Angelos Claims He's Not Selling

[Can_of_corn]

6 minutes ago, Frobby said:

What makes you say fans aren’t coming to the games in 2023?  Do you have some intel on this, or are you just speculating?

i would guess there’s a 200 k bump this year so long as the team stays in the race past the ASB.  Purely a guess, but one based on past history.  

I do wonder how big a bump there has been in season tickets.  They aren't bragging about it so I don't think it's been that significant an increase.

[Frobby]

Just now, Can_of_corn said:

I do wonder how big a bump there has been in season tickets.  They aren't bragging about it so I don't think it's been that significant an increase.

Do they ever say much?

[HakunaSakata]

2 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

With all the self-admitted lawyers have have come out of the closet over the past couple days, Tony should change the name of this place to LawyersHangout.com, sheesh.

Where can I pre-order a Baltimore Legal Eagles hat? 

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, Frobby said:

Do they ever say much?

It's been so long since they've had any good news I don't remember.

[SteveA]

26 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I do wonder how big a bump there has been in season tickets.  They aren't bragging about it so I don't think it's been that significant an increase.

Well, I jumped back on the bandwagon.

I had season tickets with a 13 game plan starting the first year I got out of college in 1989 (yes I bought season tickets after the 1988 debacle, it was always the plan as soon as I ad a full time job).   I eventually had 2 13s, and then a 29 game plan.   I finally stopped in about 2003 for several reasons, not the least of which was that my friends that I went to games with were settling down, getting married, having kids, less likely to go out on weeknights, etc, and I found myself not being able to find someone to go to many of my games with and either going by muself or eating the tickets.   But also, as the sellout streak ended, I found I did not have to have season tickets to be able to sit in decent seats at the ballpark, there were enough empty seats that you could get good seats without reserving them before the season.   So that incentive to buy was gone.  And of course, the losing.

But after a gap of 20 years, I'm back in.  The flex plan was what did it.   I paid $1200 up front, and I just pick and choose any seats I want, up to 6 per game,  at a 15% discount from the single game price.   And I have the rights to get playoff and Opening Day  tickets, discounts on concessions, etc.

That was enough to get me back in the game, plus the expectation that this will be a fun season.

And also, a couple years ago a friend of mine treated a whole bunch of us to a couple games in a skybox at PNC for a Pirate weekend series.   I'm using almost half of my $1200 to return the favor and treat a group of 6 to the Friday and Saturday Pirate games this year, one game on the club level and one game in lower box behind the 3rd base tarp.

Have to admit the flex plan was a good marketing tool and it suckered me in for sure.   Will be curious to see how many new (or returning after long absence like me) people buy in .   I don't know if we technically count as "Season Ticket Holders", we are called "Birdland Club Members" just like the 13, 29, and 81 game plan holders are called.

[Frobby]

I did a little looking at last year’s attendance.

First 40 games: 626,828

Last 41 games: 741,539 (included two single-admission doubleheaders due to rainouts, and the Williamsport game in a 2000 seat stadium).

Obviously interest picked up as the team gained steam in July-August.   In 2019 (the most recent year in which Covid restrictions didn’t exist), attendance was 659,618 in the first 40 and 648,189 in the last 41.   

Offhand, I’d say 1.5 -1.6 mm is likely for 2023 if the team doesn’t slip a ton.  The first home weekday series against Oakland will tell us a lot about what the season ticket floor is.  We had the same weekday series in 2019 and averaged 7,668 per game.  Those were 4 of the 5 lowest crowds of the season.  
 

Edited February 20, 2023 by Frobby

[Jagwar]

5 hours ago, Frobby said:

Kind of a chicken and egg thing, no?   It will be interesting to see what attendance is like this year, after the Orioles’ unexpectedly good 2022 season.  

Absolutely. I understand that there is so much going on in the way of revitalizing the Harbor and downtown area. The city is trying to increase traffic and business and revenue beyond just putting fannies in the seats. But that takes years to develop. 

And Angelos keeping the payroll at a far extreme low relative to all ballclubs?  If it's a chicken and egg thing, thats' like having a sick chicken or a rotten egg on one side of the equation

[Jagwar]

5 hours ago, jabba72 said:

I read that on the hangout but I never looked up the source link for it. Im remembering Elias as the one who said it. 

I could be wrong, but I thought it was a sentiment expressed in Angelos' January event for the CollegeBound donation. Or at least in a follow up.

Either way, It's a BS sentiment to suggest, "We'll increase payroll when people return to downtown and attendance grows."  

[Going Underground]

17 minutes ago, Jagwar said:

I could be wrong, but I thought it was a sentiment expressed in Angelos' January event for the CollegeBound donation. Or at least in a follow up.

Either way, It's a BS sentiment to suggest, "We'll increase payroll when people return to downtown and attendance grows."  

Elias said it. I posted the Angelos and Elias quotes a few pages back . Interview at spring training. 

Edited February 20, 2023 by Going Underground

[panick]

3 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

The problem is, fans aren’t coming to the games in 2023, which means he will have this attitude for next offseason too.

When does the cycle end and he says we need to spend money to make money?

Frobby asked and now I'm asking. How do you know fans won't be going to games this year?

[Jagwar]

3 minutes ago, Going Underground said:

Elias said it. I posted the Angelos and Elias quotes a few pages back . Interview at spring training. 

Thanks for the info. Whether it's Angelos or Elias, it's still BS

[Going Underground]

24 minutes ago, Jagwar said:

Absolutely. I understand that there is so much going on in the way of revitalizing the Harbor and downtown area. The city is trying to increase traffic and business and revenue beyond just putting fannies in the seats. But that takes years to develop. 

And Angelos keeping the payroll at a far extreme low relative to all ballclubs?  If it's a chicken and egg thing, thats' like having a sick chicken or a rotten egg on one side of the equation

The revitalization started way before Angelos and Moore. Been about eight years or even longer on the vision. Pushed back a few years because of Covid. Starting to built up but a long way to go. Baltimore Arena or whatever you call it redone and ready to go in April. TopGolf open and doing really well so far. Paramount music establishment opening in June or July. Hotel ,sports bars and other restaurants still a few years off.

[Going Underground]

5 minutes ago, panick said:

Frobby asked and now I'm asking. How do you know fans won't be going to games this year?

Heard season ticket sales are up slightly but not great. It would help walk up and online single game tickets  if Orioles get off to a good start but walk up averages about 3,000 a game over the course of a season. 

[Since1984]

Stated this (not selling the team) in other threads, but what concerns me is holding onto money to save ownership. Would prefer an owner who uses $20m of budget not spent in current years, on the future mlb team’s investments (i.e. we could have gave Bassit $20m+ the next year couple of years,  but push that budget into next year).

Now it is most likely clear profits need to be hoarded to save the owners, over investing in a championship caliber team. Hope to be proven wrong on this, but the clock has already started ticking and we may continue to be unhappy, each offseason (for key additions)

Reverse thoughts on this subject: investments in International spending, their new DR facility, opening up public discussions, all point to a direction that I hope proves my instinct wrong!

 

 

[Going Underground]

Interesting survey.Also saw one about 16 and 17 year old not getting their drivers license like they used to in the good old days when cars had rumble seats and fins.

 

 

Edited February 21, 2023 by Going Underground