Why are the Orioles games not sold out right now?

[Trace21230]

There is no legitimate excuse for tonight's pathetic attendance total. Baltimore has disappointed me from everything ranging from politics to baseball to the crime rate.

I hope it improves because these Orioles deserve fan support. Unfortunately, it just isn't going to happen in this town.

[zero1]

Attendance was 29k. Heard it announced during the game. Not really that much. It did look packed though, mostly because the lower bowl was pretty much completely filled, but the upper bowl was mostly empty.

Where are you getting 29k from? There wasn't anywhere close to 29k. They said on MASN in the final inning "all 10,000 of them are their feet" when they brought up the fans cheering in the 9th with 2 outs.

ESPN recap has the attendance at 10,995.

[Great8]

My cousins have lived in West Springfield, VA since the early 60's when the Senators were still in town, and are still there.

So they must know that the fandom is split at best there, then, and that it's much easier to get to Southeast DC from Springfield on a weeknight than it is to Baltimore, which clearly affects attendance here. The O's lost their grip on NoVa especially about 5 years ago. Just because some people are anecdotally still O's fans there doesn't mean that what I said isn't true. The Nats are probably bigger in NoVa than they are in DC.

[TonySoprano]

Not quite. Northern VA and (and even Washington to an extent) is as much Oriole land as it is National land now, and as it was once Senator land in the past. This will be the first winning season that the Nationals will have since they moved from Montreal. Oriole attendance is already up, and MASN viewership is way up.

My cousins have lived in West Springfield, VA since the early 60's when the Senators were still in town, and are still there.

That's what you're basing it on, from up there in NY? I grew up in the D.C. area and would venture a guess that I know a lot more people in the area than you. I get it. You're excited about this season. Just don't play doctor and diagnose an Orioles "fever" in the D.C. area and we can agree on other things. D.C. is very well aware of how hard Angelos tried to keep baseball out of the city.

[Great8]

Maybe you're right.

Now was that so hard? If only my husband conceded so easily!

[Mondo Trasho]

What if after 14 years of losing, some people just aren't baseball fans anymore?

[Great8]

What if after 14 years of losing, some people just aren't baseball fans anymore?

Definitely possible. Sad.

[OFFNY]

That's what you're basing it on, from up there in NY? I grew up in the D.C. area and would venture a guess that I know a lot more people in the area than you. I get it. You're excited about this season. Just don't play doctor and diagnose an Orioles "fever" in the D.C. area and we can agree on other things. D.C. is very well aware of how hard Angelos tried to keep baseball out of the city.

Sorry, but I'm not "playing doctor" when predicting that the Orioles will have continued dramatic interest in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington. Others that do live down there have said as much, for the reasons that they have explained many times (that the 14 years of losing is hard to overcome all in one season, they continued to have good attendance for many losing years and didn't really hit a tailspin until around 2007, etc.) Angelos has pissed off a lot of people, not just baseball fans in Washington, but Oriole fans from everywhere. And even though I'm from New York State, my cousins know as many people down there as you do since they live down there, so there opinion is no less valid than yours.

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[OFFNY]

This thread doesn't deserve the 1 star rating it has right now. This is a legitimate question. The crowds right now are pathetic.

What is going on Baltimore?

It has 2 stars now.

[Mondo Trasho]

Sorry, but I'm not "playing doctor" when professing that the Orioles will have continued dramatic interest in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington. Others that do live down there have said as much, for the reasons that they have explained many times (that the 14 years of losing is hard to overcome all in one season, they continued to have good attendance for many losing years and didn't really hit a tailspin until around 2007, etc.) Angelos has pissed off a lot of people, not just baseball fans in Washington, but Oriole fans from everywhere. And even though I'm from New York State, my cousins know as many people down there as you do since they live down there, so there opinion is no less valid than yours.

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Perhaps. But like I said I don't know any Orioles fans myself other than a couple of people. And keep this in mind: the Washington Post no longer sends a writer to cover O's games like they did in years past, it's always either an AP wire story or from the Sun that appears in the paper. The sports radio networks down here no longer discuss the O's at all except sometimes in passing. Sometimes when I'm lucky and driving around Leesburg, I can pick up Baltimore sports radio in my car but otherwise nada.

Kornheiser is probably the last figure in DC sports media who is at least a little sympathetic to the Orioles, and he's off the air until September. People here are fed a constant barrage of Nats propaganda that has probably worked on most people under 20 who have no memory of a time when the O's were the only game in town and Canada had two teams.

[OFFNY]

Perhaps. But like I said I don't know any Orioles fans myself other than a couple of people. And keep this in mind: the Washington Post no longer sends a writer to cover O's games like they did in years past, it's always either an AP wire story or from the Sun that appears in the paper. The sports radio networks down here no longer discuss the O's at all except sometimes in passing. Sometimes when I'm lucky and driving around Leesburg, I can pick up Baltimore sports radio in my car but otherwise nada.

