The Trash Pandas were one of the top draws in the Southern League in 2025? (Ben Johnson / Hville Blast)

While it was the Birmingham Barons and Montgomery Biscuits who faced off in the Southern League Championship Series for the second straight season, it was the other minor league baseball team that consistently drew the biggest crowds of the year.

The Rocket City Trash Pandas officially finished second in the league in average attendance per game. Here’s the full rankings from the league:

Knoxville Smokies (4,617)
Rocket City Trash Pandas (4,303)
Pensacola Blue Wahoos (3,913)
Columbus Clingstones (3,564)
Birmingham Barons (3,466)
Chattanooga Lookouts (3,356)
Montgomery Biscuits (2,497)
Biloxi Shuckers (2,265)

The Trash Pandas drew a total of 275,423 fans to Toyota Field during the season. It’s the first time in the team’s five year existence it did not finish the season first in the league in attendance.

The Knoxville Smokies re-branded before the season (changing their name from the Tennessee Smokies) and moved into a brand new stadium, which likely attests for the team’s surge in attendance.

The Barons came in roughly 200 fans per game less than it did during the 2024 season. It continues to decline after averaging 4,121 in 2021 which was second best in the league.

Meanwhile, despite ranking near the bottom of the league, Montgomery’s Riverwalk Stadium saw slightly more fans this season.

All three teams saw a lower number than they did in 2023, when the teams combined for more than 730,000 fans in a single season.

Still, minor league baseball remains more popular in Alabama than other areas around the country. That could come from a lack of an MLB team in the state but it doesn’t seem like there is a major fear of us losing another MiLB team.

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