Just a short drive outside of Charlotte, North Carolina, the quaint city of Kannapolis is seeing a rapid economic revival. The city, which was traditionally known for its textile mills, has recently transformed into a research hub in the for Southeast.
And right in Kannapoliss city center, less than a ten minute walk from the Georgian-style city hall, sits Atrium Health Ballpark: the home of the Minor League Baseball team known as the Cannon Ballers.
Over the last five years, the Cannon Ballers have played an increasingly vital role in Kannapolis’s revitalization. Throughout the course of a season, the teams total attendance is around 200,000 peoplea number much larger than Kannapoliss official population of 60,000.
[Photo: Krista Jasso]
Its a beautiful ballpark, and the community and small businesses love it, says Trevor Wilt, whos in charge of entertainment fan engagement for the Cannon Ballers. He adds that since there arent many large companies in Kannapolis, small mom-and-pops shops rely on baseball games to bring people downtown. It helps out the economic development around the entire downtown Kannapolis. Businesses are now thriving, and they cant wait for baseball season because they get more customers.
[Photo: courtesy Kannapolis Cannon Ballers]
A large factor of the Cannon Ballerss growing brand is their mascot: a mustachioed daredevil with a baseball head and a devilish grin. His name is Boomer, and he was chosen by thousands of voting fans in 2019 as part of a large revamp of the teams identity. In appearance, he resembles Dale Earnhardt, NASCAR legend and hometown hero for the small North Carolina town.
Compared to the buttoned-up branding of most Major League Baseball teams, Boomer might seem a little odd. But in baseballs minor leagues, there are 119 other teams just like the Cannon Ballers. Team owners have the flexibility to be more creative with just about every aspect of their team: the name, the mascot, stadium traditions, and even the rules of the game. Mascots range from a bucktoothed lug nut in Lansing, Michigan to a smirking trio of nuts in Modesto, California.
A recent spurt in creative freedom has ushered in an era of fun and surging sales in Minor League Baseball (MiLB). Last year, MiLB games around the country saw more 30 million fans in attendance; the highest number since COVID. This year, industry experts expect even more.
Whats the MiLB?
With teams stationed in small towns and cities, the minor leagues develop young prospects with the goal of them eventually playing for one of 30 MLB teams.
Each MLB team has four MiLB-affiliate teams: players just starting out begin at the Single-A level, then they can move on to High-A, then Double-A. Finally, they can reach Triple-A, where they play at the highest minor league level before hopefully being called up to the major leagues, where their baseball skills will be broadcasted to millions of viewers across the country.
The Kannapolis Cannon Ballers are the Single-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, which means the players on the team are currently at the lowest minor league level. Those players will work to one day reach the MLB for the White Sox (or potentially get traded to another team along the way).
Oftentimes, MiLB teams are the only professional sports team that operates in a community. The Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes and Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats are the only professional sports clubs that exist in the states of New Mexico and New Hampshire, respectively. MiLB games cater to families looking for a fun day or night out, and owners lean into the casual nature of the league.
We’re affordable and we’re accessible, says Peter Freund, the CEO and cofounder of Diamond Baseball Holdings, a group that currently owns over a third of MiLB-affiliate teams. Minor League Baseball is a night out that is really affordable, can feel really good, and can feel really local. I think that were a really critical piece for every city that we operate in.
Minor League Baseball also acts as an incubator and testing lab for the MLB, says Freund. The pitch clock, which debuted in the MLB for the 2023 season, was first introduced in MiLB games seven years earlier.
Freund adds that baseball park staples like bobblehead giveaways once started as an idea from minor league teams. Minor League Baseball owners historically have just been able to try things without controversy, he says. What works well trickles up, and its been really cool to see that happen.
For the 120 teams across the country, the freedom to experiment means the freedom to create. That creativity and excitement is the fun of Minor League Baseball, Freund says. And it pays.
[Photo: Christian Crocker/Spartanburgers]
Mascots and Merch
Because the average player moves throug all MiLB levels typically over the course of three to six years, teams cant build brands and sell tickets based on star power. Instead, they play into their home citys history and come up with hyper-local identities. The resulting team brands are nothing short of full-on wacky.
In Alabama, the Montgomery Biscuitss team identity reflects the delicacy of a fluffy traditional southern biscuit. Rome, Georgia, hosts a MiLB team called the Rome Emperors, which is represented by an Emperor Penguin mascot wearing a traditional roman toga and laurel wreath.
