Disappointed in attendance?

[notfast]

From what I've seen locally and with my group of friends/family/coworkers, people are definitely more interested in the team, but still not not interested in going to games during the week. I tried to find someone to go Mon/Tues and couldn't. Sure my 'inner circle' is small, but I thought I would have been able to find someone. Would have went yesterday but the cold scared a few people off. Ended up going to local bar and watching game on Monday.

Once the weather warms up, people are in the "summer" mindset (that = baseball) then the crowds will come...

[Dipper9]

I was there Monday and Tuesday. Enjoyed the hell out of myself. No lines, able to stretch out in my seats, easy time out of the parking lots, etc.

That said, I think I prefer the pandemonium that was September 6 over the "conveniences" of smaller crowds.

[weams]

I'm pretty sure the entire Hangout doesn't have the combined resources to pay you enough to feign approval of any move the Orioles make.

I think if the O's were 8-12 instead of 12-8 you'd spontaneously combust.

There are some wealth folks here. Everyone has his price.

[Trackmaster]

As I was saying before in a post that kind of got buried, attendance in the middle of the week is pretty inelastic for a team that haven't been doing well recently (I'd categorize the Orioles as this still, because of the 14 losing seasons). You're not just fighting against cost, but you're also fighting against the nuisance of going into the city for a game, work/school that day, and having to go into work/school the morning. Most people would rather just go on a Friday-Sunday when they don't have to worry about all of that. So, conceivably, even if tickets were $1, it would still be harder to get fans to go vs. market value tickets in a city where the team has been doing well. Plus, add the fact that fans enjoy games more when they're packed and people are making noise.

It got me thinking about what to actually do to solve this problem, and I guess that there isn't much that you can do. However, the Orioles don't do a lot to help their cause. It seems like most of their promotions happen on Friday or the weekend. As well as their group events. It would seem to me that the Orioles should insist on those kinds of things happening during the week, unless it's time specific (aka 4th of July, consecutive game streak, etc.). The Orioles had their Safety Patrol night on a Saturday this year. They cleaned up when it came to attendance, but now they're selling 11,000 seats in the middle of the week. Wouldn't it have made more sense to have that on a Tuesday, drawn 30,000 for that game, and drawn 30,000 for the Saturday game?

I feel like people might not go out of their way to pick a week day game over a weekend one, but if they're forced to, they'll probably make the effort, and enjoy it. It would be great if you could just lower ticket prices and concessions, and for every dollar you lower it, you would get an extra 1,000 people, but that's not how behavioral psycology works in this situation. I'm sure that the team would take a slight hit on stadium revenue if they could gaurantee more people at the park, as it would dramatically increase watchability of the game on TV, where the real money comes from Monday-Thursday.

[Going Underground]

The Reds are doing this for the 12:35 game against the Cubs today.

Come down to Great American Ball Park for our Paycor Business Day Special games and take advantage of this great deal!

$15 GETS YOU A SEAT AND $10 IN CONCESSION CREDITS!

Skip out on work and come down to an afternoon Cincinnati Reds game this season! For all 12:35 p.m. weekday games the Cincinnati Reds are offering a View Level seat loaded with $10 in concession credits for just $15. Simply take the ticket to any concession stand to be scanned to redeem your $10. We look forward to seeing you down at the ballpark this year. GO REDS!

Fans 60 and older may purchase select non-premium tickets at half-price in advance of game day only. Excludes Outer View Level and Kroger Bleachers.Fans 60 and older may purchase select non-premium tickets at half-price in advance of game day only. Excludes Outer View Level and Kroger Bleachers.

http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/cin/ticketing/business_special.jsp

[Frobby]

As I was saying before in a post that kind of got buried, attendance in the middle of the week is pretty inelastic for a team that haven't been doing well recently (I'd categorize the Orioles as this still, because of the 14 losing seasons). You're not just fighting against cost, but you're also fighting against the nuisance of going into the city for a game, work/school that day, and having to go into work/school the morning. Most people would rather just go on a Friday-Sunday when they don't have to worry about all of that. So, conceivably, even if tickets were $1, it would still be harder to get fans to go vs. market value tickets in a city where the team has been doing well. Plus, add the fact that fans enjoy games more when they're packed and people are making noise.

It got me thinking about what to actually do to solve this problem, and I guess that there isn't much that you can do. However, the Orioles don't do a lot to help their cause. It seems like most of their promotions happen on Friday or the weekend. As well as their group events. It would seem to me that the Orioles should insist on those kinds of things happening during the week, unless it's time specific (aka 4th of July, consecutive game streak, etc.). The Orioles had their Safety Patrol night on a Saturday this year. They cleaned up when it came to attendance, but now they're selling 11,000 seats in the middle of the week. Wouldn't it have made more sense to have that on a Tuesday, drawn 30,000 for that game, and drawn 30,000 for the Saturday game?

