Attendance is Actually up 8.1%

[caulfield12]

Compared to the first 16 games of last season.

 

Even though we're "only" 28th in overall attendance, we're right on the heels of the Twins, Marlins, Indians and Reds.

 

I'm sure some will argue that the Hawk Clock promotion this weekend skews things, the weather in 2016 and more April home games....but countering that is we had the Red Sox at home in 2016 and one of the best records in baseball for some of those later games.

 

2016 19,304 for 16 games

2017 20,863 for 16 games

 

A difference of roughly 25,000 fans on the plus side.

 

At any rate, this seems to be putting to rest that ONE rebuilding season is going to be a huge disaster. Now obviously if they aren't at least somewhat competitive (or, at the very least, they have to be INTERESTING) in 2018 and Moncada, Lopez, Burdi, Fulmer and Giolito all fall flat on their faces, then you're going to have lots of issues.

 

Another reason that attendance is likely to increase this year is the fact that they're doing this without Sale, Eaton and Rodon...not to mention the fact they will have played 29 road games with only 16 home games at the 45 game mark, so the much more pleasant summer months will provide them 65 home games and only 52 road games from here on out.

 

Can we really attribute the difference to a different manager? Lower ticket prices? Or the loyal fans sticking it out and being optimistic (for now) about the rebuild?

Edited May 16, 2017 by caulfield12

[InTheDriversSeat]

 

I would say the increase in attendance can be attributed to 2 Hot promotions: Hawk Harrelson Alarm Clock and Hooded Sweatshirt giveaways. The Hoodie nite actually drew more fans than the Alarm Clock nite.

 

 

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[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

It's the food and beer , mmmmmmm .

[caulfield12]

I would say the increase in attendance can be attributed to 2 Hot promotions: Hawk Harrelson Alarm Clock and Hooded Sweatshirt giveaways. The Hoodie nite actually drew more fans than the Alarm Clock nite.

 

 

.

 

 

For a LONG time, one of the biggest drivers of Sox attendance was those Fireworks nights (usually Saturdays?)

 

It seems that there's now a pretty compelling opportunity for lots of brands to get in with giveaway nights for MUCH cheaper rates than if they tried to do something with the Cubs/Blackhawks/Bulls/Bears, etc. We saw it with the loss of the primary alcoholic beverage sponsor as well. In some ways, it's a good thing for the Sox to have to scramble because they'll be well-positioned (in terms of having a diversification of lower-tier sponsor deals) when the big dogs try to come back in 2019/20/21.

 

The main question for the Sox is how deeply they want to discount those promotional nights...because if they erode the going rates too much, it makes it that much harder to raise them when the team finally turns the corner. That said, if you really have a 4-5 year "solid contention" window for the Sox and not that erratic up and down performance from season to season, quite a few sponsors and season ticket holders will theoretically jump back on board.

Edited May 16, 2017 by caulfield12

[iamshack]

I think this, and other feedback the team has received, goes to show that the fanbase is just thankful that a direction has been chosen.

 

All the cries about attendance getting even worse if we rebuild look incorrect at this point.

[Lip Man 1]

Can we really attribute the difference to a different manager? Lower ticket prices? Or the loyal fans sticking it out and being optimistic (for now) about the rebuild?

 

I strongly suspect it's because many Sox fans are in the camp of agreeing it was long past time to rebuild and try something different and they are willing to buy-in for right now.

[Bananarchy]

It's the food and beer , mmmmmmm .

 

 

I think this, and other feedback the team has received, goes to show that the fanbase is just thankful that a direction has been chosen.

 

All the cries about attendance getting even worse if we rebuild look incorrect at this point.

Both of these things in particular, I think. The direction probably helps, but the food and beer is just crazy good now.

[fathom]

Is this where I get in trouble for saying Cubs have made baseball cool again in the city

[caulfield12]

The Cubs' fans are too busy melting down over Arrieta and having the same record as the White Sox with a team that should be wiping out the division.

 

I think it's just as likely fans are happy to finally have a competent manager, compared to any Cubs' "enthusiasm overflow."

