Attendance drops for 12 MLB teams, as loss of gate takes on more permanent look

[BleedGopher]

per USA Today:

Major League Baseball’s attendance problem is not going away, as a significant dip in 2018 has endured into the new season – even with better weather and a boost from some big-name stars on the move.

As the game’s worst part of the calendar comes to a close, 12 of 30 teams will draw fewer fans in March-April than they did in a similar period last year – with seven of those teams seeing double-digit percentage dips, led by the Toronto Blue Jays’ 33% drop-off, according to research by USA TODAY Sports.

Perhaps more alarmingly, 15 teams saw a decrease in their worst March-April gate, which can serve as a relatively informed snapshot of a club’s season-ticket base. Twelve teams’ worst gate was 11,000 or less, with four teams – Pittsburgh (8,523), Cincinnati (7,799), Baltimore (6,585) and Miami (5,934) sporting a base of less than 10,000.

Overall, the average major league team's average March-April crowd is virtually flat – 26,560, compared to 26,859, a drop of less than 1%.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2019/04/30/mlb-attendance-first-month/3626164002/

Win Twins!!

 

[tikited]

Baseball will never, ever get young people on board again. Some will go, but the majority will continue to ignore the national pastime. Too long, too boring, too many liking soccer more (which I'll never understand), too expensive, I can watch on my phone, etc. So many reasons why baseball is a dying sport.

Maybe baseball can hold on until football becomes a forbidden sport..

 

[bottlebass]

Baseball will never, ever get young people on board again. Some will go, but the majority will continue to ignore the national pastime. Too long, too boring, too many liking soccer more (which I'll never understand), too expensive, I can watch on my phone, etc. So many reasons why baseball is a dying sport.

Maybe baseball can hold on until football becomes a forbidden sport..

Have you gone to a soccer game? 45 minutes straight action, a short break to get another beer then 45 minutes straight action then the game is over. If you go to a baseball game it could be done in 2.5 hours or it could be done in 4 and 95% of that time nothing is happening. And you wonder why a generation that is addicted to being constantly stimulated likes soccer more than baseball? You have to be kidding me.

 

[tikited]

Have you gone to a soccer game? 45 minutes straight action, a short break to get another beer then 45 minutes straight action then the game is over. If you go to a baseball game it could be done in 2.5 hours or it could be done in 4 and 95% of that time nothing is happening. And you wonder why a generation that is addicted to being constantly stimulated likes soccer more than baseball? You have to be kidding me.

I get it. I just don't like it. How was that zero-zero tie the other week. Or the 1-1 tie? That = boring to me.

 

[howeda7]

Have you gone to a soccer game? 45 minutes straight action, a short break to get another beer then 45 minutes straight action then the game is over. If you go to a baseball game it could be done in 2.5 hours or it could be done in 4 and 95% of that time nothing is happening. And you wonder why a generation that is addicted to being constantly stimulated likes soccer more than baseball? You have to be kidding me.

"action".

 

[bottlebass]

I get it. I just don't like it. How was that zero-zero tie the other week. Or the 1-1 tie? That = boring to me.

Great! We shut down Zlatan and both teams had good chances so there was plenty of action.

How was the 1-0 twins win the other night?

 

[bottlebass]

"action".

Clock doesn't stop like in football, hockey, basketball and there are no commercial breaks to wait through. So yeah, constant action.

 

[tikited]

Great! We shut down Zlatan and both teams had good chances so there was plenty of action.

How was the 1-0 twins win the other night?

I like pitching duels. I also like home runs. I don't like ties. Hockey is dumb that way as well.

 

[bottlebass]

I like pitching duels. I also like home runs. I don't like ties. Hockey is dumb that way as well.

I also like pitching duels and I enjoy going to baseball games. I just don't enjoy the 2 hours of down time where nothing happens at a baseball game. Soccer is the only sport with constant action and people my age and younger have an addiction to being constantly stimulated. I like to think I'm different than the average millennial since I'll sit in the woods still for hours hunting but every year the gopher games get harder and harder for me to sit through because of all the time outs. And when I go to twins games now I only ever buy really cheap tickets because we are never in our seats. We bar hop, find the new foods and walk around. Who can seriously sit and watch baseball intently?

