Fireflies named 2024 Single-A Organization of the Year
October 24, 2024
Columbia honored among 30 Single-A clubs, including three South Carolina teams
The Columbia Fireflies, in conjunction with Major League Baseball, announced that they were named the Major League Baseball 2024 Single-A Organization of the Year. In addition to winning the award, the Fireflies were named a finalist for the overall Minor League Organization of the Year. The team was one of four finalists of 120 teams for the award.
“This is a tremendous honor for our entire team and is a testament to all of the hard work that everyone puts in to make Segra Park a special place,” said Fireflies Team President Brad Shank. “We are blessed to have a fantastic group of full-time staff, gameday staff, event staff and volunteers that truly care about this community and go above and beyond to welcome everyone to Segra Park for baseball games and every event that we host. I couldn’t be happier for each of them to receive this well-deserved recognition.”
The Fireflies welcomed 217,809 fans to Segra Park for baseball games in 2024 and hosted their inaugural Southeastern BBQ Showdown, a Taco and Margarita Festival, a Scotty McCreery and Alabama concert and 40 dates of their second year of Fireflies Holiday Lights. In addition to that, the club hosted more than 200 special events with over 80,000 guests in addition to Fireflies games at Segra Park over the year.
The team is a big part of the Midlands and this year, the Fireflies donated in excess of $125,000 to community organizations through auctions and in-kind donations. In addition, members of their full-time staff volunteered over 500 hours of service to the Midlands community.
Columbia kicked-off the 2024 season with a bang, breaking the Clemson and South Carolina baseball regular season attendance record as they welcomed 9,284 fans to Segra Park March 2. The Fireflies broke their own record for the Palmetto Series, which was set in 2022. The team also had 8,134 people come out for Bluey Night June 22. It was the team’s highest attended game since July 4, 2018.
Experiences at Segra Park are about more than baseball, and Fireworks with the Philharmonic, presented by Prisma Health continues to grow. 2024 was the second year that the event entertained over 6,000 fans as the South Carolina Philharmonic Orchestra performed down the road from the Koger Center. The Fireflies winter wonderland, Fireflies Holiday Lights, presented by Lexington Medical Center, took off this year as well. The event that hosted over 17,000 people in its inaugural season, brought over 30,000 people to the BullStreet District in its second year—a growth of over 75% year-over-year. Since its opening in 2016 Segra Park has welcomed over 2 million guests to the ballpark for Fireflies games along with other special events.
The results were great on the field too for Columbia, who tied a franchise record with 68 wins and locked in their highest winning percentage in franchise history at .519.
The Fireflies kick-off their next venture with Fireflies Holiday Lights beginning November 15. To buy tickets and learn more about the event, visit FirefliesHolidayLights.com.
About the Columbia Fireflies
The Columbia Fireflies are the Class-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. Winners of Ballpark Digest’s Best New Branding and Logo Award in 2016, the Fireflies play in the Carolina League and feature games against teams across the south including in-state rivals in Charleston and Myrtle Beach. The team partnered with the city of Columbia and Hughes Development to construct Segra Park, a multi-use outdoor sports and entertainment venue at the center of the BullStreet District. The Columbia Fireflies are owned by Hardball Capital, owners of the Fort Wayne TinCaps of the Midwest League and the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Southern League. For more information, visit www.ColumbiaFireflies.com, or follow the Fireflies on Twitter (@ColaFireflies), Facebook (facebook.com/columbiafireflies) and all popular social media platforms.
About Segra Park
Segra Park, named the Ballpark Digest Ballpark of the Decade, the 2018 South Atlantic League’s Best Playing * Surface, and the 2016 Ballpark Digest Ballpark of the Year, is a 365-day per year multi-use sports and entertainment venue located in the heart of downtown Columbia, South Carolina. Segra Park is the home ballpark for the Columbia Fireflies, the Low-A East League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. Designed for baseball, concerts, football, soccer and a host of other activities, the venue seats approximately 9,000 for sporting events and up to 15,000 for major outdoor concerts. With 16 luxury suites and a 7,000 square-foot Club Level Lounge, Segra Park also hosts everything from business meetings to wedding receptions, and everything in between. For more information, visit www.segrapark.com.
