Why are the Orioles games not sold out right now?

[Hank Scorpio]

Pittsburgh scoffs at 14 straight years; they've had 18 straight. They had their "2005" in 2011, an early winning season only to collapse in the second half. Pittsburgh has also made a habit of being irrelevant in August. Rumor has it they have a decent football team too (although not on the Ravens level ) that gets a lot of their attention at this time of year.

Their playoff match-up last night drew 48% more than Baltimore.

The 40 games under .500 HOUSTON ASTROS drew more than the Orioles on Tuesday night.

Grand Prix or not, it's pretty amazing.

[Dipper9]

Pittsburgh scoffs at 14 straight years; they've had 18 straight. They had their "2005" in 2011, an early winning season only to collapse in the second half. Pittsburgh has also made a habit of being irrelevant in August. Rumor has it they have a decent football team too (although not on the Ravens level ) that gets a lot of their attention at this time of year.

Their playoff match-up last night drew 48% more than Baltimore.

Hey man, I said "aside from Pittsbugh." Its pretty obvious those coal miners up north have nothing better to do with their time, and don't care about their kids' education!

The 40 games under .500 HOUSTON ASTROS drew more than the Orioles on Tuesday night.

Grand Prix or not, it's pretty amazing.

It is pretty amazing. I mean, I think the reasons I've outlined are legit, but its still pretty amazing we cant put 20K in that Park.

[TonySoprano]

The 40 games under .500 HOUSTON ASTROS drew more than the Orioles on Tuesday night.

Grand Prix or not, it's pretty amazing.

C'mon they beat us by 109 fans last night and 712 the night before Maybe there is a huge contingent of pink hat Giants fans in their greater Houston metro area.

50 games under .500. They've played .211 ball (18-67) for 3 months and .153 (8-44) since July. It's not like their owner had a firesale and gutted the team or anything...oh, wait.

Whoa big fella. Not turning it around on "you."

Why do you care so much?

You're lucky I consider you la famiglia mia here.

Hey man, I said "aside from Pittsbugh." Its pretty obvious those coal miners up north have nothing better to do with their time, and don't care about their kids' education!

bada bing.

[Tony-OH]

Pittsburgh scoffs at 14 straight years; they've had 18 straight. They had their "2005" in 2011, an early winning season only to collapse in the second half. Pittsburgh has also made a habit of being irrelevant in August. Rumor has it they have a decent football team too (although not on the Ravens level ) that gets a lot of their attention at this time of year.

Their playoff match-up last night drew 48% more than Baltimore.

What else is there to do in Pittsburgh?

Either way, not sure what your point is here other than to try and prove that Pittsburgh is a better baseball town. Maybe they are. Pittsburgh also doesn't have much competition for fans and don't think Washington having a team doesn't affect attendance here in Baltimore. Not only did some VA and DC fans convert, a lot of the fans of other teams that live in the DC area now will make the trip to Nationals ballpark instead of coming up to Baltimore to see a major league team. Now DC business men have a different place to take their perspective customers during the summer. That's less people buying the good seats as well. The baseball landscape has changed significantly over the last 14 years and it probably will never rebound to the way it was back when Camden Yards was a tough ticket. At the same time, TV revenues are way up so teams should not be crying too foul.

[Dannyboy]

If you look at the history of the club, from 1954-1991 the Orioles have not drawn that many fans. And from 66-83, when they were probably one of the best clubs in baseball, they only averaged around 1.2M fans per year. And many of those years they were at, or below league average in attendance. I think the early years of OPACY was far from the norm, and that 2-2.5 million fans is about what they can expect to see on a regular basis.....http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teams/baltatte.shtml

[Frobby]

Orioles slowly bleed away fans over 14 years, creating apathy an disinterest from many locals, and suddenly expect the grab a large chunk back in less than a season?On the radio, they act as if fans are trying to punish the team for losing, which is silly. The fans just don't care as much as they used to, and there aren't as many of them as there were. That's just reality. Why would anyone expect a huge surge in one season when the general area has been "meh" towards the Orioles for so long. Again, anyone posting on the OH is not indicative of the majority of fans of the team.

Because if you look at other teams that were similarly situated, the sudden improvement after years of being bad resulted in a bigger attendance increase than the Orioles.

