The Birth of a Baseball Empire
When Skip Bertman took over the LSU baseball program in 1984, the team was barely a footnote, drawing an average of just 454 fans per game and struggling to find a foothold in the competitive Southern sports landscape.
His first bold move was to experiment with a mascot borrowed from a local poultry farm, the San Diego Chicken, which attracted 3,018 spectators to the first game of the season — a tenfold increase that proved the market was hungry for entertainment.
A Stadium That Keeps Growing
Bertman paired that spectacle with a relentless focus on upgrading Alex Box Stadium, adding seating, improving concessions, and creating a family‑friendly atmosphere that turned a modest venue into a destination.
The results showed up on the field as well; LSU reached the College World Series 11 times under his guidance, capturing national titles in 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 2000, while the program became a consistent top‑ten contender.
Attendance numbers exploded, with the stadium leading the nation in game‑day crowds for six straight seasons from 1996 to 2001, and the program routinely drawing more than 11,000 fans per game in the years that followed.
Even after his retirement, the ripple effect of his business model persists; the 2009 renovation of Alex Box Stadium stands as a testament to a philosophy that college baseball can be both a cultural touchstone and a profitable enterprise, a legacy that still makes tickets among the hardest to secure in Baton Rouge.