Disappointed in attendance?

[TonySoprano]

The O's drew more on Saturday than the entire 3 games vs. Toronto. Ditto, Sunday's TB game.

[atomic]

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".

They supported the team last year. 26,000 fans per game is pretty good. If they average 28,000 this year that would be tremendous. Look at the Yankees attendance history and get back to me.

[OFFNY]

.

The Nationals drew 33,694 today, and 90,943 for their 3-game series. :scratchchinhmm:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=330424120

They also got swept by the Cardinals, and have lost 9 out of their last 12 games.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/team/schedule/_/name/wsh/washington-nationals

[Frobby]

.

The Nationals drew 33,694 today, and 90,943 for their 3-game series. :scratchchinhmm:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=330424120

They also got swept by the Cardinals, and have lost 9 out of their last 12 games.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/team/schedule/_/name/wsh/washington-nationals

The Nats clearly are going to have a much bigger attendance increase than the Orioles this year. I suppose it's not too surprising, since most pundits awarded them the NL East title, if not the NL title, before any games were even played. I have a mild rooting interest in the Nats, but a part of me is enjoying this little tailspin they're in because their fans and the DC media, who were extremely smug going into the season, are realizing now that division titles are won on the field and actually have to be earned.

[TonySoprano]

The Nats clearly are going to have a much bigger attendance increase than the Orioles this year. I suppose it's not too surprising, since most pundits awarded them the NL East title, if not the NL title, before any games were even played. I have a mild rooting interest in the Nats, but a part of me is enjoying this little tailspin they're in because their fans and the DC media, who were extremely smug going into the season, are realizing now that division titles are won on the field and actually have to be earned.

While I agree that expectations were higher for the Nats, I don't see how that correlates into a "much bigger" increase than Baltimore. Along those lines, what excuses are there for Baltimore not having a similarly big increase in attendance? Lackluster offseason? Fan base wondering if the last year was a fluke? The economy?

[luismatos4prez]

I'm not disappointed. They're at about league average, which isn't surprising given market size, economy, etc.

[Frobby]

While I agree that expectations were higher for the Nats, I don't see how that correlates into a "much bigger" increase than Baltimore. Along those lines, what excuses are there for Baltimore not having a similarly big increase in attendance? Lackluster offseason? Fan base wondering if the last year was a fluke? The economy?

All you have to do is skim this thread and you'll see all those reasons and more being espoused. Coming into the season, the Nats were the bettors' favorites to win the World Series, at 7-1, whereas the O's were at 30-1. As I said, the DC media have been pumping up the Nats like they were the '27 Yankees all winter, whereas the Baltimore media has been pretty "wait and see" about the Orioles. The Nats' two bonus babies, Strasburg and Harper, are probably a lot more marketable than anyone on the Orioles due to being hugely publicized no. 1 picks who have largely lived up to their billing in the early part of their careers.

All that said, I would consider a 250,000 fan increase by the Orioles something of a disappointment, if they remain in the race for most of the year.

[TonySoprano]

All you have to do is skim this thread and you'll see all those reasons and more being espoused. Coming into the season, the Nats were the bettors' favorites to win the World Series, at 7-1, whereas the O's were at 30-1. As I said, the DC media have been pumping up the Nats like they were the '27 Yankees all winter, whereas the Baltimore media has been pretty "wait and see" about the Orioles. The Nats' two bonus babies, Strasburg and Harper, are probably a lot more marketable than anyone on the Orioles due to being hugely publicized no. 1 picks who have largely lived up to their billing in the early part of their careers.

All that said, I would consider a 250,000 fan increase by the Orioles something of a disappointment, if they remain in the race for most of the year.

I already agreed with the first part of your premise about their expectations and have previously noted I expect a 500,000 increase in Baltimore. What you haven't addressed is why Baltimore can't match D.C's enthusiasm.

[Frobby]

I already agreed with the first part of your premise about their expectations and have previously noted I expect a 500,000 increase in Baltimore. What you haven't addressed is why Baltimore can't match D.C's enthusiasm.

I don't have much of an answer beyond what I already said. The higher the expectations, the higher the enthusiasm, no? Others have stated that DC area residents have more discretionary income than Baltimore area residents do, and that DC has more prople buying tickets for business entertainment purposes. There's probably truth in all that. I'm still surprised the O's haven't done a little better in the early going, attendance-wise.

[The Rick]

Ehh, screw DC... their stadium still blows, and they'll just choke. I could care less how they're doing. This is the 1st time they're enjoying some success... and oh, BTW... they haven't just blown their wad on their football team. There's more money in those pockets.

I'm still recovering from all the SB memorabilia/apparel I purchased. Not that I'm complaining.

[gallden]

The weather hasn't been the best either.

[The Rick]

The weather hasn't been the best either.

No diggity... no doubt. And DC's has been great.

[Frobby]

The weather hasn't been the best either.

The last three days, the Nats and O's both played home games. The Nats had double the attendance the Orioles did. Same days, pretty much the same weather, obviously. We hear the weather justifcation every April, but the weather hasn't been any worse this April than last.

[The Rick]

The last three days, the Nats and O's both played home games. The Nats had double the attendance the Orioles did. Same days, pretty much the same weather, obviously. We hear the weather justifcation every April, but the weather hasn't been any worse this April than last.

Agreed. I'd take a tad chilly over rain concerns any day... and we've only had the rain issue last Friday (I'm pretty sure anyway).

[Jon]

I was strongly considering purchasing a partial season ticket plan depending on how the off season went. 2012 was amazing and the worm was definitely starting to turn for us long suffering fans. I've been going to a decent amount of games for many years now, but I was ready to step up my relationship with the O's if I felt they were going to reciprocate.

But once I witnessed (In my opinion) not only no new investment, but actual cost cutting in Reynolds and Saunders, there was no way I was going to make a larger investment on a team that wasn't willing to do the same.

That being said, I've already been to a game, and I'm sure I'll attend at least another handful or two this year. But I'm not going to increase my spending until the O's do the same.

I couldn't begin to tell you how attendance will shake out when it's all said and done this season. But if the numbers are not where the O's would like them to be, they really only have themselves to blame.