The name Cannon Ballers pays homage to Kannapoliss history of being home to Cannon Mills, the onetime largest towel manufacturer in the world. Wilt says that the old souls of the town appreciate the reference to Kannapoliss history; oftentimes game attendees will come up to him and tell him of their familys history with the town and Cannon Mills.
[Photo: courtesy Spartanburgers]
In South Carolina, the Hub City Spartanburgers are similarly drawing on its citys history to debut a fan-friendly brand. This team is a rebranding of North Carolinas Down East Wood Ducks, which was bought by Diamond Baseball Holdings in 2023. The Ducks moved locations to Spartanburg, South Carolina, and the team became the Spartanburgers just in time to begin operations for the 2025 season.
The story of the Spartanburger name is simple enough, according to the teams General Manager, Tyson Jeffers, who hopes this MiLB team will put his city on the map.
Someone from Texas says, Im a Texan. Someone from New York says, Im a New Yorker. And people from Spartanburg call themselves a Spartanburger, Jeffers says. Its truly a community name. But weve put a very minor league spin on it by introducing and leaning into the hamburger.
Yes, the hamburger.
To go alongside the Spartanburger name, the team will flaunt a bat-wielding, conductors hat-wearing hamburger mascot named Chuck. Chucks signature pose is running, tongue out, as if hes deep in concentration (or just really hungry).
The striped conductors hat is a nod to Spartanburgs history as the transportation hub of the Southeasttrain lines would flow into Spartanburg and then disperse, says Jeffers. This piece of city history is also where the Hub City in the team name Hub City Spartanburgers comes from.
And even though the Spartanburgers have yet to play a single game, that lip-licking burger is already bringing in cash. Jeffers says that the Spartanburgers have shipped merchandise to all 50 states and internationally to countries including Canada, Germany, and Spain. He adds that he sees people come to the Spartanburg ballpark every day just to buy merchandise.
The Spartanburgerss merchandise ranges from hamburger t-shirts and cooking aprons to more traditional-looking baseball jerseys with only text and no mascot. Jeffers says that he wants to have fun while respecting the fact that not everyone wants to walk around wearing a giant hamburger.
We’re really conscious in the development of our brand to make sure that we hit as many people as we could, while still having a lot of fun, Jeffers says. The merchandise has been really well received.
Back in Kannapolis, Wilt says that the Cannon Ballerss fun, history-oriented brand similarly has led to soaring merchandise and ticket sales. The Cannon Ballers became the Cannon Ballers in 2019, rebranding from the Intimidators. The Intimidators were bottom of the totem pole for both merchandise and ticket sales, Wilt says. But after adopting the playful Cannon Ballers identity, Wilt says the team has been in the top 20 among all MiLB teams in merchandise sales for five years straight.
[Photo: Krista Jasso]
Be Prepared
On April 15, when the Spartanburgers take their home field for the first time, the team will be bringing a new tradition with them: Theyll hand out wooden train whistles to attending fans in hopes that the stadium will squeal to life whenever something good happens.
The Spartanburgers are the High-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. Jeffers says that the Rangerss front office is just as excited for this new tradition as the team in Spartanburg is, because the noise will prepare these young players for one day focusing in larger, louder stadiums.
The Major Leagues see that these distractions that minor league teams are doing are helping to develop and benefit their players, Jeffers says. If you’re the away team in a facility like Yankee Stadium, imagine the things that the crowd is saying to you. Huge distraction. So for you to be prepared for that as a player can be really beneficial.
[Photo: courtesy Kannapolis Cannon Ballers]
The train whistles are one chapter in a long history of wacky traditions among MiLB teams. The Montgomery Biscuits shoot real biscuits into their crowds. Wilt of the Cannon Ballers has a tradition of going on the field every game and wearing a gold sequined bow tie. These games become intimate experiences, unique to each city a team operates in.
Going to minor league games has become a pstime for families who either dont have access or the resources to get to a Major League Baseball gamewhich of course includes the newest, younger generation of baseball fans.
One extra bonus for the players involved: They get to interact with and build the next generation of baseball fans. Jeffers says that unlike MLB teams, most minor league teams allow opportunities for young fans to interact face-to-face with players for an extended period of time.
The kids get that opportunity to say hello to a player that they hope is going to be a superstar one day. And that’s a really special moment for that kid, Jeffers says. It’s also a special moment for that player: To recognize that this kid looks at them as this superstar already, even though theyre just at the beginning of the path to that.
