Over this winter break I went to multiple Atlanta Gladiators games. The Gladiators are the "AA" affiliate of the Boston Bruins. These are the up-and-coming stars of the National Hockey League. Why wait till they are in the big leagues when you can see them play now? Most Minor League sports teams, no matter the sport, offer opportunities to experience the sport on a more intimate level. For the two games that I witnessed while home, I paid less than $20 dollars to sit in the third row at a professional hockey game. These tickets would run upwards of $90 dollars at any NHL game.

Not only are the prices so much better, but usually, the experience that you witness at the game is outstandingly better. The players in the NHL rarely acknowledge the fans during or before the games. The guys in the East Coast Hockey League are normal people who are doing this to make a living like all the fans in the stands. After each of the Gladiators games there is an autograph session where you can meet one or two players. What I have witnessed when I go to a MLB or an
NHL game is that oftentimes they only offer promotions like calendar nights or a bobble head night. Looking at the Gladiators schedule, they offer a promotion on almost every home game.

The promotion that was going on for both home games that I went to was "Student Night." Basically every student with a student ID received a $25 ticket for $11. I was able to experience the game from a view of the ice that I rarely see.

Over the summer, the Gwinnett Braves play 20 minutes from my house. I can go to Coolray Field and see a regular Braves player on a rehab assignment hit a home run for a quarter of the price of a regular Atlanta Braves game. Savannah has had its fair share of Minor League sports as well. At the Historic Grayson Stadium, until the end of the 2015 season, the Savannah Sand Gnats played baseball. They were the single-A affiliates of the New York Mets. They occupied the stadium from 1984 till 2015. They recently were sold to another city and people thought it was the end of semi-professional sports. Recently, a company decided to bring a developmental league of baseball to the stadium. The season will begin in 2016 and runs from early May till the end of August. The company is promoting the new team heavily. The Coastal Plains League has produced some big names in baseball. Savannah is now home to an indoor football team as well. The Savannah Steam will begin their season in March at the Savannah Civic Center.

Minor League sports are here to entertain and support the local economy. Many people do not venture out to support the young guns of the teams that we love to watch on television. The teams will not last if they do not get the fan base that is needed to support the team. I believe that we see more heart in the semi-pro leagues and amateur leagues than in the big leagues. These guys are trying to make it big and fulfill a dream that they have.