Attendance (lack there of) making executives in MLB nervous?

[Fan4Life]

I think this is why the push for another playoff team. Try to invigorate the fan bases..

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-passan_10_degrees_attendance_042511&active_dimension=carousel_coke_today&ysp_frm_woah=1

[SammyBirdland]

I wonder if a salary cap would make the league more competitive and in turn garner more fan interest in more cities than a couple extra wild card spots.

[Fan4Life]

I wonder if a salary cap would make the league more competitive and in turn garner more fan interest in more cities than a couple extra wild card spots.

It very well may, but it isn't near the top of options they would actually be able to change. I do wonder if the fans not showing isn't largely economic and not lack of interest.

[MikeAD]

Gas is high, money is tight all around. People are out of work, those who are working are putting in more hours.

I really don't think its a lack of interest.

[twoBshorty]

Gas is high, money is tight all around. People are out of work, those who are working are putting in more hours.

I really don't think its a lack of interest.

Totally agree. There are just too many confounding factors here to declare that it's a lack of interest in the sport. Food prices have skyrocketed, gas is $4.03 a gallon here, people are unemployed or underemployed, and MLB tickets are a luxury people can't afford.

[TGO]

Some of the specific teams he mentions are having major problems, too. Most Mets fans I know are disillusioned. The Dodgers situation has turned ridiculous, and the stadium is starting to be viewed as unsafe. The Marlins, well, they have the same problems they've always had with the stadium and people having other things to do in Miami.

The Cubs and Red Sox are tied directly to the economy, I think. You have to buy their tickets at resale prices and people can't afford it right now.

[DrungoHazewood]

Most of the talk I've heard is speculation that the ever-skyrocketing ticket prices may have finally reached a point where less people are buying. Maybe this doesn't bother MLB that much, since max attendance doesn't necessarily equal max revenues. You might rather have 10 people buy $1000 tickets than 50 people buy $10 tickets. You might net more revenues from filling the luxury boxes than from selling the entire upper deck.

[Skeletor]

There's a variation on MLB's declining popularity every year. TV ratings are still going up most places and everybody is still making money. Baseball is healthier than ever.

And the NFL is working hard to screw the pooch.

[Skywalker76]

As a foreigner working and living in the USA, the whole topic of the popularity of baseball is very interesting and maybe my whole perception is a little different but for me there is no doubt that people have lost interest in baseball in comparison to the 80's and early 90's, when I first visited the US and became a baseball fan myself. I also think it is tough to argue that football is much more popular than baseball today and is the undisputed sport #1 in the US.

[Gurgi]

As a foreigner working and living in the USA, the whole topic of the popularity of baseball is very interesting and maybe my whole perception is a little different but for me there is no doubt that people have lost interest in baseball in comparison to the 80's and early 90's, when I first visited the US and became a baseball fan myself. I also think it is tough to argue that football is much more popular than baseball today and is the undisputed sport #1 in the US.

I know around here popularity is down.

You still in the Florida area? Watching the Marlins?

[BehindTimes]

Gas is high, money is tight all around. People are out of work, those who are working are putting in more hours.

I really don't think its a lack of interest.

I mean, I agree, but right now, there are way too many teams and way too many games.

The article talks about how certain teams are so much cheaper to go to than football teams. Family of 4 for $300 vs a football game for $330. Well, baseball teams play 10x as many games as football. Football is a weekend sport, where if you're after seeing one specific game, you have one shot all year. With baseball? If I want to see a rival, I have nine times.

Adding more playoff teams isn't going to be as useful imho as Selig thinks it will be. Despite the fact that either the Sox and/or Yankees make the playoffs every single year, baseball has by far the greatest parity in actual winners. That's not to say that a salary cap (and floor) aren't needed, but that the difference won't be that big. Sure, a few other teams will have a few more fans, but if you shove playoffs down our throats, even playoff tickets will lose value.

[MikeAD]

I mean, I agree, but right now, there are way too many teams and way too many games.

The article talks about how certain teams are so much cheaper to go to than football teams. Family of 4 for $300 vs a football game for $330. Well, baseball teams play 10x as many games as football. Football is a weekend sport, where if you're after seeing one specific game, you have one shot all year. With baseball? If I want to see a rival, I have nine times.

Adding more playoff teams isn't going to be as useful imho as Selig thinks it will be. Despite the fact that either the Sox and/or Yankees make the playoffs every single year, baseball has by far the greatest parity in actual winners. That's not to say that a salary cap (and floor) aren't needed, but that the difference won't be that big. Sure, a few other teams will have a few more fans, but if you shove playoffs down our throats, even playoff tickets will lose value.

Well, yeah the season is too long and contributes greatly to lack of interest. However, comparing it to football is silly (Im referring to the article not you). The NFL hasn't been something regular families could go to for some time. Its a different beast. Lots of teams have waiting lists just to get season tickets and its a second or third party markup system when you want to go.

My mother was a single mom, usually worked two jobs and has worked two jobs full time for the past decade or so. Back in 2000 or 1999, I was 12 or 13 and she took me to a weekend series against Boston for my birthday. Three games, hotel, whole nine. It was a big gift, but she managed to afford it. You think thats possible today? I know the price of everything is up (hotels, food, gas). Here in Northern DE, charities aren't even giving tickets away to the Phillies anymore. The programs that used to send inner city and lower income kids to the Phillies are handing out Blue Rocks tickets. I know the working families I am around are doing the same for their kids.

Catching a Major League baseball game on a Friday or Saturday night isn't very feasible anymore unless you live close to the stadium.

Shoot, I guess I'm off topic, but you're right, more playoff teams doesn't mean more attendance. It does mean more revenue for teams who get those new spots. But if you can't afford tickets or already aren't overly interested, your team being 5 games out of the second wild card instead of 8 games out of the old wild card, won't get you to the park.

[NewMarketSean]

Call me crazy but I like the idea of a second WC team. Whether it's a one game playoff or best of 3. More baseball = more better.