Why are the Orioles games not sold out right now?

[jofalfa]

Roch Kubatko ‏@masnRoch

10,955 at Camden Yards. That's it?

Roch Kubatko ‏@masnRoch

First, kids were in school. Then they were on vacation. New excuse is kids are back in school. I ain't buyin' it. 10,955 is embarrassing

Steve Berthiaume ‏@SBerthiaumeESPN

Only 10,995 at #Orioles game tonight with #WhiteSox at Camden Yards. That's a bummer.

Steve Berthiaume ‏@SBerthiaumeESPN

Few things better than a beautiful summer night at #Orioles Park. Don't get it. RT/ @masnORIOLES: That's an understatement, Steve.

Denver Bundy ‏@Denver_Bundy

Some people still think the Orioles are not a winning team. wow. If you win more than you lose your a winner!

Lots of people noticing tonight.

[Goober Noodles]

Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic.

[UpstateNYfan]

There are lots of reasons and excuses. No matter the logic or lack of logic it is still embarrassing. The great attendance years were a bit of an anomaly, good teams and a great, new stadium. It is still a great stadium, but not novel anymore. There is no demand for tickets, everyone knows they can get a good ticket. This, I believe will continue to be the case for a long while. This reminds of the really great teams of the late 60's through much of the 70's. Poor attendance... If the O's do make the playoffs, they might not sellout. Maybe the team should move, the city could retain the Oriole name and in a decade or two Baltimore might get an expansion team. Sound familiar?

[ChrisP]

Blame that there new DC team...

[sambowen]

Yes...and no. Yes, the Nats drew some fans away from Baltimore, but Angelos' mis-management of the franchise was a bigger factor.

Angelos also said the area couldn't support two franchises. He was wrong. The Nats average this year is 29,899 and the Orioles average is 25,770 with combined total attendance of 3,391,778. For the year, they should draw around 4.5 million.

Here is the Orioles' attendance for the last 15 years. Note the attendance in 2004 when the O's last had the market to themselves, 2.7 million.

1997	3,711,1321998	3,684,6501999	3,433,1502000	3,297,0312001	3,094,8412002	2,682,4392003	2,454,5232004	2,744,0182005	2,624,7402006	2,153,1392007	2,164,8222008	1,950,0752009	1,907,1632010	1,733,0182011	1,746,111

The population in the Washington DC metro area is 5.58 million people. The population in the Baltimore metro area is 2.7 million. DC should be outdrawing Baltimore. I totally agree with you regarding Angelos. He ran the franchise in the ground and alienated fans of all ages. A lot of damage was done. His policy of charging more for walk-ups, limiting the number of student night tickets this year, refusal to recognize the 1966 championship team are all PR blunders.

[OriolesMagic83]

I went to the game Saturday. I live in southern Virginia, so I can't make it back often. I think the attendance was about 25,000. The crowd was very loud, and I couldn't hear my mom who was sitting next to me for most of the game. The vast majority of fans were wearing some form of O's jersey. The O's performance over the last 14 years/Peter Angelos/O's treatment of past legends like Brooks, Frank, etc has run off all but the most hardcore fans. I think the casual fans come back if the O's start winning again. If the O's put a winning team on the field next year w/ at least 1 new star, I wouldn't be surprised to see attendance around 2.5 mill.

I originally said 2.8 mill, but I didn't realize the O's attendance was under 2 mill. I guess I don't pay much attention to attendance figures.

[SurhoffRules]

It's also the quietest crowd I have ever heard for a tied game in the late innings.

I was actually just thinking how loud it sounds for such a small crowd, but then, the game has gotten more interesting in the last two innings.

[brianod]

I'm going tomorrow, I hope I won't be the only one.

[NewMarketSean]

I will be there with 7 of my coworkers. We are taking a limo down from Frederick. Already have tickets bought for 2 games in September. I am doing my part...can't say the same for other Os fans.

[frankpembleton]

I usually defend O's fans, but 10k is pretty pathetic. I honestly don't know if we will sell out a playoff game this year.

I really think the 14 years of losing has killed the fan base. People just are not used to caring. I'm not sure why it is different in Pittsburgh this year, but they are pretty consistently selling out their stadium on the weekends and doing better during the week than the O's. It's strange because we have pretty much killed the Pirates in attendance every year since the late 70s. So it's not like Pittsburgh is more of a baseball town - not by any stretch.

I think people just really, really don't like Angelos and refuse to support him, honestly.

[LookitsPuck]

Had tickets to today's game, couldn't make it (patching an argument up with the wife). I have tickets for Thursday. Took off work today.

[brianod]

Had tickets to today's game, couldn't make it (patching an argument up with the wife). I have tickets for Thursday. Took off work today.

Family first, hope things are ok

[Great8]

I'll be there Wednesday and next Thursday. 10K is a terrible number, and you have to think that's probably the number of season ticket holders. That said, and it's been said ad nauseum - it's going to take a while for the casual fan to come back. It's been a decade and a half since this team was anywhere close to relevant. And you're simply not going to get a huge walk-up on a random Monday night against the White Sox, especially when this was the first day of school for much of this region. As has been also said, attendance is up over 20% - I'm not sure how much more we should expect.

[allquixotic]

Gonna try to get cheap seats for Friday. This is seriously WAY more games than I've ever gone to in a single season in my life. Have tickets for September 6 and 21. If they are competitive on September 15 I'm probably going to every other game for the remainder of the season, and at least one playoff game if I can get a ticket.

I'm a guy who usually can reasonably afford two games a year in cheap seats (and I definitely can't afford "prime" games). This year I've been to three games with tix for two more and plans for 3 or 4 more, including a prime game against the Yankees.

Can't attend them all, don't have money/time, tell my employer to pay me more than the janitor. :angryfire:

[Pedro Cerrano]

I've been to close to 15 games this year and I'll probably end up going tomorrow.

I'll say it again...the Texas Rangers, looking at trying to win their third straight AL pennant, have countless empty sections at their ballpark every night.