PATERSON — The New Jersey Jackals minor league baseball team had an unusual regular season at Hinchliffe Stadium during 2026: finishing in first place in their division while ranking last in overall league attendance.
Now the Jackals are getting ready for their first playoff game ever at Hinchliffe, and community leaders are urging Paterson to get behind the home team.
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“We need to sell the city on this team,” said state Sen. Benjie Wimberly. “Everybody loves a winner. People always get on the bandwagon for a winning team. People need to jump on board.”
“Most people in the city of Paterson don’t even know the Jackals are in first place,” Wimberly said.
Story continues below photo gallery.
The Frontier League listed the Jackals’ average home attendance during the 2026 regular season at 481 people per game. Only one other team had fewer than 1,000 fans per game: the Brockton Rox, with 902, according to Frontier League data.
Ten teams averaged more than 2,000 fans per game, and the other seven teams topped 1,000 per contest, the league records show.
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Paterson Press asked Jackals owner Baye Adofo-Wilson about being ranked last in attendance.
“We reported our actual numbers,” he said. “We didn’t inflate them at all.”
Adofo-Wilson, part of the development group that rebuilt Hinchliffe after the national landmark stadium was closed for 25 years, emphasized that the team had the largest turnaround in terms of number of wins in Frontier League history, going from 28 in 2025 to 56 this season.
“It was important to me that we win,” he said, adding that the division championship will be part of the ticket sales pitch for 2027.
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Adofo-Wilson is part of the ownership group for the Cosmos soccer team, which also plays at Hinchliffe.
As for the Jackals, he said he purchased the team late in the offseason and didn’t have enough time to create “an infrastructure” to generate attendance. The team is negotiating with a “national ticketing partner” for the 2027 season, he said.
In explaining the low 2026 attendance, the owner also said there were large gaps in the Jackals’ home schedule because of World Cup-related events at Hinchliffe. For example, the Jackals had no home games from July 3 through July 27.
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Brian LoPinto was part of the Friends of Hinchliffe Stadium group that joined with local public officials to help save the historic ballpark from demolition 20 years ago
LoPinto said he went to the Jackals’ game on Sept. 6 and counted 99 people in the stands. “I might have missed someone who went to the bathroom,” he said.
“The Jackals have a great product on the field, but it just doesn’t seem to translate in attendance,” he said, adding that minor league baseball teams need to find innovative ways to attract fans to their games.
“It’s not about the wins and losses,” LoPinto added. “It’s about whether you’re providing the casual fan and family a fun day out.”
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LoPinto noted that the Jackals have been playing in Paterson for only four seasons and may need more time to build a fan base. One of the challenges, he said, is the “stigma” people from outside Paterson have regarding the city.
“Their perception is it’s not safe, and that perception becomes their reality,” he added.
The Jackals’ first round, two-out-of-three playoff series pits them against the Ottawa Titans, with the first game in Canada on Sept. 10 followed by a Saturday, Sept. 12, contest at Hinchliffe starting at 6:35 p.m. If the teams split those games, the tiebreaker will be Sunday, Sept. 13, at 2:05 p.m. in Paterson.
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Mayor Andre Sayegh has been among the Jackals’ biggest boosters.
“Mayor Sayegh is also elated that the Jackals have made the playoffs and plans to attend the game on Saturday,” said his spokesperson, Diana Nunez.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson’s Jackals win the division! But they’re last in attendance
