What can bring the fans back?

[Tx Oriole]

4 minutes ago, Philip said:

 I shouldn’t answer this question, because I’ve never even been to Baltimore in my life, and my wife has no interest in going, or in letting me go. Having said that, I will be happy if the team shows progress, if the decisions are logical, and if the baseball is clean. I was also incredibly disappointed when they got rid of the traditional beer. And the hotdogs are gone to, that’s just terrible. I was looking forward to both when I finally make my first trip.

What? No beer and hotdogs? I didn't know any team would not have those for sell at their stadium. Good night nurse those items are part of baseball. 

 

[Tx Oriole]

6 minutes ago, AceKing said:

It is so much fun when it is packed and engaged.

I bet it is.

[atomic]

2 minutes ago, Tx Oriole said:

What? No beer and hotdogs? I didn't know any team would not have those for sell at their stadium. Good night nurse those items are part of baseball. 

 

There is still beer and hot dogs.  Esskay stopped making hot dogs with the Orioles name on the package.  There will be plenty of hot dogs to slowly poison yourself with at the game

[SteveA]

5 minutes ago, Tx Oriole said:

What? No beer and hotdogs? I didn't know any team would not have those for sell at their stadium. Good night nurse those items are part of baseball. 

 

No, he is referring to two things:

  1) National Bohemian Beer ("Natty Boh") was a popular Baltimore beer in the 60s and 70s.  It was brewed in Baltimore and something of a cultural institution here.  There was a period where the American big beer industry shrunk and three or four big beer companies bought up all the smaller ones.  As a result Natty Boh is no longer brewed in Baltimore.  Butit still exists.  But last year, for whatever reason, they stopped selling it at OPACY.  there is still plenty of beer available there most of it better than that Natty Boh.

   2) Esskay hot dogs, a brand that was once made in Baltimore and very closely associated with the Orioles does not exist anymore.  It haven't been made in Baltimore in a long time but it was still marketed here. Smithfield, the company that made it is discontinuing it so you will no longer be able to get Esskay hot dogs at the ballpark.  But there are plenty of other hot dogs still available.

[Redskins Rick]

4 minutes ago, Tx Oriole said:

What? No beer and hotdogs? I didn't know any team would not have those for sell at their stadium. Good night nurse those items are part of baseball. 

 

According to the Sun, they will have beer and hot dogs.

 

https://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/dining/baltimore-diner-blog/bs-fe-orioles-food-camden-yards-20180328-story.html

[glenn__davis]

It's fun when it's packed for sure.  Not gonna lie though, as a parent it's kind of nice when it's not.  No long waits for concessions or bathrooms.  Easy to get in and out of the stadium area.  Easy to "upgrade" your seat after a few innings.  We do the Dugout Club and get the cheap seats, then go watch the rest of the game from the scoreboard area or bleachers or wherever the heck else we feel like for a bit.

It never will be like it was in the 90's, but playoff games and OD will still be packed and it will still be pretty full once the higher profile teams come to town.  I don't see this team ever selling 40k plus tickets against the Rays in September again though, even if they're good.

[Whammer]

39 minutes ago, Number5 said:

Why stop there?  Why not 10 cent beers?

Yeah! Especially when the Yankees are in town! What could possibly go wrong?

[Moose Milligan]

1 minute ago, Whammer said:

Yeah! Especially when the Yankees are in town! What could possibly go wrong?

The Orioles take 2/3?

[atomic]

For me the thing that could get me to go to more games is get rid of the increasing the pricing on tickets depending on whether they have freebies or the if the Yankees or Red Sox are in town.  I look at the schedule and see a weekend where I can go and I can't because they are playing the Red Sox or the Yankees or it is "Free" t-shirt night.  Really defeats the promotions if you increase the price of tickets for those games.  

[weams]

56 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Just winning.  

And they’ll get bored with that too.    

[theocean]

1 minute ago, weams said:

And they’ll get bored with that too.    

