defunct Golden League?
But through all the possible pratfalls that can await franchises and leagues in the business of ball, the Victoria HarbourCats are heading into their fifth season as a model franchise in the West Coast League, a collegiate circuit in which top NCAA Division 1 players extend their seasons into summer.
Victoria’s top-echelon place in the WCL pecking order is reflected on the league website, where two of the dominant pre-season stories in the 11-team circuit revolve around the HarbourCats: The signing of Claire Eccles as the first female player in the WCL and the recent brief ascension of hometown Victoria product Nick Pivetta, the first starter in HarbourCats history five years ago, to the majors with the Philadelphia Phillies.
The HarbourCats have led the WCL in attendance for four consecutive seasons. That includes the 60,466 times the turnstiles were churned through 27 home dates last year at Royal Athletic Park, for an average of 2,239 fans per game.
The next closest in the WCL in 2016 were the Corvallis Knights of Oregon, who averaged 1,435 fans per game.
Victoria’s total was up from its average of 1,910 in 2015, which also topped the league that year.
According to Ballpark Digest, overall in 2016, the HarbourCats ranked ninth in attendance among 169 summer-collegiate baseball teams across North America. Topping the list were the Madison Mallards of Wisconsin, averaging 6,039 fans per game in the Northwoods League. The Rome Generals, meanwhile, averaged just four fans at each of their 19 home games last season in the New York Collegiate Baseball League.
That’s what you call a range.
The HarbourCats were second among 14 Canadian teams listed, behind the Okotoks Dawgs of Alberta from the Western Major Baseball League, who were an impressive fourth overall at 3,329. The only other Canadian team in the top 20 was the Edmonton Prospects of the WMBL, 16th overall at 1,820.
“We would like to increase our attendance to 2,300 fans per game this season, and eventually, to 2,500 and see where it takes us from there,” HarbourCats general manager Brad Norris-Jones said.
“That’s tough to do. But we think that is manageable for us. We take pride in providing family entertainment for those from five to 95.”
Baseball, however, is the most weather-sensitive of sports. People come to minor-league ball games more for the atmosphere than the score.
“We hope we used up all the bad weather this year over winter,” said Norris-Jones, with the kind of nervous chuckle only those in baseball can understand.
That’s an issue because the WCL is a ticket-driven league. There is no television contract or other league-wide sponsorship revenues to share. Each team must fend for itself.
That is no easy task when you operate on an island and have nine road trips this season.
Norris-Jones estimated the HarbourCats’ overall yearly budget as “north of $600,000.” That has to be recouped through ticket sales and local sponsorships. There are no other revenue streams at this level of sport.
“Bums in seats is the No. 1 criterion,” Norris-Jones said.
Next come sponsorships.
“We have 92 different partnerships and that is so important to us,” he said.
Merchandising is a third, although much lesser, form of revenue. Still, the HarbourCats do relatively well in that department compared with most WCL teams and offer quality-branded gear.
“We have the highest level of merchandising in the league,” said Norris-Jones.
“I’ve been downtown or along Dallas Road and seen people wearing HarbourCats hoodies or caps.”
“You go to Royals [Western Hockey League] games and see at least a half-dozen people wearing HarbourCats stuff.”
On the diamond, the HarbourCats are coming off their best season in franchise history at 40-14, their first North Division title and first playoff appearance.
That has helped the Victoria team land what appears to be a bumper-crop recruiting class for the 2017 season, which begins June 1 in Port Angeles against the Lefties, with the home opener June 5 at Royal Athletic Park against the Wenatchee AppleSox.
It is certainly the franchise’s most ambitious recruiting class, with the HarbourCats venturing far afield from the usual WCL happy hunting ground of the NCAA Pac-12, Big West and Western Athletic Conference.
The 2017 HarbourCats players are from NCAA powerhouses such as Mississippi State and Auburn from the Southeastern Conference, Baylor of the Big 12, Purdue from the Big Ten and Xavier of the Big East.
“Word of mouth has gotten around, allowing us to spread our wings in recruiting. We are literally coast to coast now in North America,” said Jim Swanson, HarbourCats co-owner and managing partner.
“Being in this market has helped us out.”
Who from the U.S. South or Midwest wouldn’t want the unique adventure of playing on an island off the west coast of Canada? This might be the most exotic experience of these players’ young careers.
The recruiting has gone even further afield, with the HarbourCats this season to feature their first players from Taiwan and the Bahamas — not to mention the first female player in Eccles.
Selling a 40-win program didn’t hurt, either.
“It’s been an organic thing all-round and fun to watch,” said Swanson.
Not that it’s ever easy in summer-collegiate ball.
Better recruits means there is a better chance those players will go deeper into the NCAA playdowns with their university teams. The 2017 NCAA College World Series runs June 17-28 in Omaha, Nebraska, which as usual will make the first three weeks of the WCL season a make-do thing.
“We have five potential starters with Mississippi State and Baylor who could make deep runs in the NCAA playoffs,” Norris-Jones said.
WCL teams fill in during the early season with 10-day contract players.
“Wins in June count as much as wins in August, so a big part of the recruiting puzzle in collegiate summer ball are the 10-day guys,” Swanson said.
“It’s that mix every team tries to find.”
Swanson said the HarbourCats will begin the season with “a solid 24 or 25 players,” which will grow to a roster of 34 as the season progresses and players arrive in Victoria after their university teams are eliminated from the playoffs.
The best WCL organizations recruit well enough to find hidden gems in 10-day contracted players. The HarbourCats did last season when 10-day players Riley Guntrip and Hayden Jaco played well enough to earn roster spots for the rest of the season.
“But realistically, if I have a guy eventually coming in from Stanford later in June, a 10-day player is really going to have to play above his game [in order to stay on the roster],” Norris-Jones said.
Baseball, however, is more than about what happens on the diamond. Norris-Jones began with the HarbourCats five years ago in the sales and marketing side of the operation, and that has never left him. It is as important, he said, to put on a show in the stands as on the diamond.
The HarbourCats’ in-game entertainment displays and promotions are among the best in the WCL. Even if you don’t know a double play from a double double at your local coffee shop, there is plenty to see and experience at a HarbourCats game. Showmanship is integral to minor baseball.
A survey done a few years ago showed that most people leaving minor-baseball games couldn’t even remember the score.
“We are selling entertainment value, on and off the field,” said Norris Jones.
“I want people leaving Royal Athletic Park thinking to themselves: ‘Yeah, that was fun.’ ”
Swanson, who understands baseball as well as anyone in Canada, knows this is a business model operated on two fronts. One is the product on the field. The other is the product off the field.
“It’s sporting Disneyland,” he said.
“If you can’t have fun at a ball game, then you need to be on a couch in some office somewhere and have a [psychiatrist] examine you.”
