Where Have All the [MLB] Fans Gone?

[Bloodshot Scott]

Empty seats predominate in some parks
Associated Press

Updated: 04/17/2010 12:40:18 AM CDT


Vernon Wells lofted a foul ball that landed way, way deep in the upper deck, and the race to retrieve the souvenir began.

Well, it was hardly a rush down the left-field line at Rogers Centre. A lone man ran through six empty sections and into a seventh, pursuing the prize.

There weren't many people sitting downstairs, either — in Toronto, or a few other parks this season.

The Blue Jays, Baltimore and Cleveland already have drawn record-low crowds of barely 10,000 at their ballparks. The New York Mets also saw their smallest crowd, albeit they're just in their second year at Citi Field.

"I don't expect anything," said Wells, Toronto's star center fielder. "The better we play and the better this organization gets, the fans will be here."

"It's not something that you worry about. We've got a job to do and whether there's a packed house or however many people are there, we've still got to do our jobs," he said.

Blame it on chilly April weather, the lingering effects of the economy, the lure of the NBA and NHL playoffs on television, or fans simply tired of losing. Whatever, the sight of rows upon rows of empty seats is startling.

At Florida, the crowd for Thursday night's game at Cincinnati was announced at 12,912. In reality, the number in the stands was about one-fifth that many. That said, the Marlins might be on the upswing, as corporate interests begin locking in their seats for the team's new ballpark opening in 2012.

Plus, there's this: Major league baseball attendance is up slightly overall from this point last year.
Wrigley Field, where the Chicago Cubs have the highest-priced regular tickets at $52 apiece, Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium, Dodger Stadium and Citizens Bank Park are still packing 'em in. The new Target Field in Minnesota is a hit, too.

Besides, smallish crowds early in the season are expected. Last year, eight stadiums (excluding new Yankee Stadium and Citi Field) set record lows by late May — Toronto, Cleveland, St. Louis, Atlanta, Cincinnati, San Diego, San Francisco and Washington.

MLB attendance fell 6.7 percent last year to 30,350, down from 32,528 in 2008 and a record 32,785 in 2007. Smaller capacities at the two new ballparks in New York accounted for some of the drop.

The Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore drew slightly over 33,000 this week — total, for a three-game series. Only 9,129 fans showed up Monday night, the tiniest crowd in the 19-year history of Camden Yards.

There was so little buzz, in fact, the sound of gloves popping echoed around the park. Not fastballs smacking into the catcher's mitt, but simply the sound of infielders tossing it around between innings.

"I didn't hear anything — just quiet," Orioles third baseman Miguel Tejada said Thursday. "It's weird, because it's the big leagues, it's a major league game. I thought people would like to see it and see good players."

lol, Toronto. What are they pulling, like 5k a game, tops? Isn't it odd that football in Europe absolutely packs em in but Americas sport can't give seats away? I think it has to do with 81 homes games (162 a year). Is it too many?

Americans are a funny bunch for sure.

 

[BlueBalls]

Fucking magnets, how do they work?

 

[~~whimsy~~]

It's sad to see things like this dwindle. However people have financial responsibilities to take care of at the moment. They might not be able to afford the travel, expense, and other finances it takes to partake in a baseball game. Sad but true. Do I pay my electric bill or do I go to a baseball game?

33,000 people is still a good bit of folks to be there. Not to mention when you provide cost of the tickets, what they buy there, parking, all that, that adds up to a lot of money.

 

[Bloodshot Scott]

It's sad to see things like this dwindle. However people have financial responsibilities to take care of at the moment. They might not be able to afford the travel, expense, and other finances it takes to partake in a baseball game. Sad but true. Do I pay my electric bill or do I go to a baseball game?

33,000 people is still a good bit of folks to be there. Not to mention when you provide cost of the tickets, what they buy there, parking, all that, that adds up to a lot of money.

Eventually they're gonna have to enact a salary cap, and with that might come another strike. Another strike with the economy like this would be disasterous for the league. But with all the new parks they will find a way.

 

[LukeEl]

Well they took away the pros steroids away, I say bring the steroids back, then the fans will come back. Honestly I don't know, a strike would suck if it were to happy, besides I would rather go to a minor league baseball games instead. Those guys are more determined, plus you can see washed up old major leaguers too. And the cost of the ticket is cheaper.

 

[anomaly]

.........over to real sports!

