Is Camden Yards Too Big For The O's?

[Morgan423]

2 hours ago, ORIOLE33 said:

When it was built, the capacity was close to 49,000. Currently the capacity is around 45,000. Also, when it was built, there was no Washington Nationals. I'm not sure if this is a tabu subject, but the Nats took a lot of the O's fan base. If Camden was built today, it would most definitely be built with a seating capacity of around 35,000. 
 

Upper management has got to see this. Are there any plans to remove some of the upper deck so the stadium will look fuller? 

If you think that Oriole Park doesn't need its full capacity, then either you don't remember the 2014 ALDS when the stadium was absolutely sold out and packed to the gills, or you're younger than 12 years old and didn't see it outside of post-toddler memory formation. 

If the later, your profile says that you joined OH in 2016, and I'm guessing that would have been pre-kindergarten.  So I'm impressed. 

[cboemmeljr]

Geez, we go through this every year.  There are always complaints about the attendance or lack there of.  People moan the night after Opening Day, April attendance, September attendance, mid-week, mid-summer attendance.  Are those complaining in attendance?  If you are home watching the game on TV in the comfort of your home, you CANNOT complain about the lack of attendance and empty seats.  Get over yourself.

[SemperFi]

2 hours ago, DirtyBird said:

If making the stadium look fuller is the only benefit, seems like a waste of money. Sounds like something Dan Snyder would do.

It's not the vanity of a full stadium its the cost and viability of staffing including concessions, security, attendants and cleaning.  The Orioles are advertising to fill those type of positions-including meals and free tickets-I would guess they are struggling to fill those positions without incentives.  

[Aglets]

3 hours ago, ORIOLE33 said:

But don't they want that stadium to be pack more than just opening day and playoff games? We're one of the best teams in MLB and was playing the Yankees on a Friday night. I would have thought last night would have been near capacity. 

Im sure the paid attendance was much better than it appeared last night.  There was a 2.5 hour rain delay.   The attendance will be great tonight and tomorrow as well.

[Malike]

I fully expect at some point they'll just use CGI on TV to make it look like the stands are full for most teams.

[btownoriole]

I would envision seats being removed as part of the renovation to create more social spaces.  Personally I can’t stand the seats in the LF upper deck - you feel like you’re in a different zip code - and wouldn’t have a problem if they removed them.  The economic model of sports has changed so much in the past 30 years - not to mention the quality of the TV viewing experience - that the value of those seats is not what it once was.

[Teddy OBP]

27 minutes ago, Malike said:

I fully expect at some point they'll just use CGI on TV to make it look like the stands are full for most teams.

Like the piped in crowd noise in Premier League and Bundesliga during empty Covid games. Works for me!

[Moshagge3]

With tonight and tomorrow's games on national TV are they really not going to open up the LF upper deck? It's going to look terrible on ESPN, if they ever take the camera off Aaron Judge.

[fansince1988]

2 hours ago, btownoriole said:

I would envision seats being removed as part of the renovation to create more social spaces.  Personally I can’t stand the seats in the LF upper deck - you feel like you’re in a different zip code - and wouldn’t have a problem if they removed them.  The economic model of sports has changed so much in the past 30 years - not to mention the quality of the TV viewing experience - that the value of those seats is not what it once was.

I agree, there is no need to have those seats up there any longer. If/when they finally renovate, I'd like to see a new scoreboard up there with standing room/social space. The scoreboard pavilion. 

[JimGinSP]

3 hours ago, SemperFi said:

It's not the vanity of a full stadium its the cost and viability of staffing including concessions, security, attendants and cleaning.  The Orioles are advertising to fill those type of positions-including meals and free tickets-I would guess they are struggling to fill those positions without incentives.  

This is very true.  The other night during the radio broadcast they read a help wanted ad for game day staff covering the remainder of the year.  Every concessionaire over the years has been challenged to fill and retain food service positions, but game day staff positions (ushers, security, ticket window etc.) were usually pretty solid (dare I say hard to get) with folks returning to positions year after year.   I wonder how service delivery held up for the Sunday Marlins game where the healthcare company bought 12,000 tickets for their employee outing?  Concessions were included as well!

[eddie83]

8 hours ago, Going Underground said:

The upper deck left field corner mostly is closed for games. So far has been opened about three or four times.

The lease plan at the beginning was to get rid of about 7,500 or so seats. Open up the concourse ,so you can see  the game from there. Also more resturants. Not sure where we are now.

Wow. Didn’t know this. When I was in Philly years ago it was nice to see field from concourse.  
 

I will be shocked if capacity isn’t lowered a decent amount. I was guessing high 30’s. That’s the trend anyway in MLB. 

[Going Underground]

16 hours ago, eddie83 said:

Wow. Didn’t know this. When I was in Philly years ago it was nice to see field from concourse.  
 

I will be shocked if capacity isn’t lowered a decent amount. I was guessing high 30’s. That’s the trend anyway in MLB. 

This is from 2015.Also discussed a new state of the art scoreboard. .

 

 

 

"If it were being built today, it would presumably include those elements," Frenz said. "The view of the field is one. If you're in the club level [concourse or restaurants], you really don't see the field."

Team officials have talked informally with the authority about the possibility of removing terrace box seats to open up field views, he said.

"We really haven't done a deep dive on what that might cost," Frenz said. "I think it would be depending on the scope."

But Frenz and a team official said the discussions are very preliminary and nothing specific is planned. While the club is constantly studying the state-of-the-art in ballpark and other entertainment venue developments, it hasn't hired an architect to develop plans, according to an Orioles official.

[Going Underground]

21 hours ago, Moshagge3 said:

With tonight and tomorrow's games on national TV are they really not going to open up the LF upper deck? It's going to look terrible on ESPN, if they ever take the camera off Aaron Judge.

Open on Saturday.

 

[Aglets]

Update - over 114,000 fans came to watch this last 3 game series with the NYY.

So no i don't think the stadium is "too big" for our team.

Edited July 31, 2023 by Aglets

[DrungoHazewood]

On 7/29/2023 at 9:13 AM, Frobby said:

I doubt they really care if it “looks fuller.”  They’ve had crowds exceeding 35,000 five times this year, and will do so several more times before the year is over.   If they make the playoffs, they’ll sell out every home game at premium prices.  The team should be good for several years now and crowds will increase as that happens.  It’s as predictable as the sun rising in the East.  

In 2012-14, the O’s drew over 40,000 43 times.  I don’t know if they’ll get back quite to that level during this run, but they’ll be getting 40,000+ often enough that cutting back the number of seats by any significant number won’t be a consideration.  
 

Smaller stadiums are not about looking fuller, it's about creating artificial scarcity and driving people to purchase season tickets, and higher-priced single game tickets. While I understand the business motivations, I think it's short-sighted. It's a very common North American sports phenomenon, and I think it's a bad choice. It necessarily drives attendance at sporting events up-market and really limits the ability of people who aren't swimming in disposable cash to go to games.

A recent (or ongoing) real-life example of this is the Messi situation with MLS. DC United and Washington built a beautiful 20,000 seat stadium five years ago or so. Upon moving from RFK ticket prices shot up, because of artificial scarcity from a small stadium. So great, right? Lots of new revenues for the team. But, now Messi is in the league and every Miami game could sell 50,000+ tickets, but won't because a) they're super expensive, and b) there's on 20k available! Also, DC was out of hte running for hosting World Cup games because the stadium was way too small.

So... keep OPACY at 45k or more, nobody except the O's accountants want it smaller, and almost 50,000 fans at a playoff game is far better than 30k fans who each traded their first born for a ticket.