MiLB Releases Annual List Of Top 25 Merchandising Teams

Minor League Baseball on Monday released its annual list of the top 25 teams in terms of merchandise sales. As usual, the league only lists which teams made the cut but does not specify in which order the clubs ranked. 

For the 2019 season, the list of teams was as follows:

Albuquerque (Rockies)

Amarillo (Padres)

Charlotte (White Sox)

Columbus (Indians)

Corpus Christi (Astros)

Dayton (Reds)

Durham (Rays)

El Paso (Padres)

Fayetteville (Astros)

Fresno (Nationals)

Hartford (Rockies)

Las Vegas (A’s)

Lehigh Valley (Phillies)

Louisville (Reds)

Nashville (Rangers)

Pawtucket (Red Sox)

Portland (Red Sox)

Richmond (Giants)

Rochester (Twins)

Sacramento (Giants)

Salt Lake (Angels)

Tacoma (Mariners)

Toledo (Tigers)

Trenton (Yankees)

Wisconsin (Brewers)

Combined, MiLB clubs sold $85.7 million in merchandise in 2019. That figure is a record and marks a 16.7% increase from the 2018 revenue. The numbers are counted for the entire calendar year, from Jan. 1-Dec. 31. 

As usual, the list is dominated by upper-level clubs. Twenty-two of the 25 teams play in either Double-A or Triple-A. The exceptions are Fayetteville (high Class A, Astros), Dayton (low Class A, Reds) and Wisconsin (low Class A, Brewers). 

Amarillo, the Padres’ Double-A team in the Texas League, made the cut in its first year of existence. The same is true for Fayetteville, which moved into its new home and changed its identity after two seasons of games on the campus of Campbell University, where it played as the Buies Creek Astros.

Four clubs—Toledo (25), Portland (26), Trenton (26) and Durham (27)—have made the list for more than a quarter century. Durham is the only club to make the list every season.