Why are the Orioles games not sold out right now?

[notfast]

Wait to see the attendance for the 4 games thurs-Sun vs NYY. We'll have 35k+ each game.

[weams]

I don't know if you have kids, but you can't take them to a game and be cheap. Frankly, id rather not go then have to tell them no to getting souvenirs and what not and the snacks all kids want. Its like taking them to a carnival to just look at the rides. Its easy to look at it in black and white( do things cheap if all you have to look out for is one person. But try and take a family of four anywhere that will be cheap and fun for the whole family.

This is a good post. But. The Orioles do have the Dugout Club which can be used to accomplish all the fun things for kids on a very limited budget. We did a game for six with an expendature of less than 60 dollars and everyone had a blast.

[notfast]

This is a good post. But. The Orioles do have the Dugout Club which can be used to accomplish all the fun things for kids on a very limited budget. We did a game for six with an expendature of less than 60 dollars and everyone had a blast.

My theory on this type of stuff is this: Average fan that goes to a couple games a year is not aware of all the "deals." yes you can take the lightrail, bring in your own food, buy a ollie's bargin outlet ticket etc. but the average person is going to do that. At this point, theres a lot more "average" fans than die hards like the members on this site who WANT to be at the stadium. If you have to bring your own food, sit in upper deck sec 388 seats and ride a train to the stadium due to $ constraints...its not out line to say most people would rather sit home and watch.

[eddie83]

This is a good post. But. The Orioles do have the Dugout Club which can be used to accomplish all the fun things for kids on a very limited budget. We did a game for six with an expendature of less than 60 dollars and everyone had a blast.

Took my daughter last night to the last Dugout Club. In all 8 people went. Upstairs you can get $1 hot dogs and drinks. We did get the $15 LF lower box instead of the $6 tix though but it is a great deal.

Overall I think if people make an effort to save money they can. I take a cooler inside the stadium with drinks and usually take snacks if I take my daughter. I took juice drinks for my kid last night. The Orioles are great about letting people bring food in. When I have time I try to eat before I go inside and there are vendors who sell cheaper food outside.

The whole Prime Game issue is my biggest problem with the team. I know why the Orioles do this but until they get their season ticket base higher all it accomplishes is fewer Orioles fans at those games. My Dad and I are going Sept 6th for Cal's statue night but the cost is high. This might be the first prime game outside of Opening Day I have been to in years. I honestly can't remember going to a Prime Game unless I got a free ticket. Of course in recent years I also didn't go because I couldn't stand being around alot of Yanks/Sox fans while we stunk, terrible atmosphere but this year is different.

I did think our attendance would be a little higher though. I thought we would see 30,000 more nights instead of 25,000. There were a ton of people over the years who tuned this team out. Those people are back watching on TV but haven't made the financial commitment to go back to the stadium. They probably had other plans this summer.

[Dark Helmet]

My theory on this type of stuff is this: Average fan that goes to a couple games a year is not aware of all the "deals." yes you can take the lightrail, bring in your own food, buy a ollie's bargin outlet ticket etc. but the average person is going to do that. At this point, theres a lot more "average" fans than die hards like the members on this site who WANT to be at the stadium. If you have to bring your own food, sit in upper deck sec 388 seats and ride a train to the stadium due to $ constraints...its not out line to say most people would rather sit home and watch.

So your saying because I choose to not have Orioles games be part of my budget, that Im not a real fan? Hell, you have no excuse not to go to 81 games a year then. For that matter, you could hitchike cross country, feed off roadkill, and follow the team through all 162 games. Not everyone has a 9-5 job either. Some of us would have to miss some work to go. I guess lost wages doesn't factor into the "deals" the average fans like me don't know about. Frankly, there's only about 20,000 die hard fans of the Baltimore Orioles. And imo, going by what you said, your a hypocrite , unless you attend all 81 home games. Do you attend all 81 home games?