 

Cheaper tickets and/or special parking deals has to be a part of it, though. And there is something to be said for being able to see all the players in both leagues, from a city-wide fan standpoint. Plus the White Sox games are much more relaxing as far as "in and out" and dealing with all the issues of sell-out crowds at Wrigley. It's nice to have some space, room to breathe and not have to fight long lines for concessions or the restroom.

 

Another plus is these White Sox are pretty "feisty," they're better (at least so far) than most gave them credit for, especially when you consider non-contributions from Anderson, Rodon, Frazier and Cabrera and just a pedestrian start to Q's season. Kind of fun to root for the underdog and scrappy minor leaguers who've never gotten an extended opportunity, guys like Leury Garcia, Davidson and Kahnle.

 

 

Edited May 16, 2017 by caulfield12

[tray]

Primarily Sox fans attend to see the team play competitive baseball around .500 and to never quit when they are behind.

 

Another reason - overzealous cub fans have also spiked interest in the White Sox. Sox fans have really grown sick of the cubs and their fans. I see a lot more people this year wearing White Sox hats and jerseys around town. Being a Sox fan seems more special than it has for a long time.

 

[caulfield12]

I think you have hit on one key point.

 

Whether it's politics or White Sox/Cubs affiliations, everything has become MUCH more polarized since January.

 

As Greg775 always points out, you're either with the 1%ers or you're not. Longtime White Sox fans know which side of the argument they're on with that particular debate. You can even extend it to the ownership groups of the two respective teams, or the baseball cap of choice for the previous president.

Edited May 16, 2017 by caulfield12

[tray]

Caulfield:

I don't see many minority people in the stands at professional baseball games and certainly not very many at Sox park or Nuveen field on the North side. Yes, minorities attend in numbers, but not anywhere near the percentage of minorities in the City, which consists of about 33% black and 30% Hispanics. That may change over time, but until then, there should never be anyone hurling ethnic slurs at black players from the stands. That was done a few years back at Wrigley and more recently at Fenway.

 

So, race has lingered as an issue long after Jackie Robinson was allowed to play, but let's not drag politics into the Sox/Cubs thing.

That rivalry exists no matter what one's politics are and regardless of race/ethnicity.

 

 

 

[Southwest Sider]

Another reason - overzealous cub fans have also spiked interest in the White Sox. Sox fans have really grown sick of the cubs and their fans. I see a lot more people this year wearing White Sox hats and jerseys around town. Being a Sox fan seems more special than it has for a long time.

 

With all the Cubs stuff I saw everywhere, and the fact that I would go to major retailers and not see a single piece of Sox merchandise, I started wearing my Sox stuff more. Need to represent in these tough times and show that logo off for the younger generation who might not still be swayed by Cub glory.

[tray]

Cub glory is already fading.

Someone here laughed when I suggested that Avi Garcia might be more valuable than Kyle Schwarber. If the early trends continue, that might prove to be the case. Arrieta appears to have come back down to Earth or perhaps he has stopped juicing.

Cubs are not going to repeat and when they don't the bandwagon will start to unload.

 

[LittleHurt05]

Is this where I get in trouble for saying Cubs have made baseball cool again in the city

 

And they have also priced a lot of fans out of their games. With their new dynamic pricing, you could see a weekend Sox game for maybe 25% of the cost I bet. (That's not criticism of the Cubs, they know exactly how to maximize every bit of revenue and it's the cost of winning for fans)

[FT35]

Primarily Sox fans attend to see the team play competitive baseball around .500 and to never quit when they are behind.

 

Another reason - overzealous cub fans have also spiked interest in the White Sox. Sox fans have really grown sick of the cubs and their fans. I see a lot more people this year wearing White Sox hats and jerseys around town. Being a Sox fan seems more special than it has for a long time.

 

I'm not from Chicago so I can't attest on who is wearing what, but I think you make an excellent point. Remember the whole Yankees/Red Sox saga when the Red Sox were pushing to break their curse and get past the Yanks in the post season? That team with Ortiz, Damon, Schilling etc...EVERYONE not from New York picked a side in that battle and almost everyone picked Boston. I remember watching those games and rooting hard for Boston to beat NY. I'm a die-hard Sox fan--I can't explain why other than people just have a weird tendency to root for the underdog. Once Boston won their Championships and established themselves as a top franchise in the league, I went back to rooting against them!