 

[howeda7]

All sports are having this issue, but it's also cyclical. Look at highlights from Twins games in the 70's. Not great attendance there either most of the time. Teams are slowly adjusting to more revenue coming from TV/Streaming and less from in-stadium and adjusting their prices accordingly. Better to make $20/fan off 30,000 than $40/fan of 15,000 even if it comes out even initially.

 

[tikited]

All sports are having this issue, but it's also cyclical. Look at highlights from Twins games in the 70's. Not great attendance there either most of the time. Teams are slowly adjusting to more revenue coming from TV/Streaming and less from in-stadium and adjusting their prices accordingly. Better to make $20/fan off 30,000 than $40/fan of 15,000 even if it comes out even initially.

I know teams/leagues are hesitant to do this (lowering ticket prices) but they are going to have to if they want more fans in the stands. Soccer is the new toy in town and the rest will have to figure out how to combat this. Cheaper tickets is the best way to go imo but not necessarily what they will do any time soon. I hope they do before it is too late.

 

[bottlebass]

I know teams/leagues are hesitant to do this (lowering ticket prices) but they are going to have to if they want more fans in the stands. Soccer is the new toy in town and the rest will have to figure out how to combat this. Cheaper tickets is the best way to go imo but not necessarily what they will do any time soon. I hope they do before it is too late.

Honest question how are Philladelphia's ticket sales this year after signing harper? I'm guessing they have improved but I have no idea really. INstead of lowering the prices (twins games are already pretty cheap for tickets) maybe the owners could actually spend some money on the team?

 

[Gopher07]

Honest question how are Philladelphia's ticket sales this year after signing harper? I'm guessing they have improved but I have no idea really. INstead of lowering the prices (twins games are already pretty cheap for tickets) maybe the owners could actually spend some money on the team?

Through 17 home games last year, the Phillies averaged 25,295. Through 17 home games this year, they're averaging 36,956.

 

[bottlebass]

Through 17 home games last year, the Phillies averaged 25,295. Through 17 home games this year, they're averaging 36,956.

^^^^^^^^

 

[tikited]

^^^^^^^^

Wait till Harper gets hurt or if the team starts losing.

I think the Twins have been doing it the right way the last two years, but they don't have a shiny new toy like a Harper. Winning hasn't been the fix attendance wise. Maybe non-fall/winter like weather will be the fix?

 

[bottlebass]

Wait till Harper gets hurt or if the team starts losing.

I think the Twins have been doing it the right way the last two years, but they don't have a shiny new toy like a Harper. Winning hasn't been the fix attendance wise. Maybe non-fall/winter like weather will be the fix?

I don't think you can make that claim when the twins have had the worst record in baseball since they opened the new stadium. Specifically in the last few years (minus the one OK year they had) they have been horrible. Now they are winning some and we may be able to see if the ticket sales start creeping back up or not. But look at those numbers in Philly. You can't tell me the same wouldn't happen if the twins went out and got a big name too. Well... maybe it won't happen because baseball is so slow compared to soccer

 

[tikited]

I don't think you can make that claim when the twins have had the worst record in baseball since they opened the new stadium. Specifically in the last few years (minus the one OK year they had) they have been horrible. Now they are winning some and we may be able to see if the ticket sales start creeping back up or not. But look at those numbers in Philly. You can't tell me the same wouldn't happen if the twins went out and got a big name too. Well... maybe it won't happen because baseball is so slow compared to soccer

I was only talking about this year(winning).

Yes, if Harper was on the Twins = more people in the stands. We all know the Twins don't work that way though.

Maybe if MLB instituted ties..

 

[monk10]

I think the problem is that old people watch baseball and people like me were supper pissy to be sitting in rain/cold last night.

I did go because it finally wasn't Gibson when my tickets came up. I call that a small victory .

