Will the fans show?

[Spakman]

They sell out a game because their stadium is the smallest in the universe and the team has been consistently winning for the last decade and a half. Not too mention they have multiple regional and national media outlets that basically act like little more than publicity agencies for the team. They are constantly featured on national spotlight games and marketed as such.

The bottom line is the consistent winning that has kept people coming. I remember Fenway not being very full every night during the darker days of the Sox. Moreover, I have heard some very VERY audible Orioles fans in the Fens the last couple of years.

I totally get the small stadium thing and the Orioles can not compete with the size of there fan base but not many contending baseball teams have this bad of attendance issues. Sans maybe Cleveland. Plenty of blame on Orioles here too. Huge increase in cost, waiting till Chris Davis signed to sell season tickets and different pricing for different games. That justifies the season as a whole but attendance in September fighting for a playoff spot should be there despite the best efforts of Orioles to give people reasons not to go early on. The Orioles have won the most games in the last 4 years. Is all the winning just not that exciting to people anymore. Seriously is it just a given that the Orioles will be good but not good enough to get peoples attention.

[Spakman]

Just shed a little light on pricing. I've been to 5 games at Fenway this year and the most expensive game I attended this year was in Baltimore on Manny's Bobblehead night and I don't sit in cheap seats when I go to games at Fenway either.

[srobby08]

There are many reasons that fans are not going to the games. I was there on Saturday night and I see no need to go back again this year. I have been an Orioles fan since 1965 and live in Pennsylvania. It's not easy to make the trip and it certainly isn't cheap. My wife and I ate before we went in and still paid over $100 for the trip. A friend of my wife told her her son was mugged for his cell phone on the train going home to Timonium just last week so the safety factor is always an issue. The number of homeless people begging for money and becoming more insistent is becoming worse every time we come to Baltimore. Then there is the fans. We were in section 64, row 8 and the fans were either too drunk to even know the score or too concerned about starting a wave than cheering for the team to come back. If a foul ball would have been hit into our section, people would have been killed without even seeing it coming. The weather was good this weekend but it was raining early in the season and deathly hot in the last two months. Why should you pay $200, put up with idiot unconcerned fans and sweat to death when you can sit in comfort at home and watch your team.

[Trace21230]

The short answer is no.

It's pathetic and sad, and I'm tired of hearing the excuses. Thanks to all who showed up for the Rays series.

[slakattack]

We live in a world where perception is the only reality that matters. County folk think that all of Baltimore is the intersection of Penn and North. They never really believed the team had a chance from day one it seems. This team was never supposed to be good enough and people can complain about costs, but it is not ridiculously more expensive this year than it has been the last two.

Its raining in Baltimore again today - all day off and on steady rain and drizzle. It is a Monday.

The game-previews from many of the Orioles internet will be passive aggressive jabs at players or the perceived likelihood of the Red Sox winning this game. I would also say the Orioles kinda dropped the ball with marketing this year. They should know by now that actually winning games is not enough, not when every media outlet on the regional and national level continually either ignores the team or spends time analyzing why they will ultimately fail. Not to mention the fact that any time Baltimore is brought up in the news it is accompanied by year-old riot footage.

I can't rag on it too much - I haven't been to any games. I have a toddler, and a rather tight budget because of it, I made my economic choices and don't begrudge others that do the same.

As one of the county folk, I will tell you that I agree with some of what you posted here and some of it I do not. I will just say this: The team is located in Baltimore yet relies very heavily (mostly) on fans from outside of the city for attendance. By "face count" you can see that there is not a true representation of Baltimore in the stands, so the perception of the county folk is really the only reality that matters. Unfortunately their perception of the Orioles is lacking for many reasons. I do hope the Baltimore Orioles in conjunction with Baltimore City and the State of Maryland really try to reach out to the county folk in 2017, or this team's days may be numbered in Baltimore City.

[Es4M11]

Just shed a little light on pricing. I've been to 5 games at Fenway this year and the most expensive game I attended this year was in Baltimore on Manny's Bobblehead night and I don't sit in cheap seats when I go to games at Fenway either.

