CHARLOTTE — Home plate for the holidays is turning into a popular, and profitable, venture for the Charlotte Knights.
The Triple-A baseball team has not disclosed specific financial results but attendance gains for its “Light the Knights” Christmas village at Truist Field speak for themselves.
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Through Dec. 11, attendance was 77,000. Knights executives set a goal of attracting 100,000 people for the winter holiday event. It opened Nov. 23 and closes Jan. 6.
“It is very important to do outside events from a financial perspective and a community relations perspective,” said Gary Loewenstern, principal at accounting and consulting firm HBK. Loewenstern has served as a financial and business adviser to dozens of minor-league clubs during his career; the Knights are not, and have never been, one of his clients.
Loewenstern told CBJ that minor-league teams benefit from non-baseball events because they can catch the attention of people who may not have been to a game and who become curious after visiting the ballpark.
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