Attendance

According to the annual Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. attendance survey, last year was another year of growth.The survey shows attendance at 15 major North American auto racing series increased by more than 800,000 spectators in 1990, surpassing 12 million for the first time.The professional series monitored by Goodyear are: NASCAR Winston Cup and Grand National stock cars; CART Indy-cars, NHRA and IHRA dragsters; World of Outlaws sprint cars; SCCA Trans-Am cars; IMSA GT Prototype and GT0-GTU sports cars; MTEG stadium off-road vehicles; ARCA stock cars; ACT stock cars; ASA stock cars; and NASCAR modified and Winston West stock cars.

Maryland, which recorded its first winning football season in five years and played in an expanded Byrd Stadium, had an increase of 13,159 fans per game last season, the highest increase in Division I, according to the College Football Association.The Terps' average attendance went from 28,962 in 1994 to 42,121 in 1995. Maryland had its largest single-game crowd in 10 years -- a sellout of 48,055 against West Virginia at Byrd Stadium, which has had more than $60 million in renovations over the past four years.

Major League Baseball teams are finding the recession is a tough out. Seven weeks into the season, more than half of baseball's 30 teams, including the Orioles and particularly the Washington Nationals, are seeing smaller crowds than a year ago. The dips come at a time of year when attendance is relatively low anyway because kids are in school and the weather is iffy. Through 22 home games this season, the O's have drawn an average of 21,833 fans, a decline of 2,579 compared with their first 22 contests of 2008.

WHEN CHRIS Mettee was in preschool, his mother set a goal for him: Jean Mettee decided that her son would graduate from high school with a perfect attendance record for his academic career. "I just think it's important that you go wherever it is you're supposed to go," she said. Chris, who will turn 18 this month, met the challenge. He recently graduated from a magnet program at Long Reach High School with a perfect attendance record. For his efforts, he received a certificate and a pen from the school.

With their new park fully completed for the first time, Bowie Baysox officials were optimistic about this season's attendance figures.A few breaks from the weather and they believed the Orioles' Double-A club could attract a half-million fans to Prince George's County Stadium.Now, more than two-thirds of the way through the season, there is good news and a little bad news.A total of 500,000 appears out of reach, primarily because "we had a lot of home games in April and we didn't get the breaks with the weather," general manager Keith Lupton said.

Traditional baseball thinking dictates that won-lost record has a direct effect on home attendance.In the minor leagues, that is not necessarily true."

There was a staggering economy, and there were surging gas prices. There was a new baseball stadium that opened about 45 minutes south and a schedule that included just three total weekend series with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. There was also an Orioles team that suffered through an 11th straight losing season and finished in last place for the first time in 20 years. The Orioles say all those factors, plus losing three home dates to a cancellation and two traditional doubleheaders, contributed to what will be the lowest attendance in the 17-year history of Camden Yards.

Baltimore's Commonwealth program, which has aimed to help public high school students find their way into jobs or college, is expanding to include middle schools as well.Students at five middle schools will be eligible for special discounts at certain stores and free admission to some museums if they maintain good attendance. Educators believe that students whose attendance drops off in middle school become likely dropouts, and have difficulty holding onto jobs.Students who keep their attendance up will be issued cards, called "Gold Cards," to use as identification.

In its 150th game, with more than 100 still to go, the National Professional Soccer League last night broke its attendance record.The crowd of 4,185 in Buffalo for the Blizzard's 12-8 victory against the Wichita Wings raised NPSL attendance to 709,723. The previous record of 709,280 for 196 regular-season and playoff games was established last season.With 13 teams, the NPSL has four more than last season. Still, average attendance is up more than 1,100, from 3,619 last season to 4,731.The Spirit ranks No. 6 in home attendance with 60,137, an average of 4,625 for 13 games.

The Maryland State Fair that ended this week recorded its best attendance in years, a fair organizer said yesterday. Between the opening on Aug. 26 and its last day on Labor Day, 489,711 people passed through the fairground's gates, said Howard M. "Max" Mosner Jr., president and general manager of the fair and the nonprofit organization that owns and operates the Timonium fairgrounds. That's well above the 420,000 who attended the fair last year and the best attendance recorded since 1996, Mosner said.