The numbers are staggering and they continue to climb.

Total attendance in the Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) reached 367,582 during the 2024 regular season, smashing the record crowd totals experienced during last year's regular season, playoffs and league All-Star Game festivities combined.

The figures easily surpassed the 305,425 attendance from the 2023 regular season. The average crowd attending a WCBL game last summer was 1,111 fans. This year a typical crowd of 1,131 showed up for the 325 games involving the 12 teams from Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Leading the way were the baseball fans who packed into Seaman Stadium in Okotoks to watch the defending league champions take the field. The Dawgs continued to improve upon their attendance numbers by drawing 133,664 fans to their 28 home games, resulting in an average record crowd of 4,774. Those numbers were up from a total of 127,622 and an average of 4,558 in 2023.

The WCBL gate receipts also got a boost from the expansion Saskatoon Berries, who attracted the second largest number of fans in the league. NexGen Patch at Cairns Field had 50,195 visitors and an average crowd of 1,931.

Holding steady in third place were the Sylvan Lake Gulls, who set a single-season record by winning 44 games this summer. The regular season champs had a total of attendance of 43,093, down slightly from 45,105 in 2023, but still good for an average crowd of 1,539 at Gullls Field.

In other WCBL markets, teams had attendance that was in line with the 2023 season. The Medicine Hat Mavericks, Regina Red Sox, Lethbridge Bulls, Moose Jaw Miller Express and Brooks Bombers had similar year-over-year crowd totals.

Meanwhile, the turnout for the Fort McMurray Giants was up. Legacy Dodge Field welcomed 21,820 spectators during the 2024 regular season, a boost from the 17,032 total fans last summer. The average attendance increased from 608 in 2023 to 839 this year.

In combining the attendance of 6,064 fans from the 2024 WCBL All-Star Game festivities at Seaman Stadium with the regular-season crowd totals, there have been 373,646 baseball boosters show up for league matchups this summer. 

If postseason attendance comes anywhere close to the more than 40,000 fans who showed up to watch playoff action in 2023, the WCBL will pass the 400,000 attendance mark for the first time ever, yet again reaching new highs.