Officials with MKE Sports, the company that owns the Lafayette Aviators baseball team, won’t say whether the team made a profit in its first year, but insist the team earned about what was expected.
“To be honest, you know, a lot of baseball isn’t about making a fortune or making a ton of money,” says MKE Director of Operations Dan Kuenzi.
Kuenzi says the availability of cold beer at games did help the team’s bottom line, but he says the lack of some concession amenities at the 76-year old stadium hurt the team’s food revenue – and he says he doesn’t expect that to improve much before a new stadium is finished in about three years.
But Kuenzi says he does expect the team to generate more income between now and then.
“We’d be crazy not to think that there’s not room for improvement and we’d like to see it grow," he says.
The team averaged just less than 950 fans per game in its first season. That was the 69th-best attendance figure among collegiate summer league teams, and fifth-best in the Prospect League.
