City officials say they are elated at the attendance numbers for the Fayetteville Woodpeckers baseball games, which they say is spurring spending at downtown businesses.

The home attendance for the Woodpeckers' first 20 games is 73,810 — the third highest among the Carolina League's 10 teams, according to the most recent figures.

City leaders, business owners and team officials say they are elated with the attendance numbers for the Class A-Advanced minor league affiliate of the Houston Astros, noting that the games are bringing visitors downtown — including some who have never been there.

Fayetteville's overall home game attendance numbers to date are behind the Wilmington Blue Rocks, which had 76,635 people watch the first 19 home games, and the Winston-Salem Dash, which had 78,065 watch their first 19 home games, according to the Carolina League's website.

Not all of the teams in the Carolina League have completed 20 games to date. But the average game attendance also shows that the Fayetteville Woodpeckers have the third highest average per game attendance to date at 3,691.

Even teams with larger stadiums, such as the Carolina Mudcats in Zebulon, have fewer average game attendance numbers. The Mudcats have an average home game attendance of 3,357.

Victoria Huggins, a spokeswoman for the Woodpeckers, said the team is pleased with the numbers.

"We are absolutely thrilled by our attendance numbers not only on a game-by-game basis, but also so far this season," she said. "And to know that our Woodpeckers fans are enjoying our beautiful Segra Stadium and they keep wanting to come back, those numbers are only going to increase as we truck on through our very first inaugural season here in Fayetteville. And we hope that this momentum keeps on growing and building."

The city invested $40.2 million in Segra Stadium, where the team plays, as a catalyst for the downtown redevelopment effort.

Mayor Mitch Colvin said it seems to be working.

“I think it shows that the community is excited in receiving the Woodpeckers with open arms,” he said. “I've talked to the management at the Woodpeckers and they said they have had tremendous success with merchandising. It just goes to show, thankfully, that the citizens of Fayetteville are starting to see some return on their investment. I think the best is yet to come.”

Councilman Jim Arp, who is chairman of the city's Baseball Committee, said based on the attendance at the first 20 home games, it would be fair to assume that the remaining 50 home games would have an average of at least 3,500 attendees.

“We could see another 175,000 people coming to the stadium and downtown,” Arp said. “After 50,000 (game attendees), $1 of every ticket sold goes to the stadium maintenance fund for future renovations and repairs. This is for all tickets sold, baseball and other events.”



Arp said it's not just locals going to the games, but people driving in from places like Lumberton and Sanford.

“We've got people from all around the county that are coming into the city, so yeah, I think it's having the impact we were hoping for,” Arp said. “We've had over seventy thousand people come downtown. That is seventy thousand people who probably weren't coming downtown.”



Arp said families are eating dinner at downtown restaurants before the game and having drinks at bars after the game.

“I think it will be interesting to see six months from now how much of an economic impact (the stadium is having)," he said.



Heather Hodgman, a bartender at The Taphouse on Hay Street, said she has noticed business pick up on game nights. The Woodpeckers played their first home game on April 18, and there are 50 more home games.



“We're still getting our regulars,” she said. “It has brought up business. We're getting a lot more people from out of town and surrounding counties.”



Diane Parfitt, who along with her husband, Hank, own City Center Gallery & Books on Hay Street, said most people going to and from games are walking by that shop but some have been stopping in.



“I would say that we have seen extra traffic outside obviously, because there are all those more people coming downtown,” she said. “My hours are a bit different than restaurants, but we're starting to see a trickle in of (new) people who are noticing we are here."



She praised the City Council for the stadium project and recently reducing the parking rate for people using city lots during games. The council lowered the rate from $10 to $5, and she said that also has helped businesses.



“I'm impressed with what (city officials) are doing,” she said. “It's working. It's exciting. We've got to tweak the parking. We're all working together on that.”

Staff writer John Henderson can be reached at jhenderson@fayoberver.com or 910-486-3596.



