MLB attendance down another 1.4%, 4th straight drop

[Ohiogal]

MLB attendance down another 1.4%, 4th straight drop

NEW YORK (AP) — The Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins drew 12,653 Wednesday night — combined.

Baltimore, Cincinnati, Minnesota and Tampa Bay set stadium lows this year. Kansas City had its smallest home crowd since 2011 and Toronto and San Francisco since 2010. The Marlins’ average attendance is less than Triple-A Las Vegas.

Major League Baseball’s overall average of 26,854 through Wednesday is 1.4% below the 27,242 through the similar point last season, which wound up below 30,000 for the first time since 2003.

Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred attributes this year’s drop to fewer season tickets but emphasizes day-of-game sales are up 6%.

“Given the explosion of entertainment alternatives and the growth of the secondary market, it is not surprising that season ticket sales can be challenging,” he said. “The clubs are responding to this challenge with creative and effective approaches. For example, sales of subscription tickets are double what they were a year ago. And the Twins recently had a $5 flash sale that produced crowds of over 30,000 in three of four games, and the largest single-game attendance since 2016.”

Nineteen of the 30 teams have seen their average fall from a similar point last year, with the largest drops in Toronto (6,963), San Francisco (6,463), Baltimore (3,839) and Detroit (3,686).

Large rises have taken place for Philadelphia (10,383), Oakland (4,027), San Diego (3,465) and the Chicago White Sox (2,311). The Phillies signed Bryce Harper and the Padres added Manny Machado.

“A lot of it comes down to competition. Fans want to know their teams are doing everything they can to compete for a championship every year,” union head Tony Clark said. “I see every empty seat as a missed opportunity. Experiencing a game and seeing players perform in person creates a bond with baseball; our industry needs to find ways to convert those empty seats into lifelong fans.”

MLB’s average peaked at 32,785 in 2007 — the last year before the Great Recession and the next-to-last season before the New York Yankees and Mets moved to smaller stadiums. The average was at 30,517 in 2015 before sliding for three straight years, and last season’s final figure of 28,830 marked a 4% drop, the overall number hurt by unusually cold and wet weather early in the season.

Manfred points to other metrics that please MLB: Games top prime-time cable ratings in 24 of 25 markets and MLB.tv streaming is up 8.5%. He views increases for the Phillies, Padres, Athletics and White Sox tied to team performance.

Florida remains a problem on both coasts.

Despite a sparkling, eight-season-old ballpark with a retractable roof, Miami is averaging 9,554 in Derek Jeter’s second season as chief executive — below the 9,582 average for Triple-A Las Vegas in its first season at a new 10,000-capacity stadium.

Tampa Bay plays in one of the most outmoded facilities in the major leagues and drew 5,786 against the Blue Jays on Tuesday, the smallest home crowd for the Rays, who started play at Tropicana Field in 1998.

“The more people there are, the more energy there’s going to be,” Tampa Bay outfielder Kevin Kiermaier said. “No matter what crowd you’re playing in front of, you have to get motivated.”

A quartet of last-place teams has seen swaths of empty seats.

Miami is on track to have the lowest home attendance in the National League for the seventh straight season. Tampa Bay is at the bottom of the AL for the fifth consecutive year.

https://www.apnews.com/6a7ffdc19830442fb968492024428e89

[Kurt V.]

1. too many owners aren't even trying to field good teams. keuchel and kimbrel still unsigned

[redstateblues]

2. Too many non competitive teams. Too many strike outs

[Wellstone ruled]

3. One must understand what is really going on.

First of all,to many Teams of all so ran Players.

Next is Youth Sports are a thing of the Past.

Next is there are only a hand full of Youngsters with the true talent and desire to move to the next level.

Oh did I mention the Family cost for Youth Sports,used to be funded under local Park and Rec associations,tax payer dollars with Sponsor dollars for Uni's and Gear. With the Local Governments taken over by the Tea Billies,well,that ain't happening.

As long as Major League Sports are considered a Non Profit,what you see is few really great Players propping up a ton of also wannabe's .

When a team owner can sell off his Stare to another Team in order for that team to make it to the World Series,it is though to be a Fan.

[stopbush]

4. Too. Fucking. Expensive to attend a game.

[brush]

5. Baseball is dying a slow death. Too many games. Games too long, and boring...

Too many unprofitable teams. And here's a reluctance to make needed wholesale changes to the game to stir interest because of baseball's adherence to its "sacred" records.

I'm a fan but I don't watch the games until the post-season , and only the ones with teams I have a routing interest in.

Changes need to be made ASAP or the game will keep on dying. You used to see kids playing ball in parks or playing catch. You never see that anymore. Basketball and football have long since supplanted baseball's popularity.

I say cut the season to 100 games, cut the perennially under performing teams, put in a time clock for pitches to be delivered to reduce the length of games, award a baserunner if pitch not delivered on time to create more scoring/interest/excitement, cut the games down to seven innings (like NCAA women's softball where games move along swiftly), introduced a shoot-out/homerun derby at the end of seven inning. tied games so that there are no more hours-long, extra inning games, limit pitching substitutions to only 3 per game, leave it at 3 strikes for an out but cut balls needed to walk to also 3 for more runners. That's all I can think of now but forget about the sacred numbers. Saving the game is more important. Make these changes and interest will come back.