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Major League Baseball Sees a Sharp Drop in Attendance

Posted on 6/15/18 at 10:52 am
Posted by UltimateHog
Oregon
Member since Dec 2011
65996 posts
Posted on 6/15/18 at 10:52 am
LINK

quote:

With the regular season approaching the halfway point, it seems safe to say that this is baseball in 2018: lots of home runs, even more strikeouts—and, relatively speaking, not a lot of people in the stands to see them.

League-wide attendance entering Friday of 27,328 per game is down 6.6% from this date last year and 8.6% overall, according to Stats LLC. The sport hasn’t seen an attendance drop of more than 6.7% in a single season since 1995, when the average crowd fell nearly 20% following the player strike that canceled the 1994 World Series. MLB attendance has remained consistent throughout this decade, never changing more than 1.9% in either direction.


Posted by Chillini
Member since Sep 2012
3153 posts
Posted on 6/15/18 at 10:54 am to
Weather was pretty shitty for a lot of teams in April and May. Might be impacting it. I know the Cubs were on pace for most rain outs they’ve ever had for a while.
Posted by lsupride87
Member since Dec 2007
96363 posts
Posted on 6/15/18 at 10:56 am to
Yeh I think we need to see how the back half of the season looks

I have never seen weather impact games as much as this season so far.

Posted by Buckeye06
Member since Dec 2007
23156 posts
Posted on 6/15/18 at 10:57 am to
Only 6 team in the AL at .500. 5 of those 6 are likely going to October (know it's early to say that but they have separated)

If you aren't competitive in June, why go to games I guess is what people are thinking
Posted by High C
viewing the fall....
Member since Nov 2012
54226 posts
Posted on 6/15/18 at 10:58 am to
quote:

League-wide attendance entering Friday of 27,328 per game


The sport is clearly dying. You realize that for the first month of the season, the weather was ridiculously cold in much of the country. I could see that hitting attendance 6.6%.
Posted by tduecen
Member since Nov 2006
161244 posts
Posted on 6/15/18 at 10:58 am to
A lot of shitty teams refuse to adjust and follow the NBA model of offering really cheap seats.

The bleacher section of most ballparks is still 20+ dollars then you have to include food and parking.

What teams need to do is lower the cost of seating in order to bring back the average fan and families.
Posted by Buckeye Backer
Columbus, Ohio
Member since Aug 2009
9275 posts
Posted on 6/15/18 at 10:59 am to
One answer....weather!!! If the league is serious about attendance figures, then stop playing games in cold weather cities so early in the season. There is zero reason to be playing home games in Cleveland, Chicago, Boston, Pittsburgh and so on in the early weeks of the season. So many games are right around 30-40 degrees, of course people don't want to go to those games. Make the northern franchises start off on the road in warmer climates until the weather changes. This would help attendance over the long haul. College baseball does this. Most northern universities play their first 15-20 games on the road. MLB needs to start doing this. It would all even out, the northern franchises would get more home games in the back half of the season. Would be fine by me as an Indians fan.
This post was edited on 6/15/18 at 11:01 am
Posted by Speedy G
Member since Aug 2013
3911 posts
Posted on 6/15/18 at 11:03 am to
Modern professional baseball has gotten pretty boring with fewer and fewer balls in play.

Plus, a lot of teams are out of the race before it starts. The American League standings are practically a foregone conclusion.

Most MLB games just aren't worth the price of admission. Hopefully, this will start a conversation about reducing ticket and concession costs (especially the latter).

The NCAA super regionals last week were a real treat.
Posted by Quidam65
Q Continuum
Member since Jun 2010
19316 posts
Posted on 6/15/18 at 11:04 am to
If you throw out home attendance figures for Oakland, Chicago White Sox, and both Florida teams (and maybe a few road ones too), would the average get back to normal?
Posted by RTN
Member since Oct 2016
783 posts
Posted on 6/15/18 at 11:04 am to
Wish Dallas had a park in town rather than Arlington, been in Dallas 2 years and still haven't made it to a rangers game. Would be cool if Fair Park was the home to Cowboys and Rangers.
This post was edited on 6/15/18 at 11:05 am
Posted by AUCE05
Member since Dec 2009
42582 posts
Posted on 6/15/18 at 11:11 am to
MLB has a fantastic streaming service. Actual attendance may be down, but revenues are at a record high. Thats why I think MLB should expand more in smaller southern markets. AL and LA, as a state, could make a MLB a ton of profit by the amount of streaming eyeballs. TN and the Carolinas too.
Posted by Speedy G
Member since Aug 2013
3911 posts
Posted on 6/15/18 at 11:14 am to
To clarify, the numbers in the article are ticket sales not actual game attendance, which seems to be even worse.
Posted by sicboy
Because Awesome
Member since Nov 2010
77649 posts
Posted on 6/15/18 at 11:17 am to
Probably a lot of patriots getting tired of all the catchers disrespecting our country.
Posted by cubsfan5150
Member since Nov 2007
15830 posts
Posted on 6/15/18 at 12:11 pm to
I was watching a game the other day (I think it was the Brewers) and the entire infield was foreign players. How do you root for that?

I want to watch Americans play American sports.
Posted by SeeeeK
some where
Member since Sep 2012
28114 posts
Posted on 6/15/18 at 12:55 pm to
weather has been brutal, and when you have 162 games, weather is a major factor.

frick, we've had summer weather in spring. it's been hot as balls, i dont blame anyone for not going.

It's fricking brutal to sit in stands when its humid as frick and 95 degrees.

And is this actual attendance or paid?
Posted by mizzoubuckeyeiowa
Member since Nov 2015
35746 posts
Posted on 6/15/18 at 3:59 pm to
It's 2018.

Unless you're living on the government dole or are a trust fund baby or Ferris Bueller...most people don't have time to spend 4 hours at a baseball park during the work week and get home late for work tomorrow.
This post was edited on 6/15/18 at 4:00 pm
Posted by saintsfan22
baton rouge
Member since May 2006
71916 posts
Posted on 6/15/18 at 5:21 pm to
Bruce Maxwell doing work
Posted by Horsemeat
Truckin' somewhere in the US
Member since Dec 2014
13583 posts
Posted on 6/15/18 at 5:55 pm to
A) it's too expensive. Tickets, parking, concessions will dent the average Joe's bank account pretty hard. Last time I went to Kaufmann to see Stros/Royals a 16 oz Miller Lite was $10. Plain hot dog was $12. Its fricking ridiculous. You have 81 or more home games - quit gouging the fans and people will go watch more frequently.

B) Quit fricking with the game, Manfred. The last few years seem like nascar with changing the rules every off season.

C) Put the Astros back in the NL where they belong.
This post was edited on 6/15/18 at 5:57 pm
Posted by cubsfan5150
Member since Nov 2007
15830 posts
Posted on 6/15/18 at 7:06 pm to
I'm sure it's been mentioned, but ticket prices are outrageous for some teams too.

Nose bleeds for a family of four at Wrigley will run you around $500 for a weekend game once you consider parking and food. That's ridiculous.
Posted by mountaintop
Member since Oct 2017
740 posts
Posted on 6/15/18 at 7:13 pm to
How about baseball teams stop raising prices for attending these games?

Make the prices affordable for middle-class families in the 21st century-paycheck-to-paycheck-work-work-work nonstop America.
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