[notfast]

So your saying because I choose to not have Orioles games be part of my budget, that Im not a real fan? Hell, you have no excuse not to go to 81 games a year then. For that matter, you could hitchike cross country, feed off roadkill, and follow the team through all 162 games. Not everyone has a 9-5 job either. Some of us would have to miss some work to go. I guess lost wages doesn't factor into the "deals" the average fans like me don't know about. Frankly, there's only about 20,000 die hard fans of the Baltimore Orioles. And imo, going by what you said, your a hypocrite , unless you attend all 81 home games. Do you attend all 81 home games?

Um what? How did you get this from what I wrote? I don't even know how to respond because your post has absolutely nothing to do with mine. I didn't think it was that difficult to understand.

[Dark Helmet]

Um what? How did you get this from what I wrote? I don't even know how to respond because your post has absolutely nothing to do with mine. I didn't think it was that difficult to understand.

Apparently you have a short memory. Go back and read what you wrote. You basically said, your only an average fan if you don't go to games. Seems you don't even understand your own post, guess i shouldn't expect you to understand mine.

[notfast]

Apparently you have a short memory. Go back and read what you wrote. You basically said, your only an average fan if you don't go to games. Seems you don't even understand your own post, guess i shouldn't expect you to understand mine.

Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed? Not even close to what I said. Stop trying to act like I'm talking down to anyone. You're obviously reading what I wrote as an attack which it is not at all.

the average person that goes to a few games a year, is not aware of deals/bargin nights/dugout club type specials. Simply put. You're more likely to be aware of ticket specials and ways to go to a game "on the cheap" if you frequent a site like this, get emails from the team, go to a bunch of games a season etc etc.

My post has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with real fans, die hard fans or judging people based on how many games they go to. Read again. It was made in defense of those who can't make it out too often.

My theory on this type of stuff is this: Average fan that goes to a couple games a year is not aware of all the "deals." yes you can take the lightrail, bring in your own food, buy a ollie's bargin outlet ticket etc. but the average person is going to do that. At this point, theres a lot more "average" fans than die hards like the members on this site who WANT to be at the stadium. If you have to bring your own food, sit in upper deck sec 388 seats and ride a train to the stadium due to $ constraints...its not out line to say most people would rather sit home and watch.

[Babypowder]

I don't know if you have kids, but you can't take them to a game and be cheap. Frankly, id rather not go then have to tell them no to getting souvenirs and what not and the snacks all kids want. Its like taking them to a carnival to just look at the rides. Its easy to look at it in black and white( do things cheap if all you have to look out for is one person. But try and take a family of four anywhere that will be cheap and fun for the whole family.

I don't have kids thankfully, and it looked like the poster I was replying to was only talking about going to the games himself.

[Dark Helmet]

Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed? Not even close to what I said. Stop trying to act like I'm talking down to anyone. You're obviously reading what I wrote as an attack which it is not at all.

the average person that goes to a few games a year, is not aware of deals/bargin nights/dugout club type specials. Simply put. You're more likely to be aware of ticket specials and ways to go to a game "on the cheap" if you frequent a site like this, get emails from the team, go to a bunch of games a season etc etc.

My post has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with real fans, die hard fans or judging people based on how many games they go to. Read again. It was made in defense of those who can't make it out too often.

Yeah I did take it as an attack. Felt like you were saying a real fan will find a way to go no matter what they have to do.

That's fine and dandy. But all your focusing on is the deals you can do to save monetary AT the game. Yeah, Ollies bargain night is good, and you can do the train, if you feel comfortable having your wife and young kids on a train from Baltimore city to Aberdeen. 9 dollar tickets is great and all. My point is, the bills at home come first. There's times we've had to rob peter to pay Paul, coming out with barely two pennies to rub together. I can't justify blowing even 60 bucks. Alot of people are in that situation. So when people start telling others they have no excuses not to go, yeah it touches a nerve. If your post wasn't meant to do that, I apologize. But there's been alot of holier than thou posts, calling out people for not attending games.

[notfast]

Yeah I did take it as an attack. Felt like you were saying a real fan will find a way to go no matter what they have to do.

That's fine and dandy. But all your focusing on is the deals you can do to save monetary AT the game. Yeah, Ollies bargain night is good, and you can do the train, if you feel comfortable having your wife and young kids on a train from Baltimore city to Aberdeen. 9 dollar tickets is great and all. My point is, the bills at home come first. There's times we've had to rob peter to pay Paul, coming out with barely two pennies to rub together. I can't justify blowing even 60 bucks. Alot of people are in that situation. So when people start telling others they have no excuses not to go, yeah it touches a nerve. If your post wasn't meant to do that, I apologize. But there's been alot of holier than thou posts, calling out people for not attending games.