The 2003 Royals (9 straight losing seasons) were up 445,000, about 34%

The 2008 Rays (10 straight losing seasons) were up 420,000, about 31%

The 2006 Tigers (12 straight losing seasons) were up 571,000, about 28%

The other thing that is surprising here is the recent dip in enthusiasm. Attendance was up quite a lot at the all-star break, but has lagged in the second half. You'd think that the longer the O's stayed in the race, the more fan enthusiasm you'd see.

I should add here that the Pirates' attendance is only up 10% so far this year, a smaller percentage increase than ours.

[Hank Scorpio]

What else is there to do in Pittsburgh?

Either way, not sure what your point is here other than to try and prove that Pittsburgh is a better baseball town. Maybe they are. Pittsburgh also doesn't have much competition for fans and don't think Washington having a team doesn't affect attendance here in Baltimore. Not only did some VA and DC fans convert, a lot of the fans of other teams that live in the DC area now will make the trip to Nationals ballpark instead of coming up to Baltimore to see a major league team. Now DC business men have a different place to take their perspective customers during the summer. That's less people buying the good seats as well. The baseball landscape has changed significantly over the last 14 years and it probably will never rebound to the way it was back when Camden Yards was a tough ticket. At the same time, TV revenues are way up so teams should not be crying too foul.

I think this gets lost on a lot of people, but it's definitely the truth.

Technology, school being back in session and the Grand Prix all hurt, but I'd say that 14 years of "Who cares" definitely is the biggest factor. There's been a longstanding feeling of hopelessness in the AL East due to the powers that be. Hopefully this season can be the pimp slap that the fanbase needs to wake up and realize that just b/c their payrolls are 3 times ours, they're not infallible.

[OFFNY]

If you look at the history of the club, from 1954-1991 the Orioles have not drawn that many fans. And from 66-83, when they were probably one of the best clubs in baseball, they only averaged around 1.2M fans per year. And many of those years they were at, or below league average in attendance. I think the early years of OPACY was far from the norm, and that 2-2.5 million fans is about what they can expect to see on a regular basis.

I agree with you completely about the Orioles not being a club that drew big in their glory days, but when using the actual figure in regard to the attendance, I think that it is important to stipulate that attendance standards in those days were considerably different then they are now. Throughout much of the highlighted period from 1966-1983, 1 Million fans per year was considered to be the mark of respectability in terms of drawing. Today, that respectability marker is more like 2 Million per year.

So yes, 1.2 Million fans average between 1966 and 1983 was pretty low for such a dominant team, but it can't be taken strictly at face value. All things considered, that average in that era (1966-1983) was probably the equivalent of drawing between 2 Million and 2.6 Million today. Again, that's still relatively low for such a dominant team ....... but not quite as shocking as the actual figure (1.2 Million) would make it seem.

By the way, I'm aware that the years from 1966-1983 wasn't one steady attendance era. MLB attendance by the early 80's was considerably higher than it was in the mid 60's. The average attendance went from about 15,000 in the mid 60's to about 22,000 in the mid 80's, which is why I said that 1.2 Million "in those days" was the equivalent of between 2 and 2.6 Million today (a wide estimate, rather than just giving one flat figure to be used as a comparison between then and now.)

[McNulty]

The reason its so disappointing is because Baltimore is supposed to be a GREAT baseball town. For years we were able to dismiss the low attendance as a result of Big Pete and a crappy team. We don't have a crappy team anymore, and the attendance is still very low (this week anyway).

I know this doesn't change anything, but the perception around the country will be very similar to how Tampa is viewed.

[OFFNY]

The reason its so disappointing is because Baltimore is supposed to be a GREAT baseball town. For years we were able to dismiss the low attendance as a result of Big Pete and a crappy team. We don't have a crappy team anymore, and the attendance is still very low (this week anyway).

I know this doesn't change anything, but the perception around the country will be very similar to how Tampa is viewed.

But the Rays are completing their 5th consecutive winning season. This is only the Orioles' 1st winning season in a long time.

I think that we would have to wait at least until the Orioles string together a few winning seasons in a row to see if we are viewed in a similar light as are the Rays viewed, currently.

If we have a winning season next year and draw less than 2.5 million, and then start 2014 well and are still on pace to draw less than 2.5 Million again by July of that season, that is when I think that a legitimate comparison can be made between the Orioles and the Rays, and their/our inability to draw in spite of consistently putting a winner on the field every year.

[McNulty]

But the Rays are completing their 5th consecutive winning season. This is only the Orioles' 1st winning season in a long time.

I think that we would have to wait at least until the Orioles string together a few winning seasons in a row to see if we are viewed in a similar light as are the Rays viewed, currently.

