Attendance

[TaylorStSox]

I won't go to a game when the weather is this miserable, especially after enduring this winter.

[cabiness42]

I went to Wrigley last night. They said 33k but closer to 25k IMO if that, where actually there. It was so cold. One thing about USCF, those boards in the OF block some wind. Nothing to block the wind at Wrigley. My hands were frozen. I didn't anticipate needing gloves in May.

 

One thing they don't do at Wrigley that they do at USCF now is the pat down and wand check of your being. I wonder why the Cubs don't have to do it.

 

Must be some kind of frontal boundary between here and there, because here it was upper 80s during the day and upper-lower 70s during the game. I'm not THAT much farther south that there should be that much temperature difference.

[Dunt]

I went to Wrigley last night. They said 33k but closer to 25k IMO if that, where actually there. It was so cold. One thing about USCF, those boards in the OF block some wind. Nothing to block the wind at Wrigley. My hands were frozen. I didn't anticipate needing gloves in May.

 

One thing they don't do at Wrigley that they do at USCF now is the pat down and wand check of your being. I wonder why the Cubs don't have to do it.

 

Not a chance there was 25K there last night. Place was empty.

[LittleHurt05]

I went to Wrigley last night. They said 33k but closer to 25k IMO if that, where actually there. It was so cold. One thing about USCF, those boards in the OF block some wind. Nothing to block the wind at Wrigley. My hands were frozen. I didn't anticipate needing gloves in May.

 

One thing they don't do at Wrigley that they do at USCF now is the pat down and wand check of your being. I wonder why the Cubs don't have to do it.

 

They do that for Blackhawks games now too. I thought it had something to do with concealed carry, but is it weird that Wrigley doesn't have to.

[Dick Allen]

Not a chance there was 25K there last night. Place was empty.

25k is only a little more than 60% filled. I think in the middle innings it was close to that. It did look like a typical Sox game in the stands the first couple of innings and after the 7th.

[southsider2k5]

This will be the Cubs 6th straight year of falling attendance.

 

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teams/cubsatte.shtml

[Soxfest]

This will be the Cubs 6th straight year of falling attendance.

 

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teams/cubsatte.shtml

About time the sheep hold team accountable to win long overdue.

[TheChrisSamsa]

Agreed here on seemingly all accounts. For me personally, Its not the ticket prices that are prohibiting. It is the periphery costs, such as parking, food/bev that kept me from going to games (I moved out of IL in 2011).

 

I had to leave my season ticket package, not because I couldn't afford the tickets, but because I couldn't afford the parking. At $18/game my parking was about 1/3 the cost of going to the games in seats I truly enjoyed (Upper Deck, Row 7, section 531 behind home plate). I considered finding a reasonable public-transportation method, but from Westmont/Downers Grove there isn't anything as convenient as driving. Food/bev is a little easier to manage once you figure out a plan to grill outside the stadium, but it's always tempting to grab something to eat on the inside.

 

If parking were $10 every day.. Maybe $15, the amount of games I'd go to would increase significantly. Paying $10 a few Sundays ago hardly put a dent into what that game cost me.. That, added to not drinking and grilling Brats and eating chips outside the game made for a grand-total of $61 (girlfriend just HAD to have some ice cream, and I just HAD to have some peanuts inside) for two of us to go with seats in the lower bowl. $30 per person for a day/night out is a manageable expense in my book. Once you break $50, it becomes a luxury.

[Texsox]

^^

 

Baseball isn't cheap entertainment anymore. This is why the Sox need more bandwagon jumpers. The folks who come out to a game or two a season. Too many were drawn to the "Friendly Confines" and the neighborhood. They packaged the experience and filled the stadium.

 

Yes, that meant the true, intelligent, Cub fans, and there are a lot of them, are drowned out by the idiots. But that's the crowds were competing for.

[Marty34]

I went to Wrigley last night. They said 33k but closer to 25k IMO if that, where actually there. It was so cold. One thing about USCF, those boards in the OF block some wind. Nothing to block the wind at Wrigley. My hands were frozen. I didn't anticipate needing gloves in May.

 

One thing they don't do at Wrigley that they do at USCF now is the pat down and wand check of your being. I wonder why the Cubs don't have to do it.