 

[Ace Bandage]

Plus, there's this: Major league baseball attendance is up slightly overall from this point last year.
Wrigley Field, where the Chicago Cubs have the highest-priced regular tickets at $52 apiece, Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium, Dodger Stadium and Citizens Bank Park are still packing 'em in. The new Target Field in Minnesota is a hit, too.

We're doing out part in Chicago. I'll be at Wrigley at least five times this year. Regardless of how the team performs, Cubs fans are always going to pack the stands. I can't believe we have the highest ticket prices when he haven't won a goddamn World Series in 101 years. :wtf: I guess that proves that the fan base is loyal... or crazy.

 

[PlasmaTwa2]

lol, Toronto. What are they pulling, like 5k a game, tops? Isn't it odd that football in Europe absolutely packs em in but Americas sport can't give seats away? I think it has to do with 81 homes games (162 a year). Is it too many?

Americans are a funny bunch for sure.

I've told you, they get at least ten thousand a game. And we ain't Canadian. I think it has something to do with getting rid of Roy. Fans don't expect much from the team. Maybe once they hit their mid season high, it'll put some butts in the seats.

And...

Cleveland should move to Montreal. There, I said it.

 

[StanScratch]

Eventually they're gonna have to enact a salary cap, and with that might come another strike. Another strike with the economy like this would be disasterous for the league. But with all the new parks they will find a way.

I think the salary cap might be the better of the ideas - and I believe the players union might even eventually come to terms that it would be best to save the game.
Yes, we have perennial "sleeper" teams such as the Twins and Rays, but I believe fans are growing quite bored of watching the larger market teams such as the Yankees, Sox, L.A. and Chicago continually throwing money at crap in order to see it stick.
Yes, teams such as the Reds, Pirates, Royals, Baltimore, Texas, Toronto and Washington are consistently near the bottom because of bad management decisions - but too many of those decisions are financial decisions that at times handcuff teams (the Reds actually punted a few draft picks because they knew they could not afford to pay that pick).

 

[Bloodshot Scott]

I've told you, they get at least ten thousand a game. And we ain't Canadian. I think it has something to do with getting rid of Roy. Fans don't expect much from the team. Maybe once they hit their mid season high, it'll put some butts in the seats.

And...

Cleveland should move to Montreal. There, I said it.

The guy said that was "official," meaning there were a lot less than that in the stands.

I think the salary cap might be the better of the ideas - and I believe the players union might even eventually come to terms that it would be best to save the game.
Yes, we have perennial "sleeper" teams such as the Twins and Rays, but I believe fans are growing quite bored of watching the larger market teams such as the Yankees, Sox, L.A. and Chicago continually throwing money at crap in order to see it stick.
Yes, teams such as the Reds, Pirates, Royals, Baltimore, Texas, Toronto and Washington are consistently near the bottom because of bad management decisions - but too many of those decisions are financial decisions that at times handcuff teams (the Reds actually punted a few draft picks because they knew they could not afford to pay that pick).

The only real perennial small market competitor of the last decade I can think of is the Twins (Maybe Detroit. Do the White Sox count?). Milwaukee was decent; Colorado, the Phillies, and a few others are good. Oakland was a pretty damn consistent team as well for a while.

For the life of me I can't find it, but there is info on the league revinue sharing and a bunch of the small market teams don't spend this revenue they get from the bigger ball clubs. It was on Mike and Mike before the season started. It was pretty telling.

 

[PlasmaTwa2]

The guy said that was "official," meaning there were a lot less than that in the stands.

Well, like I said. We gave away our top player, every baseball critic puts the Jays at the bottom of the league this year. We have been waiting for seventeen years for a return to the playoffs and its not coming, despite the club saying this is the year every year for the past decade. We expect better from the Jays; we want better from the Jays.

Also, I have to assume that there aren't lots of people there because (I hope) Toronto is just tired of supporting shitty teams. Look at all the other pro teams in Toronto. The Maple Leafs, Argonauts and FC are all basement dwellers in the NHL, CFL and MLS, respectively, despite making "big" moves to get "star" players. The Raptors were flying high mid season and absolutely crashed, and are probably going to lose their star player this offseason. It is a city of mediocrity, and I hope the lack of fans is their way of saying "Hey, we aren't putting up with this shit anymore. Put a quality team on the ice/court/field or we aren't going to pay to see them play anymore". And I really hope that is what they are doing, because I love the Raptors and (especially) the Jays, and I would hate for them to go the way of the Grizzlies and Expos.

