The pitch clock is seen with nine seconds remaining at a Fresno Grizzlies game as the batter prepares for a pitch. The pitch clock has shortened the average Minor League Baseball game by about 41 minutes. Fresno Grizzlies photo

When Minor League Baseball (MiLB) switched on a 15- to 18-second pitch timer in 2021, it cut a generation’s worth of dead time in a single season. League data show the average contest slid from 3 hours 3 minutes in 2021 to just 2 hours 38 minutes by season’s end in 2022 — a 25-minute savings that now sends most games to the books before the two-and-a-half-hour mark.

The result? Fans have more time in the evening to get to bed for a school night, or visit a local business.

As far as the change affecting gameplay, the box score hasn’t ballooned, but the basepaths are busier. In 2021, the literal size of the bases was increased from 15 to 18 inches square —like the pitch clock, another experiment that would eventually make it to the big leagues.

Larger bases and a cap on how many pick-off moves a pitcher can make to nail a baserunner, layered atop the pitch clock, helped stolen-base attempts jump roughly 25% across the minors, with success rates topping 75%. Fans experience a crisper game pace, with more stolen bases keeping them leaning forward instead of scrolling on their phones. For parents, the earlier end to ballgames means more opportunities to stay past the seventh inning stretch on school nights.

 

Gate receipts: No last-call blues

Conventional wisdom said faster games would cannibalize concessions and merchandise sales because shorter innings would mean fewer hot dogs. Instead, teams report fans simply buy earlier. In a Baseball America survey of clubs, none saw a revenue dip after a full season under the clock. Even at the Major League level, teams that extended beer sales into the eighth inning did so pre-emptively. MiLB operators never needed the crutch because per-capita spend stayed flat. Despite the shorter game runtime, concession sales have not suffered as fans have just shelled out faster.

 

What about payroll?

Ballpark workers are still getting their hours. California labor rules require most staff shifts for events to be paid a minimum of four hours, even if the game finishes sooner. At local ballparks, that means ushers, ticket scanners and security clock off perhaps 30 minutes earlier, but their checks do not shrink. The real savings may come around the edges with a touch less overtime for grounds crews and marginally lower utilities with fewer lights burning past 10 p.m.

 

Fresno: California League attendance wins

Far from scaring fans away, the brisker product is filling seats. The Low-A Fresno Grizzlies drew 277,089 patrons in 2023. According to the team, during the 2024 season, the Grizzlies held several California League season records, including the most attended game, highest overall attendance, top 14 attended home games and 19th-highest attended game in all of MiLB.

Early returns for 2025 suggest another bump, thanks in part to Thursday promotions built around pace-friendly socializing. Tioga Thursdays offer a $10, two-beer deal in partnership with Tioga Sequoia Brewing across Inyo Street. Food-truck battles provide competitive cook-offs staged by Fresno Street Eats that pit local vendors against each other during the game.

According to MiLB.com, “We think this is a fun way to highlight local food vendors, their talents, and bring a little competitive edge to Fresno’s food scene,” said Mike Osegueda, president of Fresno Street Eats.

 

Visalia: Holding steady in a vintage yard

Fifty miles south, the Visalia Rawhide operates one of MiLB’s oldest venues. Valley Strong Ballpark now empties well before bedtime, but per-capita spending has not sagged. The club averaged 1,913 fans per opening in 2023, essentially flat from 2022, with the season’s turnstile count ticking past 126,000.

Griffin Epstein, Rawhide’s community and media relations manager and broadcaster, noted that for their operations, payroll has not changed significantly, fans purchase concessions earlier in games and average attendance has increased by about 100 fans per game. He emphasized that since MiLB moved to the pitch clock, their fans and fans across baseball have reacted positively to a quicker and more exciting brand of baseball.

 

Spin-off spending downtown

Downtown Fresno merchants like what they see. Tioga-Sequoia’s beer garden reports that post-game crowds now arrive earlier on game nights, giving servers an extra turn of tables before the city’s midnight lull. Earlier spill-out dissipates traffic more evenly among bars and late-night eateries instead of bottling patrons inside the ballpark until nearly 11 p.m.

 

Staffing pipeline unmoved

Despite the shorter runtime, the Grizzlies’ annual February job fair still advertised roughly 100 seasonal roles, the same headcount as pre-clock seasons. Jobs ranged from concessionaires to ticket takers. According to MiLB.com, “We love getting to welcome such a large number of passionate people into the Fresno Grizzlies family every season,” said Derek Franks, president of the Fresno Grizzlies.

 

A faster night that feels fuller

For Valley fans, the result is a sharper show that rarely drags past bedtime. You still get every at-bat, mascot race and between-innings promotion, just tighter together. From concessionaires who sell the same volume in less time to downtown taps pouring pints before the late-night news broadcast, the pitch-clock era is shaping up as a win, officials say.

If attendance trends hold, the Grizzlies may top 300,000 for the first time since dropping to Single-A, all while finishing games before Central Valley summer nights really cool down. In baseball economics, that’s beating the clock.