 

I heard it's because they don't have the room for the massive lines that creates. Supposedly, they will have the walk thru detectors at each gate at Wrigley next year (the cell too.)

[caulfield12]

What would also be interesting to see is the percentage of season tickets lost due to corporations cutting back on their box seat packages (or going for smaller increments/fewer seats), compared to how many have been lost from individuals/families...as well as if there's been any falloff in luxury suite revenues.

 

The team seems to be stuck in that in-between ground where they don't want to give away sponsorship rights for pennies on the dollar...but, if they keep waiting for the team to return to competitiveness and/or sponsors willing to pony up for three year obligations (like the "BP Cup"), they might end up in a continuous cycle of diminishing revenue flows for the next couple of seasons. How long before we can approach another season like we did "All In" 2011 (with legitimate playoff aspirations), with the Dunn off-season acquisition?

 

That late season collapse in 2012 really did a number on revenues.

 

It's probably short-sighted, but that's yet another reason why there's really a ton of pressure to make the right selection between Rodon and Hoffman a month from now.

 

In a perfect world, they could wait 2 1/2-3 seasons for those guys (Aiken/Kolek) to arrive (late 2016/early 2017)...instead, we're sort of being forced to move/compress the timetable into a shorter 1 1/2 seasons instead, so that 2016 becomes the year the Sox are approaching the Tigers like the Royals this season (especially with Shields in the final year of his deal).

 

Luckily, the contract extensions for Sale/Quintana and that collegiate pitcher would give us a 3 year window, instead of what KC is currently facing...the box that Dayton Moore put them into.

 

 

 

 

[greg775]

I think it is tough for families to swing that these days. The other thing that has been mentioned is the three hour game has to stop being the norm. More waks and K's these days too which means its three hours full of no action. Every damn pitch is treated like life and death by the hitter/pitcher, Get it and throw it. I'm convinced that is what a large portion of Buehrle's success can be attributed to.

Not calling the strike at the letters is disgraceful, but the umps just won't do it. You are right, though. Every pitch is life and death and after the starter is replaced, it REALLY gets serious. Pitcher after pitcher.

 

3 hour game would be great, but isn't the average Sox game now up to 3:17 or something this year (as of a few days ago), with a handful of 4+ hour games?

 

It's today's day and age with how people treat their time and money. The "value" people get out of 5-6 hours between driving and watching the game, the expense of parking the car, tickets, then all the food on top of it...just not worth the value/time to a lot of people anymore. Comparing it to a movie - movie is 2 hours and it doesn't cost anything to park, and you could more easily get away with no food.

 

Anyway, the answer is to make it less time and provide more value.

 

Eliminate the dead time. This is going to become a bigger focus with MLB over the next few years, I believe.

 

That's really a great post. Baseball doesn't care, though. Sox execs should read your post though. It's all true. You really have to be an idiot to be willing to go to an event where parking costs that much, yet we do it. BTW, I remember going to tons of games as a college student back home for summers and cost never even entered my mind. My part time jobs had me set to go to ballgames and tons of 'em. Now? Ha. No college kid can afford the experience (including multiple beers) unless mommy and daddy are rich.

 

You are right about movies, too. Unless you are on a date or something, you easily can go without anything to eat/drink at a 2 hour movie especially if you sneak in one bottle of water.

Edited May 6, 2014 by greg775

[NorthSideSox72]

The solution that can have the biggest impact, to me, is speeding up the games. Pitchers, and batters for that matter, need to be on a clock. Or at least the umpires should start being able to get things moving in some fashion. A 2.5 hour game is much more appealing than 3.5 hours, especially with the modern audience. It keeps the fans much more excited and engaged. This can be done without taking away offense (which increasing strike zone size would do), cost nothing, and still allow the same number of commercials between innings.

 

[IlliniKrush]

The solution that can have the biggest impact, to me, is speeding up the games. Pitchers, and batters for that matter, need to be on a clock. Or at least the umpires should start being able to get things moving in some fashion. A 2.5 hour game is much more appealing than 3.5 hours, especially with the modern audience. It keeps the fans much more excited and engaged. This can be done without taking away offense (which increasing strike zone size would do), cost nothing, and still allow the same number of commercials between innings.

Yup, it's all about "pace of play." You fix this issue, and I think you'll have a lot more people attending and watching games on TV.

