Spring training attendance article

Well Al, here is one writers opinion of why attendance seems to be down at many parks in Arizona...

Comments

Surprised gas prices weren't mentioned.

Two people I work with canceled their trips to AZ partly because they didn’t want to pay for gas. I’d imagine a good portion of ST fans drive there from neighboring areas and poor seasons by the Angels and Dodgers can’t be helping for those that usually drive from CA.

"I always tell the truth -- Even when I lie" -- Tony Montana

by calicubfan on Mar 15, 2011 7:19 PM CDT reply actions

I think that's true.

And the article is correct about the Cubs. However, I think the Giants are drawing pretty well, at both home & road games.

The article is also correct — some locals, who are Dbacks fans and who in other years might have attended other Phoenix area games because the Dbacks were in Tucson, now are seeing their local team in their own home town.

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by Al Yellon on Mar 15, 2011 7:34 PM CDT up reply actions

I now have a spreadsheet going

that compares ST attendance in 2010 to 2011. I can run totals on any team, on any date, etc, etc.

You can’t really say Team A is 15% down from last year, because the season started a week later last year. It’s not comparable. You can only make those comparisons when the entire season has been played.

But, there are trends you can identify. The D’Backs are way up, nearly double by my count, but so are the Rockies. So, it clearly is not just local D’Backs fans going to the new ballpark.

I said all along that the new ballpark, given it’s location, would siphon fans from the Cubs and possibly the Giants. It is clear that has happened to the Cubs; the Giants not so much.

The other parks are running about the same as they usually do. The Reds and Indians do not draw well. The A’s and Brewers are slightly better, but not much. The Rangers set an all time attendance record at Surprise Stadum on Sunday. I think the Mariners and Padres are off a bit at Peoria. The Mariners no doubt because of their awful season last year. Not sure why the Padres would be down, but they historically are not a big draw anyway.

The White Sox are about where they were. They have not proven to be a big draw in the Cactus League. The Dodger clearly are down, perhaps down as much as the Cubs. I think that is explainable by the fact that they were the new guys last year and the team was a big disappointment on the field. There is talk of a fan protest this year due to the McCourts problems, not sure if that is having an impact or not.

The big winners this year are the Rockies, D’Backs and Rangers…the Giants are also doing well. The big losers are the Cubs and Dodgers. Everybody else is about the same.

by azjazzman on Mar 15, 2011 10:15 PM CDT reply actions

You & I have been at odds on this issue.

But I think this analysis is correct. The Cubs are going to be down this year overall, no doubt about it. Total attendance through today in Mesa is 77,723 — an average of 7,772 for the 10 dates. There are seven games remaining (the 3/30 intrasquad game, a charity game, does not count in Cactus League attendance figures; neither do the Las Vegas games).

If they sold out every remaining game, the Cubs would draw about 160,000 — but they won’t; only the White Sox game on 3/24 is a guaranteed sellout. The two Sunday games remaining, one vs. the Giants, should come close.

If you have total attendance figures for all teams this year and last, through an equal number of games, could you send them to me? I know this isn’t quite comparable due to the earlier start in 2011, but I’d like to see the numbers anyway.

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by Al Yellon on Mar 15, 2011 11:40 PM CDT up reply actions