The 2012-2016 Renaissance wasn't long enough to create new baseball fans. It created the-Orioles-are-finally-good fans. Those don't stick around.

[atomic]

26 minutes ago, SteveA said:

No, he is referring to two things:

  1) National Bohemian Beer ("Natty Boh") was a popular Baltimore beer in the 60s and 70s.  It was brewed in Baltimore and something of a cultural institution here.  There was a period where the American big beer industry shrunk and three or four big beer companies bought up all the smaller ones.  As a result Natty Boh is no longer brewed in Baltimore.  Butit still exists.  But last year, for whatever reason, they stopped selling it at OPACY.  there is still plenty of beer available there most of it better than that Natty Boh.

    2) Esskay hot dogs, a brand that was once made in Baltimore and very closely associated with the Orioles does not exist anymore.  It haven't been made in Baltimore in a long time but it was still marketed here. Smithfield, the company that made it is discontinuing it so you will no longer be able to get Esskay hot dogs at the ballpark.  But there are plenty of other hot dogs still available.

As for #2 I don't hot dogs so I can't tell you if Esskay hot dogs are any way superior/inferior to other hot dogs but for #1:

National Bohemian was a beer brand that had stopped brewing.  Pabst bought the name.  Pabst is not a brewer. It does not make beer.  It is a marketing company.  It contracts out the brewing to Miller Brewing.  Miller Brews a bunch of these regional beers for Pabst. They aren't using the original formula.  What all the beers have in common is they are absolutely terrible (not that the original was very good).  The Nattie Boh isn't even a beer its a diuretic.  I wouldn't drink if it were given to me for free.  And I am not a beer snob.  

What did make me upset though was the removal of the Belgium beer stand. You could get Leffe blonde on tap as well as Hoegarden.  Two beers I enjoy and Leffe is not on tap many places. 

The other thing I miss  was the removal of the Korean Taco place.  

If anyone wants a Baltimore baseball food experience I would go to Boog's Barbecue.  Boog is often there signing autographs and you can get your pit turkey or pit beef and throw some horse radish and onions on it and actually enjoy your food.  

Also they have the Flying Dog stand that has beers made in Maryland. Most of their beers are too hoppy for my palate but they do have an agave cerveza that is pretty good.  They also have a beer made with Old Bay in it that isnt' too bad. 

[LTO's]

57 minutes ago, atomic said:

TV ratings were very bad last season. They only averaged 27k viewers for games in prime time.  I don't think it has anything to do with price. 

They won 47 games. They were one of the very worst teams in baseball history. That's an extreme outlier. The year before they weren't good and they had the 5th highest ratings in baseball and in 2016 they were 4th. They do well on TV and it never really correlates to their attendance numbers so it has to be something. Seeing as you can't bring a family to a game without spending close to 100 bucks, I'm gonna say it's a big part of it.

[AceKing]

Agreed with many on here that the beer and food does not matter if it has a local flavor or ties....it matters if it tastes good and doesn’t break you.

 

We always look for the best food in the yard, and it has been a struggle recently.

 

The Bacon on a stick might be the best thing.  Only available on Eutaw Street.

 

The Chippers used to be good, but they changed from fresh Kettle chips to bagged chips as the base.  Most of the toppings are still very good.

 

Nachos should stay forever, and allow the opportunity to load them up with extra cheese or salsa and jalapeños...

[atomic]

6 minutes ago, LTO's said:

They won 47 games. They were one of the very worst teams in baseball history. That's an extreme outlier. The year before they weren't good and they had the 5th highest ratings in baseball and in 2016 they were 4th. They do well on TV and it never really correlates to their attendance numbers so it has to be something. Seeing as you can't bring a family to a game without spending close to 100 bucks, I'm gonna say it's a big part of it.

$100 isn't much money.  You would spend close to that going to the movies for a family of 4. I spend a lot more than a $100 at a game though.  I guess unlike the movies you can bring your own food to a baseball game.  

The problem is getting the kids interested in going to the game.