Yep. I looked into going to an Orioles game at Fenway, and was surprised to see that pricing was very competitive with Camden Yards, and in some cases better - which shouldn't be the case with Boston having higher demand for tickets and a more affluent metro area.

[Babypowder]

Dude, I didn't want to believe it either - but it is the only real X-factor between this year and last.

You can't argue the team didn't spend money

You can't argue the team isnt competitive.

I WOULD argue that the Old-Testament-esque rainy season we had at the beginning of the year, while they didn't cancel a ton of games certainly depressed attendance and thus the final numbers we are looking at.

But honestly, Harford county had a ban on field trips into the city for most of last year - that alone is all you need to know. Things should be back to normal next year. All of the businesses in the Harbor, and other places throughout the city have seen a downtick.

Well, there was a not insignificant pricing increase also, which I'm sure has had a major impact as well.

I know it annoyed me even though I'm fortunate enough to have the disposable income to keep attending anyway.

[weams]

Well, there was a not insignificant pricing increase also, which I'm sure has had a major impact as well.

I know it annoyed me even though I'm fortunate enough to have the disposable income to keep attending anyway.

I went to pennant race games and had good seats for 15 bucks. Upper box right over home plate on a weekend for 22. Cheap. Dirt cheap. Great on field product too. Did not need much disposable income. Park within two blocks for ten bucks too.

[oriolediehard]

Sellout for Boston series!

[Babypowder]

I went to pennant race games and had good seats for 15 bucks. Upper box right over home plate on a weekend for 22. Cheap. Dirt cheap. Great on field product too. Did not need much disposable income. Park within two blocks for ten bucks too.

And just a few posts ago you have someone complaining that it cost them 100 bucks for tickets. Most people don't know how to do it cheaply.

[weams]

And just a few posts ago you have someone complaining that it cost them 100 bucks for tickets. Most people don't know how to do it cheaply.

I guess if you have to sit padded seats, you'll pay a bit more. Also. I am a plan holder.

[Es4M11]

And just a few posts ago you have someone complaining that it cost them 100 bucks for tickets. Most people don't know how to do it cheaply.

The upper box seats surrounding the infield are great seats. Beyond that, upper deck, while cheap isn't that great of a seat. Especially not when the rest of those sections are more empty than not. The sight lines are fine, but the atmosphere leaves something to be desired. A lot of fans I know aren't interested in paying for that when they can have a better seat and view on their couch - to say nothing of concession/beer prices.

[Great8]

There are so many factors, but bottom line - the team needs to do a better job of marketing and promotion. Don't blame the fans for not coming to see the product when the product isn't marketed correctly. In a perfect world, would a team that's been in or near first place the entire season need to be marketed? Of course not. That's not the reality, though. Deal with reality. There clearly is a disconnect between interest in the team (which is high, given the TV ratings) and butts in seats. The marketing of this team is embarrassingly bad. It's not like they can't look at upcoming games and see that the ticket sales are poor. Do something about it! Discount tickets, two for one, giveaways on weekdays (and not on weekends, which is when attendance will be higher, anyway.)

You can blame the perception of safety around the stadium, the higher ticket prices, the weather, whatever, and that all plays a part. But in my opinion, the onus is on the team marketing people to take all of those factors into account and then get creative to mitigate them. And I'm saying this as a partial-season ticket holder, so I have put my money where my mouth is.

[Babypowder]

I guess if you have to sit padded seats, you'll pay a bit more. Also. I am a plan holder.

As am I. I've been to at least 20 games this season. I don't think it's terribly expensive but there was an increase that I know people tighter on funds were not excited about. I know several friends who don't go because of the cost of taking their family to the game.

[Babypowder]

The upper box seats surrounding the infield are great seats. Beyond that, upper deck, while cheap isn't that great of a seat. Especially not when the rest of those sections are more empty than not. The sight lines are fine, but the atmosphere leaves something to be desired. A lot of fans I know aren't interested in paying for that when they can have a better seat and view on their couch - to say nothing of concession/beer prices.

This is exactly what I was getting at in my original post in this thread. A lot of people would much rather watch the game in the comfort of their own living room with their own beer and their own food instead of dropping ~50 bucks a head for those same things to sit in the upper deck with a much worse few of the action.