I feel like people might not go out of their way to pick a week day game over a weekend one, but if they're forced to, they'll probably make the effort, and enjoy it. It would be great if you could just lower ticket prices and concessions, and for every dollar you lower it, you would get an extra 1,000 people, but that's not how behavioral psycology works in this situation. I'm sure that the team would take a slight hit on stadium revenue if they could gaurantee more people at the park, as it would dramatically increase watchability of the game on TV, where the real money comes from Monday-Thursday.

The trouble with lowering prices for games early in the year, is that the season ticket holders have already paid full price for their seats. It's easier politically with the season ticket holders if the team offers discounts in September.

[Slappy]

Lot of discussion on this. My opinion has always been that attendance is what it is and there is no reason to obsess over it.

[Going Underground]

White Sox have this promotion:

Deal Details:

Save big on upcoming games against the Twins, Indians, and Rays! This Save of the Week includes an Outfield Reserved game ticket and $10 in credit vouchers redeemable towards food, beverages, or retail merchandise, all for one low price. Use your credit vouchers to purchase new White Sox merchandise at the Chicago Sports Depot, your favorite food or beverage, or to try a variety of new and unique food items like the Comiskey Burger, Meatball Sandwich, and Bull's BBQ! A limited-number of tickets are available through this offer for each game, so purchase yours before it's too late!

http://mlb.mlb.com/cws/ticketing/sox_save.jsp

[Magic At The Yard]

Do you think more giveaways and promotions would help draw people to weekday games? I know I never look at the promotions before buying tickets!

Magic At The Yard

www.magicattheyard.wordpress.com

[Going Underground]

Mets have $10.00 student tickets for most games.

http://mlb.mlb.com/nym/ticketing/student_rush.jsp

[Going Underground]

Do you think more giveaways and promotions would help draw people to weekday games? I know I never look at the promotions before buying tickets!

Magic At The Yard

www.magicattheyard.wordpress.com

Yes. Other teams do promotions for a reason. A couple of thousand more in the stands is better then an unused seat.

[markakis8]

Read my previous posts about Tampa Bay and tell me the opponent doesn't matter. If it's not in the midst of a playoff run, a weekend series, or a holiday/special event, people aren't going to just turn out to watch the O's play anybody. Heck, Toronto has more names on their team this year, and right now they're looking at the same attendance figures they had at this same time last year in a series against Toronto at home:

April 24: 11,058

April 25: 10,415

April 26: 13,725

Whether or not the opponent should matter is debatable, but the fact is that it does. People aren't going to be drawn to the opponent if they aren't a national team, the weather is nicer, or the implications are raised.

I never said the opponent DOESNT matter. I said opposing teams SHOULD NOT matter. Of course we have higher turnouts to Boston and New York games right now. The Yankees and Red Sox fans are more passionate (as a whole) than we are. Up until this year, Fenway would sell out every game. Didn't matter who they were playing or what time the game started.

Do I expect that from Orioles fans? No. But at the same time, I hate seeing a whole mess of red and navy blue/pinstripes when Boston and New York come into town.

[Slappy]

I never said the opponent DOESNT matter. I said opposing teams SHOULD NOT matter. Of course we have higher turnouts to Boston and New York games right now. The Yankees and Red Sox fans are more passionate (as a whole) than we are. Up until this year, Fenway would sell out every game. Didn't matter who they were playing or what time the game started.

Do I expect that from Orioles fans? No. But at the same time, I hate seeing a whole mess of red and navy blue/pinstripes when Boston and New York come into town.

Other than the mid-90's when there wasn't football, Baltimore has never supported the O's that much. Look at attendance during the "glory years".

[DrungoHazewood]

Other than the mid-90's when there wasn't football, Baltimore has never supported the O's that much. Look at attendance during the "glory years".

The 1983 Orioles, in the midst of a World Champsionship and a 15-year dynasty, had four home games April 18-21st where they drew a grand total of 33,173 fans. Yes, it was a different era, but the 3rd place Yankees never had a crowd home or road under 10,000 that same year.

[Frobby]

Interestingly, attendance today was the highest of the three-game set, 14,981. A fair number of people like to play hooky, I guess.

So, that closes the books on April: 316,780, up from 278,313 last year in the same number of home dates. The six weekend games averaged 39,186 fans, the weekday crowds averaged 13,611 fans.

I think 2013 vs. 2012 is pretty much apples to apples. Both years had 6 weekday and 6 weekend games. 2012 had a more attractive weekday series (Yankees vs. Tampa), 2013 had a more attractive weekend series (Dodgers vs. A's).

So, right now the O's are on pace for an attendance increase of abougt 250,000 for the season. Looking down the road, May should be substantially up, but June may not be because the O's drew some huge weekend crowds for the Phillies and Nats that month.