 

I do know that in cities around Chicago, everyone came out of the woodwork and put on Cubs gear last fall because it was "cool" to be a Cubs fan. Yes...that's the only reason they represented--couldn't tell you a name on the roster outside Kris Bryant! Now that they won, people feel less of the need to pull for them. It will be "cooler" to root for whatever team hasn't won in a while and only in the event of it being a "new" team (Cleveland? Astros? Rockies?) will they actually consider buying a shirt.

 

I do think that having a new manager has helped us a lot--not because he's won so many games, but because the team has a sense of being grounded again in their fundamentals and their approach to the game. I don't feel like we're winging it on a nightly basis when it comes to playing baseball. That fact alone has been good for our brand. Possibly even 8% good!

[Dick Allen]

I wonder how they count the rain outs in the attendance since the games won't be made up with their own gate. They count paid attendance. People using their tickets for the rain out don't count toward it. The attendance for alarm clock night was just shy of 30k. I would guarantee there were closer to 35k in the house. So if they have already counted the 2 rain out paid attendances in their figures without using a date, they are behind, and they will be behind, although there is something to the Cubs success helping the White Sox. It does get more people interested in baseball, and going to a Sox game is probably 75% cheaper if not more.

Edited May 16, 2017 by Dick Allen

[ChiSoxFanMike]

I was at that alarm clock game and it was a pretty decent crowd. They said the attendance was like 29,000 and change but it seemed like more than that. Not a sellout, but one of the busiest games I've been to in awhile.

[Dick Allen]

I was at that alarm clock game and it was a pretty decent crowd. They said the attendance was like 29,000 and change but it seemed like more than that. Not a sellout, but one of the busiest games I've been to in awhile.

There were many there for free. 2 rain outs, and they gave away free tickets for April and May games from last year. They didn't count those towards the total. But like you said, there were significantly more in the house than the 29k..

[joejoedairy]

I was at all 3 games this weekend and there seemed to be a lot of cubs fans (wearing cubs gear) in attendance. Im sure Jerry is more than willing to take their money.

[Doc Edwards Shot]

I was at all 3 games this weekend and there seemed to be a lot of cubs fans (wearing cubs gear) in attendance. Im sure Jerry is more than willing to take their money.

 

"Dag gam right he is!" Hawk Harrelson

Edited May 16, 2017 by Doc Edwards Shot

[ChiSox59]

I strongly suspect it's because many Sox fans are in the camp of agreeing it was long past time to rebuild and try something different and they are willing to buy-in for right now.

 

I think the bolded is the key. If this team still blows in 2019, attendance is going to be awful.

[Bananarchy]

Cub glory is already fading.

Someone here laughed when I suggested that Avi Garcia might be more valuable than Kyle Schwarber. If the early trends continue, that might prove to be the case. Arrieta appears to have come back down to Earth or perhaps he has stopped juicing.

Cubs are not going to repeat and when they don't the bandwagon will start to unload.

Avi has too many years of bad to out-value Schwarber.

 

Also, Cubs "magic" has been replaced by a level of complacency on behalf of the fanbase. Normally, Cubs fans would be "Aw, here we go again!", but they won the World Series, so it just doesn't matter as much. There aren't 108 years of frustration surprising their fans anymore

 

I think the bolded is the key. If this team still blows in 2019, attendance is going to be awful.

If Moncada is as good as he looks, don't expect that to happen.

Edited May 16, 2017 by Sox-35th

[OmarComing25]

And they have also priced a lot of fans out of their games. With their new dynamic pricing, you could see a weekend Sox game for maybe 25% of the cost I bet. (That's not criticism of the Cubs, they know exactly how to maximize every bit of revenue and it's the cost of winning for fans)

I do know at least one Cub fan who has been going to Sox games this year because he can't afford to go to Cubs games anymore.

[Bananarchy]

I do know at least one Cub fan who has been going to Sox games this year because he can't afford to go to Cubs games anymore.

I have seen 3. But I think it's the food and drink that have really made them interested in going