LoanDepot Park sets new record for Caribbean Series game attendance

[Ely Sussman]

The stadium was packed on Saturday night to see the Dominican Republic's victory over Puerto Rico.

Saturday's Caribbean Series matchup between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico drew a paid crowd of 35,972 fans, according to the Miami Marlins, setting a single-game record for the 75-year-old tournament. The record was previously held by Venezuela's Estadio de la Rinconada, which announced an attendance of 35,691 for opening night of the 2023 event.

It's a completely unsurprising development. During last year's World Baseball Classic, fans demonstrated that they'd be willing to travel to LoanDepot Park in droves when the magnitude of the event calls for it. The Marlins are once again bidding to host all rounds of the WBC in 2026 to capitalize on that enthusiasm.

Through nine Caribbean Series games, the average attendance has been 13,528, pretty close to what the venue averaged for Marlins games during the 2023 MLB season (14,356). Keep in mind, the players involved are predominantly minor leaguers or free agents, with Panamanian catcher Christian Bethancourt being one of the few exceptions. Also, there is no U.S. team involved (the participants are Curacao, Dominican Republic, México, Nicaragua, Panamá, Puerto Rico and Venezuela), yet the building sold out for a preliminary round game.

Daily tripleheaders continue through Wednesday with first-pitch times of 10:30 a.m., 3:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. That will be followed by the semifinals on Thursday and the final on Friday, which I'd expect to challenge this attendance record as long as one of Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico or Venezuela is involved.

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