 

[saintpaulguy]

Baseball is a game of strategy like no other. If you are watching a game, and think of it as binary --he got a hit, or he didn't, it is going to be very very boring. If you pay attention to pitch counts and pitch selection, if you know the number of outs and which offensive tools are available--it is good drama.

 

[Dano564]

Baseball has 30 seconds of standing around between every pitch.
That's the problem with baseball and the breaks between innings are far too long.

Soccer... constant motion, constant action, even when players get hurt there is an element of gamesmanship about it.
A well respected player can lose his credibility from over playing an injury in attempt to kill the clock.

It's only going to keep growing.

 

[Section2]

What MLB needs to do is become more woke. Millenials would love to attend MLB games, but not if someone is singing God Bless America with the wrong views.

 

[GopherJake]

Call me crazy, but if 12 teams had attendance drops, then 18 did not have drops. And from the article:

Overall, the average major league team's average March-April crowd is virtually flat – 26,560, compared to 26,859, a drop of less than 1%.

Why are we alarmed?

 

[GopherJake]

What MLB needs to do is become more woke. Millenials would love to attend MLB games, but not if someone is singing God Bless America with the wrong views.

Do you have any self-control, SnowflakeTroll2? Get a life.

 

[howeda7]

Baseball has 30 seconds of standing around between every pitch.
That's the problem with baseball and the breaks between innings are far too long.

Soccer... constant motion, constant action, even when players get hurt there is an element of gamesmanship about it.
A well respected player can lose his credibility from over playing an injury in attempt to kill the clock.

It's only going to keep growing.

I'd buy "soccer will take over America!" more if we hadn't been hearing it since the 80's. MLS is pretty successful, so props for that, but it's still nowhere near the big 3 sports overall. It may catch the NHL soon if it hasn't already. It's decades away from 3rd place though, if it ever happens.

 

[stocker08]

Do you have any self-control, SnowflakeTroll2? Get a life.

He has quickly become the biggest crybaby on the board. It's gotten so pathetic that he's polluting unrelated threads with his butthurt.

 

[cncmin]

Clock doesn't stop like in football, hockey, basketball and there are no commercial breaks to wait through. So yeah, constant action.

"Action" = booting a ball around a field and hoping to get lucky that the ball goes in the net. I don't see how there is any more "action" in soccer than in baseball. At least in baseball something productive eventually happens.

 

[cncmin]

Call me crazy, but if 12 teams had attendance drops, then 18 did not have drops. And from the article:

Overall, the average major league team's average March-April crowd is virtually flat – 26,560, compared to 26,859, a drop of less than 1%.

Why are we alarmed?

I wondered the same thing. Sounds like the writer was looking hard for something to write about, and found nothing...so he wrote up nothing.

 

[Gold Vision]

I played soccer through high school and currently coach both my kids. Even with all that exposure to the game, I’ll still watch a baseball game over professional soccer any day of the week.

Soccer is not full of action, its quite monotonous as a spectator sport. Sure there is constant motion, but it’s like watching adults play keep away for 5 minutes until someone makes a mistake or actually attacks.

Baseball is a game of constant strategy and intriguing matchups. One swing of the bat can change a game. I just enjoy it much more as a spectator sport. Nothing like an afternoon at the ballpark or listening to a game while doing yardwork or on the road.

With that said, neither of my kids took to playing baseball/softball. For the constantly stimulated kids of their generation, it’s just too much down time. Tball is also a terrible introduction to the sport. All 10 kids bat every inning, they take 1 base at a time regardless if an out is made. There is so much downtime as a player in that situation. They love hockey and soccer where they are in constant motion.

 

[mnsportsgeek]

Regular season baseball = snoozefest
Playoff baseball is a bit better but still not great. The game itself is way better in October, but the 4 hour run time is exhausting. The most exciting thing about July baseball is the company you go with.

 

[JimmyJamesMD]

Call me crazy, but if 12 teams had attendance drops, then 18 did not have drops. And from the article:

Overall, the average major league team's average March-April crowd is virtually flat – 26,560, compared to 26,859, a drop of less than 1%.

Why are we alarmed?

Please stop reading the whole article. Only headlines matter, not the details