Kornheiser is probably the last figure in DC sports media who is at least a little sympathetic to the Orioles, and he's off the air until September. People here are fed a constant barrage of Nats propaganda that has probably worked on most people under 20 who have no memory of a time when the O's were the only game in town and Canada had two teams.

OK, thanks for that info. I guess we'll see what happens.

[The B&G]

Attendance tonight was 10,995. I was there... die-hards and White Sox fans. An incredible game. Very fun.

Agreed, I was there as well. It was just as empty as when we were losing the last 14 years, but I will say the fans that were there were loud and proud. I certainly had an enjoyable time. Also caught a foul ball.

I hope it improves because these Orioles deserve fan support.

I said the same thing to my girlfriend during the game. I feel bad for these guys, they deserve to have a packed house rooting them on, especially against a first place team.

[TonySoprano]

Sorry, but I'm not "playing doctor" when predicting that the Orioles will have continued dramatic interest in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington. Others that do live down there have said as much, for the reasons that they have explained many times (that the 14 years of losing is hard to overcome all in one season, they continued to have good attendance for many losing years and didn't really hit a tailspin until around 2007, etc.) Angelos has pissed off a lot of people, not just baseball fans in Washington, but Oriole fans from everywhere. And even though I'm from New York State, my cousins know as many people down there as you do since they live down there, so there opinion is no less valid than yours.

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"Continued dramatic interest?" I'm trying to figure which of those three words in that short phrase that I disagree with the most, all of them really, but I'll go with "dramatic." This is a thread about the lack of sellout games. Plenty of people, including you, have noted that the 14 losing seasons have had an impact on that. That's the part that's most dramatic, the impact of the losing on the fanbase.

"didn't really hit a tailspin until around 2007" Really? I hope those same cousins didn't tell you that.

1997	3,711,132	0.00%1998	3,684,650	-0.71%1999	3,433,150	-7.49%2000	3,297,031	-11.16%2001	3,094,841	-16.61%2002	2,682,439	-27.72%2003	2,454,523	-33.86%2004	2,744,018	-26.06%2005	2,624,740	-29.27%2006	2,153,139	-41.98%2007	2,164,822	-41.67%2008	1,950,075	-47.45%2009	1,907,163	-48.61%2010	1,733,018	-53.30%2011	1,746,111	-52.95%

[24fps]

Not quite. Northern VA and (and even Washington to an extent) is as much Oriole land as it is National land now, and as it was once Senator land in the past. This will be the first winning season that the Nationals will have since they moved from Montreal. Oriole attendance is already up, and MASN viewership is way up.

I remember the Senators all too well. My High School had better attendance that several Senators games I attended at DC Stadium in the '60's. There was only one post-war season (1969) that there was a Senators team remotely as good as this year's Nationals team. Post-war as in post WWII. I don't think there's any historical basis to project the impact on attendance when both Baltimore and Washington DC are fielding competitive baseball teams in a sustained way, although I look forward to the day that question is answered.

[OFFNY]

"Continued dramatic interest?" I'm trying to figure which of those three words in that short phrase that I disagree with the most, all of them really, but I'll go with "dramatic." This is a thread about the lack of sellout games. Plenty of people, including you, have noted that the 14 losing seasons have had an impact on that. That's the part that's most dramatic, the impact of the losing on the fanbase.

"didn't really hit a tailspin until around 2007" Really? I hope those same cousins didn't tell you that.

1997	3,711,132	0.00%1998	3,684,650	-0.71%1999	3,433,150	-7.49%2000	3,297,031	-11.16%2001	3,094,841	-16.61%2002	2,682,439	-27.72%2003	2,454,523	-33.86%2004	2,744,018	-26.06%2005	2,624,740	-29.27%2006	2,153,139	-41.98%2007	2,164,822	-41.67%2008	1,950,075	-47.45%2009	1,907,163	-48.61%2010	1,733,018	-53.30%2011	1,746,111	-52.95%

I used the wrong word when referring to the "tailspin". My bad on that. Yes, it's actually been in a gradual tailpspin for a decade now. I was referring to the time that it dipped below 2 million, which is generally considered respectable these days (it used to be a million), but "tailspin" was a poor choice of words, because that started long before.

Also, it took a decade of losing for attendance to dwindle below that 2 million mark, so the conclusion that I draw from that is that the Oriole fans hung on for a long time and were loyal in spite of the losing, not just that the Orioles were losing and we sucked, and the attendance in recent years has sucked. The fact that we already have a modest increase in attendance this year (what is likely our first winning season in 15 years) underscores to that. It took a lot of losing to drive them away, and they are beginning to come back after only a little bit of winning. And my when referring to my cousins, I was talking about their presence there and there perception of Oriole fandom in general, not just the attendance. Thanks for the cheap shot, though.

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