So what's it gonna take to get folks back to the Yard?

[DrungoHazewood]

And/or free beer!

:beerchug1::beerchug1::beerchug1:

Ten Cent Beer Night in Cleveland did triple their average attendance, at least for a night! If you don't mind forfeits, riots, and empty gallon jugs of Thunderbird raining down on the players... Not that I'm a big drinker, but I've always wanted to plop down a $5 and say "give me 50!"

[Orioles0615]

The Phillies weren't selling out their stadium not too long ago either....then they won with their core, built on their core substantially, and now they are a powerhouse that sells out every game...why can't we be the same? Step one is to win with our core...

It will be interesting to see what happens with the Philly fans once the Philly's start to crumble. Like the Red Sox I think the phillies are going to fall from their high soon.

[Going Underground]

The next homestand will not be a great draw. You do have the Frank Robinson Replica Sculpture plus a Little League Day. That may give them around 30,000 for the weekend games. The weekday against Toronto will be tough. Way too earrly to win back the fans. I say it would take till around July. They do have the Yankees and Boston in May but during the week. May 23rd ,you will have alot of kids for the day game. WJZ Field day has sold about 18,000 tickets already. June you have two good weekend series ,Phillies and Nats. Philly series has very few tickets for Saturday and Sunday. Nats tickets are also selling well. Also the Nats are 9-3 and are promoting heavily, Have discounts on Travelzoo and in the Washington Post. Also have $2.00 Tuesday. Alot of people think the Nats have a realistic chance to be good. I think the Nats would get the bigger ticket bump first. O's more of a wait and see. It's only 11 games.

[Brendan25]

The O's still have a lot of work to do. I do think that if the O's are in the playoff chase in July that the yard will be full, but I'm talking playoff chase, not 3-7 games out.

[Mayor McCheese]

I would say the O's would need to be in it for a few months for people to really start coming out and "packing the yard"

Also, for the younger fans the team really needs a superstar...hopefully AJ and/or Weiters can and will become that guy.

[Todd-O]

I would say the O's would need to be in it for a few months for people to really start coming out and "packing the yard"

Also, for the younger fans the team really needs a superstar...hopefully AJ and/or Weiters can and will become that guy.

To your point... AJ and Weiters must become that guy... And, secondarily, Bundy needs a Strasburg-hyped rise to the majors (outside of hardcore fans, your average MLB fan had no idea who he is...). We need a pitcher that is set-em knock'em down kinda guy.

[TonySoprano]

Agreed. I guess if we were within 2-3 games of 1st place when school got out you'd see attendance begin to pick up. But the fans have been burned before so nothing in April or May is likely to have an effect.

They've been burned most years. In fact 10 of the last 14 years, they were below .500 after June 1st when the kids are still in school. Put another way, 4 months or more of watching a team with a losing record a year.

I've posted this a few times before. Here are the last days of .500 baseball since 1998

YR 0.500

1998 Sep-21

1999 Apr-07

2000 May-09

2001 May-27

2002 Aug-23

2003 May-18

2004 Jun-01

2005 Aug-17

2006 May-02

2007 May-31

2008 Jul-09

2009 Apr-23

2010 N/A

2011 May-26

[canonfaz]

$4.00 tickets

[DrungoHazewood]

$4.00 tickets

Maybe the O's could become the RyanAir of baseball. It's $4 for a box seat, but $5 to go to the bathroom, $15 for a hot dog, $20 a beer, $17 for a program... You have to feed $3 into a slot every time you want your seat cushion to fold down to sit.

[atom_25]

Speaking as one of the exodused masses, I made a deal with the wife that come June we would renew our partial season ticket package for this season if the Orioles were in contention and playing well. For me an avid fan who would attend 15- 20 home games per season and watch on tv most nights or listen on the radio, last season was a tipping point where I just could not take it any more and needed a break. Having taken my July until the past few games break I already am itching to jump back on board but still need a little bit more reassurance that my bubble of hope is not going to be popped before the calendar turns to May. I am not asking for the moon, just a team that is halfway competitive and inspires one to care. I am an avid lifelong fan. I know the vast majority of people needed to fill the seats don't care nearly as much as I do, not even counting the younger generation who have grown up not knowing what a decent Orioles team looks like. I would presume that if the uptick in competitiveness can continue and even progress it would still take until at least July for it to translate into better attendances, and even then it is more likely to be gradual progression as opposed to overnight sell outs.

[Going Underground]

Maybe the O's could become the RyanAir of baseball. It's $4 for a box seat, but $5 to go to the bathroom, $15 for a hot dog, $20 a beer, $17 for a program... You have to feed $3 into a slot every time you want your seat cushion to fold down to sit.

$5.00 baggage fee. This is for food brought into the stadium. Yankee and Red Sox games are nearly double in ticket prices and a walkup fee to buy tickets. Oh oh,they already do the last two,

[NewMarketSean]

Shoot, I think a $5 beer night would pack the stadium. Or they could at least make it certain sections so kids wont be subject to any rowdiness.

Right now I think they are doing a pretty good job making it affordable and desirable to go to more games. Dropping the walk-up fee is probably the only major thing they could do to show they care about the fans.

[Hank Scorpio]

Look @ the stadium last night in Chicago... empty.

Baseball is just too constant/accessible to fill that place regularly. By & large, society has changed. Except in places like Boston & Chicago.

[Skeletor]

Look @ the stadium last night in Chicago... empty.

Baseball is just too constant/accessible to fill that place regularly. By & large, society has changed. Except in places like Boston & Chicago.

But it really hasn't. Certain stadiums go through peaks and valleys, but as a whole more people go to games than ever. Baseball, more than any other sport, has its attendance and tv ratings rooted to their home teams. They play 162 games a year; certain relationships and bonds are built between the hometown players and their fans. That's why World Series ratings are indicative of nothing.

[Hank Scorpio]

But it really hasn't. Certain stadiums go through peaks and valleys, but as a whole more people go to games than ever. Baseball, more than any other sport, has its attendance and tv ratings rooted to their home teams. They play 162 games a year; certain relationships and bonds are built between the hometown players and their fans. That's why World Series ratings are indicative of nothing.

I guess.

But in Baltimore, the glory days of Memorial Stadium are long gone even if they were slightly romanticized.