CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – The Charleston Dirty Birds say attendance at their home games has continued to increase since last season.

According to officials with the team, a total of 140,632 fans attended the teams 66 home games for the 2023 season. The team says these numbers are up 15% from the 2022 season, which saw a total of 119,165 fans attend the 67 home games last year.

“With over 140,000 fans attending our games this season, we are excited for the future,” says Dirty Birds General manager Ben Blum. “We are thankful to have the opportunity to build upon our successes driving the overall customer experience with additional events, camps and clinics for our future fans, and creating memories that last a lifetime.”

The team says the highest attended game for 2023, was May 24 against Lexington. The season also marked the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball’s 25th anniversary season.

“Being up over 15% attendance from last year shows how strong the community support is and continues the upward trajectory of our organization,” Dirty Birds Owner and CEO Andy Shea says. “We had more kids attend our ball park for camps, clinics, and lessons than any other team I know of, by far. This was one of my top focuses for last year, and we will continue to grow every year.”

According to the organization, the team hosted six kids camps during the season with more than 1,000 kids between the ages of 5-18 participating.