If we have a winning season next year and draw less than 2.5 million, and then start 2014 well and are still on pace to draw less than 2.5 Million again by July of that season, that is when I think that a legitimate comparison can be made between the Orioles and the Rays, and their/our inability to draw in spite of consistently putting a winner on the field every year.

Tampa has a legit excuse. That ballpark is like watching baseball inside of White Marsh mall. Its so unbelievably bad. We, on the otherhand, have a phenomenal ballpark.

I'm just really disappointed with the whole thing. There should be no reason why fans aren't coming out, buying the 10 dollar tickets (if money is the issue) and watching the O's more. I'm not buying any of the excuses put forth in this thread. I'll accept that I'm probably wrong in thinking this way, but I'm still disappointed all the same.

[Dipper9]

Tampa has a legit excuse. That ballpark is like watching baseball inside of White Marsh mall. Its so unbelievably bad. We, on the otherhand, have a phenomenal ballpark.

I'm just really disappointed with the whole thing. There should be no reason why fans aren't coming out, buying the 10 dollar tickets (if money is the issue) and watching the O's more. I'm not buying any of the excuses put forth in this thread. I'll accept that I'm probably wrong in thinking this way, but I'm still disappointed all the same.

Okay sir. $10 upper deck seats, for a family of 4. $40. Parking @ $10 or light rail for 4 at around $10. Assuming we buy NOTHING at the game, which is not reasonable, and bare minimum its $50. That's not bad once in a while. But $50 per game on a regular basis for Upper Deck seats is not gonna win over sitting on their asses at home watching in crystal clear HD with free beer and snacks.

And, I guess what you and others are trying to say is that Baltimore has bad baseball fans? Fine. Maybe its true. Maybe 14 years of losing has pissed off the fanbase? Is that a surprise? Or maybe Tony's point about losing the DC crowd is legit. I don't get why "you're not buying any of the excuses in the thread" is feasible? There are many legit reasons for less attendance here. You just need to open your eyes.

[Great8]

I can't believe people thought one summer of good baseball would completely re-interest people in the Orioles after all the crap that's happened for the past 15 years.

This is all that needs to be said. The passion for baseball around here has pretty much been crushed around here. It's going to take a long time to get it to come back to life.

[tilgaham]

The 40 games under .500 HOUSTON ASTROS drew more than the Orioles on Tuesday night.

Grand Prix or not, it's pretty amazing.

One thing to note is that Houston has about 4x the people in the metro area that Baltimore does. It's an absolutely massive city (typing from West U right now). Additionally, the Astros give out tons of free tickets once school lets out. I can go to Astros games for $1 about once a week as a Rice student. It's also air conditioned in downtown Houston, which is a huge plus for walk up types.

[McNulty]

Okay sir. $10 upper deck seats, for a family of 4. $40. Parking @ $10 or light rail for 4 at around $10. Assuming we buy NOTHING at the game, which is not reasonable, and bare minimum its $50. That's not bad once in a while. But $50 per game on a regular basis for Upper Deck seats is not gonna win over sitting on their asses at home watching in crystal clear HD with free beer and snacks.

And, I guess what you and others are trying to say is that Baltimore has bad baseball fans? Fine. Maybe its true. Maybe 14 years of losing has pissed off the fanbase? Is that a surprise? Or maybe Tony's point about losing the DC crowd is legit. I don't get why "you're not buying any of the excuses in the thread" is feasible? There are many legit reasons for less attendance here. You just need to open your eyes.

I spend more than 50 for myself every game. Between gas, tolls, parking, ticket and beer (mostly beer) I usually drop well over 100.

I'm OK with people going once in a while. I get that its an ordeal, and expensive. I just think people are rationalizing why they aren't going a LOT in this thread.

Maybe its because I've lived outside of Baltimore for a while. Not being able to go whenever I feel like it has made me appreciate it more, perhaps.

When I lived in Florida, I never went to the beach. It was a 10 minute drive, and free. But I never went, because I knew I could go whenever.

You said earlier in this thread that your kids aren't as excited about the O's as you are. Do you have to take them with you? Why can't you have a night with your lady friend at the park? Or your friends?

Here's the bottom line for me - The Orioles have sucked since I was in high school, and my 32nd birthday is this weekend. They might well suck again for another 15 years after this season. But right now, we are in a pennant race. You'd think that losing for SO long would make people so thirsty for this. But it hasn't, and I'm disappointed.