Baseball Musings: Where are the Fans?

April 12, 2008

Where are the Fans?

Jeff Baker wonders why the Nationals aren't attracting fans to the new stadium:

When Oriole Park at Camden Yards opened in 1992, spectators packed the retro baseball palace not for days, but years. Orioles' attendance, routinely below 25,000 at Memorial Stadium, soared above 40,000 at the new park and remained there for nine seasons.
Sixteen years later, baseball teams are painfully learning that the glorious, extended honeymoons with fans may be all but over when it comes to new stadiums. Clubs are still building them, but fans aren't coming - at least not at the rate they did in the heady days of Camden Yards and Cleveland's Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field), which opened in 1994 and had a run of 455 consecutive sellouts. Those stadiums are considered forerunners for a new generation of appealing, fan-friendly parks.

What the author fails to mention is that the Orioles posted winning records in five of their first six years in Camden Yards. The Indians posted the third best record in the majors during their first seven seasons. In other words, if you win, they will come. Detroit built a new stadium and no one came until the Tigers won. Baker gets to this point late in the article:

And then there's the team's record. RFK attendance was aided in 2005 when the Nationals were in first place for several months. Last year, the club went 73-89, and this is another rebuilding year.

The idea that a new stadium was all a team needed to attract fans is rubbish. Unless franchises join a winning team with a new park, there's no reason for fans to come long term. That's why if I'm a politician in Florida, I want to see a commitment to winning before I put tax payer dollars into a new stadium.

Posted by David Pinto at 08:44 AM | Stadiums | TrackBack (0)

Comments

I would also point out that their opponents this week were the Florida Marlina. Early April game, in pretty crappy weather, involving two mediocre teams - I don't care if it's a new stadium, that's not a big draw.

Now I happened to be at Wednesday night's game, and the interesting thing is, though the stadium was only half-filled, the crowd was pretty spread out. There were a fair number of bodies in the upper sections, all the way around the stadium. It actually seemed to be the premium seats that were empty. Considering the vast price spread between seats, it's no wonder.

Posted by: crankycon at April 12, 2008 12:04 PM

I'd also add that Baltimore and Cleveland were firsts of a kind in the whole new retro stadium era, and I think that was an attraction in and of itself. Now the whole new stadium thing is a bit passe.

Posted by: crankycon at April 12, 2008 12:24 PM

Don't forget the economy. With gasoline at nearly $3.40, this might be just about the worst timing for any scheduled ballpark opening.

Posted by: bdrube at April 12, 2008 01:50 PM

Jeffrey Loria does have a commitment to winning—money from other people, be it Revenue Sharing that doesn't get used (the KC Model Writ Large--and KC learned better) or b/r/i/b/e/s/ tax breaks and public financing from the new town after you f*ck*d the old one. (Sorry, but pulling the French broadcast of games in Mtl is beyond the pale, and EARNED him the expletive.)

The idiots in Miami should have figured out a man who abuses his current town isn't going to treat the next one well either, but the difference between politicians and battered wives appears to be that battered wives often learn to recognize the signs.

Posted by: Ken Houghton at April 12, 2008 02:01 PM

I thought it was the English broadcasts that the Expos didn't bother with.

Posted by: Simon Oliver Lockwood at April 12, 2008 02:15 PM

1. MLB will set another new record this year, and another the year after that. Gas prices? Heh.

2. Florida won't have a team if they do not build a new stadium, end of story. Build it or wave goodbye.

Posted by: Al at April 12, 2008 03:05 PM

there is also the decades old argument that dc isn't a place for sports teams because it's full of so many transplants.

Posted by: Tim at April 12, 2008 04:37 PM

Where are the Marlins gonna go, Al? Oklahoma City? Besides there aren't too many people in Miami who would care if the Marlins left. What they should have done was cut bait on Miami and move up to Broward/Palm Beach.

Posted by: Jacob Luft at April 13, 2008 11:11 AM

I'm with Tim - plus it's full of gov't workers who don't tend to be big sports fans - at least not of the money spending variety. Now - if it were spending other peoples money that'd be different.

Posted by: bandit at April 13, 2008 11:42 AM