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Will the fans show?

Todd-O

By Todd-O
in Orioles Talk

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Todd-O Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

Todd-O

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This is a tough market... the O's have to battle the Ravens, Terps, Skins, Nationals, Capitals, and Wizards for ticket $$... and that doesnt account for the 4 pro teams up in Philly (which matters to those tweeners that live between the two cities. Nats are absolutely killing us.

There's also the little issue of what this team is: hero ball offense, pretty crappy pitching.

We had a total of twenty tickets to the Friday and Saturday O's vs Astros games... 20!! And we sat and watched the Astros absolutely rake the O's for 27 runs... a few weeks later I dropped $120 on tix to see the O's and Yanks... and Miley pitched like crap and the O's lost convincingly.

This has not been a year of pretty ball. The team looks and feels incomplete... it's just a fact...

I'm a hardcore fan like the rest of you, but I have to admit attending those Astros and Yankees games was not fun. The pitching wasn't even average... they got their rears whooped.

So, at this point, the onus is on the O's. Put a better overall product on the field. Rolling crappy arms like Miley and Gallardo out there (and watching them get beaten like minor league talent) isn't inspiring me to open up my wallet.

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birrman54 Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

birrman54

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This is a tough market... the O's have to battle the Ravens, Terps, Skins, Nationals, Capitals, and Wizards for ticket $$... and that doesnt account for the 4 pro teams up in Philly (which matters to those tweeners that live between the two cities. Nats are absolutely killing us.

There's also the little issue of what this team is: hero ball offense, pretty crappy pitching.

We had a total of twenty tickets to the Friday and Saturday O's vs Astros games... 20!! And we sat and watched the Astros absolutely rake the O's for 27 runs... a few weeks later I dropped $120 on tix to see the O's and Yanks... and Miley pitched like crap and the O's lost convincingly.

This has not been a year of pretty ball. The team looks and feels incomplete... it's just a fact...

I'm a hardcore fan like the rest of you, but I have to admit attending those Astros and Yankees games was not fun. The pitching wasn't even average... they got their rears whooped.

So, at this point, the onus is on the O's. Put a better overall product on the field. Rolling crappy arms like Miley and Gallardo out there (and watching them get beaten like minor league talent) isn't inspiring me to open up my wallet.

I'm sympathetic to this argument, but surely we can agree the Orioles are actually winning many many games at home (63% of them). All season fans have been more likely than not to see a win at home but they still aren't coming.

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DrungoHazewood Hangout Grand Counsel

DrungoHazewood

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It's spelled R-U-S-T B-E-L-T. Baltimore, Cleveland, Pittsburgh are historically blue collar towns that have much smaller populations than LA, NY, BOS, DAL. They do not have high enough concentrations of wealth to produce 35,000 people per day with disposable income for baseball games. Add to this that the Orioles have been basically a .500 team for half the year and if you go to one of these Bos. games you will be shouted down by LOCAL Bos. fans (watching their team win) - what they hell do you want them to do? They care, they watch on TV and listen on the radio, but many of them just won't pull out their wallets unless there is a giveaway, because that money is hard to come by and they like getting something tangible in return for it. It's not like they work for companies with season tickets anymore like in earlier years. People that are not from around here just don't understand the realities of life in the rust belt in 2016 (not 1996). I am fortunate enough to be able to afford to go to games and I do, but it is just not that easy anymore for people of a certain income level in this area, Maryland is an expensive place to live. One day when old man Potter kicks, the boys will sell the team to the highest bidder and then the new owner will move the team to Nashville, or Montreal, or Havana. And then all will be well again on MLB broadcasts and no one will need to feel embarrassed for dirty, crumbling, crime ridden Baltimore anymore.

I think you're exaggerating for effect, but there is a kernel of truth here. Baltimore has more in common with Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincy, Oakland than with New York or Boston or Philly. Baltimore is the 21st-largest metro area in the US, several cities adjacent to them on the list don't have teams (Charlotte, Portland, Orlando, San Antonio). You can't expect the Orioles to draw fans like metropolitan areas several times as large and often more wealthy.

The Milwaukee area has about 1.5M people. Using that as a baseline New York and northern Jersey should have their market split 13 ways.

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DrungoHazewood Hangout Grand Counsel

DrungoHazewood

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Does anything think if the Orioles would try to rebuild ,lower ticket prices and promote the young guys that the teams attendance would be that much worse? No tiered pricing either.

It could certainly be much worse with a worse product on the field, yes. And I don't understand the hate on tiered pricing. Why shouldn't Rays tickets cost less than Red Sox? Are you also staying away because box seats cost more than upper deck?

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Es4M11 Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

Es4M11

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It could certainly be much worse with a worse product on the field, yes. And I don't understand the hate on tiered pricing. Why shouldn't Rays tickets cost less than Red Sox? Are you also staying away because box seats cost more than upper deck?

The team should sell Rays tickets for less. But they shouldn't be selling Yankees tickets for near Yankee stadium prices. I don't think tiered prices are the worst idea, I just think the Orioles over reached with their tiered strategy.

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weams Hangout Grand Counsel

weams

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The team should sell Rays tickets for less. But they shouldn't be selling Yankees tickets for near Yankee stadium prices. I don't think tiered prices are the worst idea, I just think the Orioles over reached with their tiered strategy.

I thought it was just to take the bite out of scalping. Was I wrong?

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weams Hangout Grand Counsel

weams

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The team should sell Rays tickets for less. But they shouldn't be selling Yankees tickets for near Yankee stadium prices. I don't think tiered prices are the worst idea, I just think the Orioles over reached with their tiered strategy.

When the Rays were defending champions, should their tickets be less? Or is it just to keep the New England/New York fans paying for the privilege.

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notfast Major Leaguer Rising Star

notfast

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The tiered pricing I can get behind to an extent but only because I am a seasoned vet of going to games. The casual fan, the fan the team needs to attract, cannot

Field box ticket:

Rays Thurs $53

Sox Mon $72

Dbacks Sat $85

This is the type of stuff that will turn away the casual fan.

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DrungoHazewood Hangout Grand Counsel

DrungoHazewood

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The tiered pricing I can get behind to an extent but only because I am a seasoned vet of going to games. The casual fan, the fan the team needs to attract, cannot

Field box ticket:

Rays Thurs $53

Sox Mon $72

Dbacks Sat $85

This is the type of stuff that will turn away the casual fan.

If you just charged a flat rate the average would be $70. Wouldn't the casual fan laugh at $70 for a Thursday game against the Rays?

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Es4M11 Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

Es4M11

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When the Rays were defending champions, should their tickets be less? Or is it just to keep the New England/New York fans paying for the privilege.

I think the Orioles should tailor their pricing strategy to whatever method puts the most fans in the seats. If a team is a poor draw like the Rays, it would make sense to discount the tickets to promote higher attendance. If a team is a good draw, and/or has a strong out of town presence, then yes it would also make sense to charge more for those games than you would a Rays game. That said, there is a fine line between good business and pricing your own fan base out of going to the games. I think the Orioles flirted with the wrong side of that line this year with some of their "prime" games. I think to some degree fans are showing their discontent for this issue by not coming out as often this year. JMHO

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Es4M11 Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

Es4M11

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The tiered pricing I can get behind to an extent but only because I am a seasoned vet of going to games. The casual fan, the fan the team needs to attract, cannot

Field box ticket:

Rays Thurs $53

Sox Mon $72

Dbacks Sat $85

This is the type of stuff that will turn away the casual fan.

Field Box tickets for the Yankees game a couple Saturdays ago were even more than the DBacks tickets.

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