Cubs to reach 2 million in 50th game

The Cubs on Thursday night were to establish a single-season club record by welcoming 2 million fans to Wrigley Field fastest in franchise history, reaching the mark in their 50th home game of 2008.

The Cubs this year are on pace to shatter their single-season attendance record set in 2007. Last year, the Cubs welcomed 3,252,462 fans to Wrigley Field, also the largest single-season attendance mark for any franchise or venue in the history of the city of Chicago.

"We are so thankful for our fans and their remarkable support of this franchise," said Crane Kenney, Chairman of the Cubs. "We have all enjoyed an exciting start to this season yet know there is still work to be done in achieving our singular goal - rewarding the best and most loyal fans in baseball with a World Championship."

In 2008, the Cubs have recorded an attendance of 1,989,035 through 49 games, an average of 40,593 per contest into tonight's game.

At their current pace, the Cubs this year would surpass three million fans in home attendance for the fifth-consecutive year (starting in 2004 when the club reached the mark for the first time).

The Cubs are the only Chicago professional sports team to ever reach three million in attendance and are one of only six teams in Major League Baseball to have reached three million fans in each of the last four seasons from in 2004-07, joining the Dodgers, Yankees, Angels, Giants and Cardinals.

The Cubs, Comcast SportsNet and WGN are also achieving increased television audiences this year when compared to the 2007 Cubs season that featured a National League Central Division title.

Comcast SportsNet has seen its Cubs baseball in-game audience increase 53 percent in the first half of the 2008 season compared to its numbers before the All-Star Break in 2007.

On WGN-TV, Cubs baseball's in-game audience experienced a 28 percent increase in viewership in the first half of this season when compared to viewership before the All-Star Break during the 2007 season.

Additionally, the Cubs are averaging 410 cars per game at their remote parking lot at DeVry University, shattering all previous records for usage. The lot, located at Addison St. and Rockwell St., has seen more than 33,000 people utilize the location thus far this season. The service, which began in 2004, is available for all night and weekend games at Wrigley Field.