7,915

[Frobby]

I’ve been studying this a bit more.   In 2016, we had 20.1% of our total attendance in the first 20 home dates.    In 2017, we had 28.1% of our total attendance in the first 20 home dates.    Two reasons for the discrepancy (1) weekend series with the Yankees and Red Sox in the first 10 home dates in the first 10 games in 2017 pumped up attendance in that period, and (2) attendance finished very strong in 2016 due to the wild card race that went down to the final day.

My guess is that this year the first 20 home dates will be somewhere between the 20.1% and 28.1% figures as a percentage of total attendance (between 1.32 mm and 1.85 mm projected total).    Put me down for 1.5 mm as a best guess at this point.

 

[Natty]

Bring your family to Baltimore... Charm City. 

 

 

[Frobby]

The next 10 home dates include Philly, Washington and a 4 game weekend series with the Yankees.   Could be the strongest 10 game attendance of the year.

[Moose Milligan]

9 minutes ago, Natty said:

Bring your family to Baltimore... Charm City. 

 

 

 

That was like, 3 years ago.  It's unfair to hold that against this current slide in attendance.  

 

[Frobby]

Just now, Moose Milligan said:

 

That was like, 3 years ago.  It's unfair to hold that against this current slide in attendance.  

 

I think the drop the last two years relates directly to performance of the team.   

[TommyPickles]

I really think MLB should expand to Puerto Rico and Mexico.  I think it would be great for the sport long term. 

I understand the very legitimate concerns about both:

San Juan is an amazing city and only a short hop from Miami, but the hurricane has devastated the country and hurt it’s already struggling economy. (Notably, US policy is partially to blame for their economic woes, but that may be wandering too far into the political)

Mexico City is a huge city (like 8-9 million) with plenty of love for baseball, but the altitude is crazy high and it’s pretty far south.

Still, I think if MLB became a little more international it could really help rebuild the popularity of the sport. European soccer, for example, is wildly popular and this is in part because of all of the international tournaments and rivalries.

[LookitsPuck]

47 minutes ago, Natty said:

Bring your family to Baltimore... Charm City. 

 

 

What an asinine thing to post.

[theocean]

58 minutes ago, TommyPickles said:

I really think MLB should expand to Puerto Rico and Mexico.  I think it would be great for the sport long term. 

I understand the very legitimate concerns about both:

San Juan is an amazing city and only a short hop from Miami, but the hurricane has devastated the country and hurt it’s already struggling economy. (Notably, US policy is partially to blame for their economic woes, but that may be wandering too far into the political)

Mexico City is a huge city (like 8-9 million) with plenty of love for baseball, but the altitude is crazy high and it’s pretty far south.

Still, I think if MLB became a little more international it could really help rebuild the popularity of the sport. European soccer, for example, is wildly popular and this is in part because of all of the international tournaments and rivalries.

I think a MLB team would really flourish in Mexico or Puerto Rico. It'd be great to see happen. Building the popularity of baseball internationally is really important.

[Natty]

1 hour ago, LookitsPuck said:

What an asinine thing to post.

I apologize if I hurt anyone's feelings. But the truth is heavy. As noted previously Baltimore is listed as the most dangerous city in the US. 

[MikeAD]

5 minutes ago, Natty said:

I apologize if I hurt anyone's feelings. But the truth is heavy. As noted previously Baltimore is listed as the most dangerous city in the US. 

You dont post something like that for any reason other than being rude.  Get out of here with that.  Most people here have roots in or around and actively try to make Baltimore as great as it can be.  This team's pathetic performance and unpopular ownership is the biggest factor in attendance.  If you actually want to talk about Baltimore, theres a real discussion to be had regarding the geographic shifting of most fans over the past 20 years but I don't think thats what you're after.  To that regard the younger Angelos and the team has made large steps to improve that, and the free tickets for kids this year is a welcome addition.  

[Frobby]

3 hours ago, Roy Firestone said:

Unfair, and something else too. This is not Baltimore. This is not the reason for poor attendance. Its been a bad baseball team.

Well, there’s no denying that the riots likely had a negative influence on attendance.   That’s a likely partial explanation for why attendance dropped 110,000 from 2015 (when the team was 81-81) to 2016 (when the team went 89-73 and was part of a great playoff race down the stretch).   The other explanation is that there was a ticket increase in 2016 that was announced late in the offseason.

[VaBird1]

4 hours ago, theocean said:

I think a MLB team would really flourish in Mexico or Puerto Rico. It'd be great to see happen. Building the popularity of baseball internationally is really important.

Apparently there is not enough disposable income for it.  The Expos didn’t really draw that well when they were there IIRC.

I looked it up.  14000 average for 22 games.

[spiritof66]

4 hours ago, theocean said:

I think a MLB team would really flourish in Mexico or Puerto Rico. It'd be great to see happen. Building the popularity of baseball internationally is really important.

I assume there would be a strong fan base in either place, but that's not enough to conclude that a team will flourish as far as MLB is concerned. 

I don't know enough about Mexico City or San Juan to know the answers, but I think I know some of the questions. What kind of stadium is there (or will there be)? Is it up to MLB standards in size, modernity, configuration, drainage, etc.?  Is it accessible enough to get fans to come to multiple games a season? What kind of ticket prices can be expected? How many corporations, service firms and wealthy individuals will buy full season tickets? What kind of financing do the prospective owners have? What are cable TV revenues likely to be? How big a slice of the revenues will the Mexican government take? Can MLB (and a franchise) protect itself from the government?

[Going Underground]

3 hours ago, MikeAD said:

You dont post something like that for any reason other than being rude.  Get out of here with that.  Most people here have roots in or around and actively try to make Baltimore as great as it can be.  This team's pathetic performance and unpopular ownership is the biggest factor in attendance.  If you actually want to talk about Baltimore, theres a real discussion to be had regarding the geographic shifting of most fans over the past 20 years but I don't think thats what you're after.  To that regard the younger Angelos and the team has made large steps to improve that, and the free tickets for kids this year is a welcome addition.  

i live in the city and it has it's problems. As I have said before certain areas are really growing and tons of construction and other areas are still not doing well. Don;t think you can deny that the riots hurt a little bit in attendance, Just like the Sun had said restaurants downtown have been  hurting also. Parking and perceived sense of crime and actual are keeping the suburbanites from coming downtown.

[Slappy]

One thing I didn't see mentioned on this thread enough is the Washington Nationals.

That is the single biggest bomb dropped on the Orioles attendance since the attendance "glory days" of the 1990's.

It didn't hurt them a lot at first, but combined with the 14 consecutive losing seasons and the Nationals turning into a perennial contender (along with some generational new fans), it has really taken its toll in the last several years.

Camden Yards will never see the 3.5, 3.7 million attendance years that it had in the mid-1990's.  Those days are over.  Even with consistent contenders, this metro area alone is only big enough to support 2.5-3 million a year.  Losing DC probably cut our potential market by 1/3rd or more.