It figures that the team starring a former Florida Gator would be the biggest draw for minor league baseball in the heart of Gamecock country.
More than seven years separated from his last game in Gainesville, former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow has found himself an ample home with the Columbia Fireflies. And though the Fireflies find themselves four games out of first place in the South Atlantic League’s Southern Division through May 30, team officials are far from worried about the team’s ticket and merchandise sales. Game attendance and the sales of navy-and-neon jerseys and t-shirts have increased significantly from last season, and Tebow is finding success on the field, as well.
Tebow’s foray into professional baseball began with his Sept. 8 signing of a minor league contract with the New York Mets. Following a fall stint in the Mets’ Arizona-based instructional league, Tebow attended Mets spring training this February and was assigned to the Single-A Fireflies on Mar. 20. The 29-year-old made national headlines shortly after when he homered in his first minor-league at-bat on April 6.
In his position as the Fireflies’ executive vice president, Brad Shank finds himself occupied mainly with the team’s ticket sales. And, Shank says, game attendance has taken off for the Fireflies since Tebow’s arrival.
The State reported that nearly 8,500 fans turned up for Tebow’s April 6 debut. Twenty-five home games into their sophomore season, the Fireflies lead the South Atlantic League in attendance with 5,343 fans per game. The figure well overshadows the team’s 2016 mark of 3,785, which filled below half the capacity of Spirit Communications Park and ranked sixth-best in the 14-team league.
But Shank says Tebow is “more of an appetizer” for the Fireflies ballpark itself, which won Ballpark Digest’s 2016 Ballpark of the Year Award. Thus, if Tebow were to be promoted to Advanced-A St. Lucie , Shank believes enough fans have seen the park to become returning customers.
“For those that are local, I can tell you for sure that they’ll be back,” Shank said.
Fireflies vice president of marketing and public relations Abby Naas says that sales in the ballpark team apparel shop have followed in the footsteps of game attendance rates since Tebow’s Columbia debut last month, not in the least due to the introduction of a new item.
This season, the Fireflies began printing t-shirt jerseys, or “shirseys,” featuring the names and numbers of three players: Tebow, right fielder and USC alum Gene Cone, and second baseman Michael Paez. The shirseys, says Naas, have shipped all over the nation since their introduction.
“Last year, with year one, we were in the top 25 in merchandise sales of all minor league baseball,” Naas said. “I think people … in addition to wanting to get their hands on a Tebow shirt just [want] to get their hands on the new merchandise.”
On the diamond, Tebow finds himself playing most nights across the outfield former Gamecock and current Fireflies right fielder Gene Cone. A Columbia native, Cone played three seasons at USC and earned first-team all-SEC honors in 2016 before joining the Fireflies this spring.
Not having played competitive baseball since high school, Tebow's baseball ability was in doubt with a number of MLB scouts when he held a public workout in August. Though facing pitchers an average of seven years younger than he, Tebow has shown prowess at the plate in the first half of his first minor league season.
Through 42 games with Columbia, Tebow is tied for third on the Fireflies in home runs with three and holds a slugging percentage of .340, third-best on the team for players with 100 at-bats or more.
"He's got one of the higher batting averages on the team, so I think he's holding his own," Cone said. "Every game, I think he gets better."
Following a May 31 meeting with the Augusta Greenjackets, the Fireflies will embark on a four-game road trip to Hagerstown, Maryland, before returning home June 6 against the Lexington Legends.