 

[titsrock]

A salary cap is needed. All of the teams listed in this have no shot at winning anything. There is a perception that all baseball players, especially the great ones, roided out for fat contracts, and that kind of gives off the whiff that baseball is a sham sport.

If they have another lockout that will be the end of the sport. Fans will never tolerate it.

 

[Bloodshot Scott]

A salary cap is needed. All of the teams listed in this have no shot at winning anything. There is a perception that all baseball players, especially the great ones, roided out for fat contracts, and that kind of gives off the whiff that baseball is a sham sport.

If they have another lockout that will be the end of the sport. Fans will never tolerate it.

Just to play devil's advocate, what about all the owners. Wouldn't the rich get richer? (Sorry, I'm not an economics major :o)

 

[StanScratch]

The guy said that was "official," meaning there were a lot less than that in the stands.



The only real perennial small market competitor of the last decade I can think of is the Twins (Maybe Detroit. Do the White Sox count?). Milwaukee was decent; Colorado, the Phillies, and a few others are good. Oakland was a pretty damn consistent team as well for a while.

For the life of me I can't find it, but there is info on the league revinue sharing and a bunch of the small market teams don't spend this revenue they get from the bigger ball clubs. It was on Mike and Mike before the season started. It was pretty telling.

I think the Pirates are one team that was recently roundly criticized for not spending their money wisely, but I am not certain.
Even with the revenue sharing, things are not nearly equal. Funding from that could go to one moderately good free agent player - and many times, that is a crap shoot. While a team like the Yankees can easily afford to roll and lose on someone like a Carl Pavano, a bad signing such as Derek Bell for the Pirates or Alex Gonzalez for the Reds can hurt quite a bit. A player who makes 8 million a year for the Yankees can be a bench player. A player who makes 8 million for the Royals has to be a starter, or the team stands to lose a lot of money (and might not be able to dump that salary to a desperate pennant chasing team later in the year).
Reputation also helps a lot. A player is more apt to sign with a Yankees or Redsox because that player knows those teams are more likely to go to the playoffs. Meanwhile, guys willing to sign with lesser teams are doing so because
1) those sure thing teams pretty much have their rosters set, or have even already spent too many millions as it is;
2) Are on the downsides of their careers and have not found anyone willing to take a chance on a vet with little gas left in their tank
3) Never really were that good, but could catch a starting job for a team severely lacking in depth
4) Are coming off an injury and are trying to reprove themselves
or 5) Honestly don't care that much about winning.
A few years ago, one of the Reds' big free agent signings was Eric Milton. Milton had been hurt a couple of years before, but had at one time shown some good stuff. Of course, the Reds being the Reds, they outbid themselves and signed him for more than 8 million a year for three years (pretty big deal at the time). Milton went on to suck big time and tie up a lot of salary.
Later, it was rumored that Adam Dunn and Austin Kearns had talked with Milton before he signed with the Reds, telling him they would be a good team to play for because the fans in Cincinnati were overtly forgiving - that winning was not expected and that it would be a fun town to play in. Frankly, the shoe seemed to fit at the time - and the Reds have been buried in a deep tradition of losing for quite some time even many years after that.
So, while a salary cap would not be an answer for all teams (look at the NFL and the Bengals), it could help teams be able to develop players and actually keep them for more than six years before shipping them off because their arbitration numbers are too high.

 

[MrZiggles]

MLB doesn't need a salary cap. It needs a salary shoe. Too many owners don't spend s*it then complain about the Yankees and Red Sox trying to win.

 

[Bloodshot Scott]

MLB doesn't need a salary cap. It needs a salary shoe. Too many owners don't spend s*it then complain about the Yankees and Red Sox trying to win.

Yeah but you don't understand how big markets differ from smaller markets. Television revenue alone gives them a disproportionate advantage. I don't remember how much, but it gives them a shitload more money to play with.

Actually, I think the Yankees have the dumbest management in the league. If you look at some of the salaries they pay guys and the numbers they put up, some of their players are laughable.

 

[Facetious]

baseball first half of season ->
baseball after the all star game -> little improvement

 

[HE1FiNEARTiST]

american sports are boring, except basketball :hatsoff:

 

[Elwood70]

1.-Lower the fucking prices

2.-Put a team on the field that can actually win the fuckin' game.

 

[PlasmaTwa2]

MLB doesn't need a salary cap. It needs a salary shoe. Too many owners don't spend s*it then complain about the Yankees and Red Sox trying to win.

The mentality is probably something like "I can't compete with the wallets of the Yankees and Sox anyway, so why try?"