Im just going to stop responding after this. I'm thinking you're grouping all the comments together or something. No where in my post did it say anything even remotely close to calling people out for not going to games. It did the complete opposite.

[Can_of_corn]

I don't know if you have kids, but you can't take them to a game and be cheap. Frankly, id rather not go then have to tell them no to getting souvenirs and what not and the snacks all kids want. Its like taking them to a carnival to just look at the rides. Its easy to look at it in black and white( do things cheap if all you have to look out for is one person. But try and take a family of four anywhere that will be cheap and fun for the whole family.

I need to introduce you to my father. He would buy the tickets, pay for parking, buy us dinner before the game but... the second he walked into the ballpark that wallet was not leaving his pocket. He wouldn't buy as much as a soda for himself and anything we kids wanted came out of our own funds.

Same with stuff like popcorn and soda at the movies, he just refused to pay the artificially high prices.

[Dark Helmet]

At this point, theres a lot more "average" fans than die hards like the members on this site who WANT to be at the stadium.

I'll take your word you wasn't putting any fans down. But, what I quoted made me feel otherwise. Like I said, if you say it wasn't, thats fine then. But, theres a difference between WANTING to go, and just not having the recources to justify it. I fall into that category right now, but it seems i'm being lumped into the "average" fan group.

[Frobby]

The short answer to those people who are citing the various obstacles and costs of going to the game is, those same obstacles and costs (maybe slightly less costs) existed back when the O's were drawing 3 million plus fans per game. They existed in the mid-2000's when the team was still drawing 2.5 million fans for losing teams. So if the question is why the team is drawing less now than they did in, say, 2005, the obstacles to getting to a game, and the costs, are not much of the reason. Rather, it's the cumulative affect of another 6 losing seasons, knocking the fan base down year by year.

We didn't lose 2 million fans all in one year, we did it gradually over 14 years, mostly at a hundred thousand or two hundred thousand at a a time. The biggest drop was after Raffygate, when attendance dropped 470,000 from 2005 to 2006 because the fans were so disillusioned with the steroids scandal itself, and the way the rug got pulled out from under them after the team was a contender through the all-star break and then utterly collapsed in the wake of the scandal. You can't expect all the fans to come back based on a good 4-5 months. But they will end up gaining 300,000-400,00 fans this year (the best attendance since at least 2007), and you can bet the season ticket base will be up next year too.

[Dark Helmet]

The short answer to those people who are citing the various obstacles and costs of going to the game is, those same obstacles and costs (maybe slightly less costs) existed back when the O's were drawing 3 million plus fans per game. They existed in the mid-2000's when the team was still drawing 2.5 million fans for losing teams. So if the question is why the team is drawing less now than they did in, say, 2005, the obstacles to getting to a game, and the costs, are not much of the reason. Rather, it's the cumulative affect of another 6 losing seasons, knocking the fan base down year by year.

We didn't lose 2 million fans all in one year, we did it gradually over 14 years, mostly at a hundred thousand or two hundred thousand at a a time. The biggest drop was after Raffygate, when attendance dropped 470,000 from 2005 to 2006 because the fans were so disillusioned with the steroids scandal itself, and the way the rug got pulled out from under them after the team was a contender through the all-star break and then utterly collapsed in the wake of the scandal. You can't expect all the fans to come back based on a good 4-5 months. But they will end up gaining 300,000-400,00 fans this year (the best attendance since at least 2007), and you can bet the season ticket base will be up next year too.

I was a kid then, so I can't speak for then. But I know my reasons for not going now isn't due to the losing. I went to games during the last 14 years, but none this year. Id love to go to the games. Gas is 2 dollars a gal higher now, I don't remember my parents utility bills being as high back then. Its more than just slightly higher. The only thing that is only slightly higher is the pay. And that hasn't been enough to make up for the huge cost of living increases. Im speaking of my situation only.