 

Here's how much of a focus the issue has/will become:

 

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/04/mlb-length...k-seven-innings

[ewokpelts]

I had to leave my season ticket package, not because I couldn't afford the tickets, but because I couldn't afford the parking. At $18/game my parking was about 1/3 the cost of going to the games in seats I truly enjoyed (Upper Deck, Row 7, section 531 behind home plate). I considered finding a reasonable public-transportation method, but from Westmont/Downers Grove there isn't anything as convenient as driving. Food/bev is a little easier to manage once you figure out a plan to grill outside the stadium, but it's always tempting to grab something to eat on the inside.

 

If parking were $10 every day.. Maybe $15, the amount of games I'd go to would increase significantly. Paying $10 a few Sundays ago hardly put a dent into what that game cost me.. That, added to not drinking and grilling Brats and eating chips outside the game made for a grand-total of $61 (girlfriend just HAD to have some ice cream, and I just HAD to have some peanuts inside) for two of us to go with seats in the lower bowl. $30 per person for a day/night out is a manageable expense in my book. Once you break $50, it becomes a luxury.

Did you have a full season or partial plan?

 

The weekend plan made the parking as low as $14 a game(when you average out the 18 and 10 dollar passes).

 

Honestly, i would have told you to invest in a neighborhood guest pass and just park on the street. $50-$100 for the season pays off real quick.

[ewokpelts]

I went to Wrigley last night. They said 33k but closer to 25k IMO if that, where actually there. It was so cold. One thing about USCF, those boards in the OF block some wind. Nothing to block the wind at Wrigley. My hands were frozen. I didn't anticipate needing gloves in May.

 

One thing they don't do at Wrigley that they do at USCF now is the pat down and wand check of your being. I wonder why the Cubs don't have to do it.

everyone has to do it by 2015. cubs are just stalling.

[StrangeSox]

I had to leave my season ticket package, not because I couldn't afford the tickets, but because I couldn't afford the parking. At $18/game my parking was about 1/3 the cost of going to the games in seats I truly enjoyed (Upper Deck, Row 7, section 531 behind home plate). I considered finding a reasonable public-transportation method, but from Westmont/Downers Grove there isn't anything as convenient as driving. Food/bev is a little easier to manage once you figure out a plan to grill outside the stadium, but it's always tempting to grab something to eat on the inside.

 

If parking were $10 every day.. Maybe $15, the amount of games I'd go to would increase significantly. Paying $10 a few Sundays ago hardly put a dent into what that game cost me.. That, added to not drinking and grilling Brats and eating chips outside the game made for a grand-total of $61 (girlfriend just HAD to have some ice cream, and I just HAD to have some peanuts inside) for two of us to go with seats in the lower bowl. $30 per person for a day/night out is a manageable expense in my book. Once you break $50, it becomes a luxury.

The lack of convenient public transportation to the park from downers kills my motivation. I don't want to sit on 55 in traffic there and back, and then have to pay for parking.

[LittleHurt05]

21,075 for a Cubs/Sox game. Your move Brooks Boyer

[Buehrle>Wood]

Wow. That's horrendous.

[fathom]

21,075 for a Cubs/Sox game. Your move Brooks Boyer

 

Seems like it will definitely be lower tomorrow night.

[fathom]

Why do you say so? Should be a great night tomorrow weather wise.

 

My fault, thought Hawks play tomorrow night.

[caulfield12]

Seems like it will definitely be lower tomorrow night.

 

 

The weather was actually decent tonight, right? High 60's/low 70's?

 

I was expecting 25-27,000.

 

 

That has to be the lowest in the history of the series by about 5,000, right?

 

 

 

Last year, Monday, May 27=30,631

Makeup, Monday, July 8th=31,552

 

 

I think it's well beyond Brooks Boyer's reach at this time. That's just an unprecedented attendance collapse. And I can't even imagine what the attedance would have been without Abreu's April and coming into the game with a 3 game winning streak instead of having lost the finale in CLE and first two at Wrigley...at 6 games under .500.

 

The dynamic pricing, weekday/night games (even though it didn't matter much last year), early May, the fact that the Cubs are horrible this year and even their fans are getting turned off...there's not a lot that they can do.

 

Now I'm starting to wonder if it would have mattered had we signed Tanaka as well and sent him out tonight. 23,000-24,000?

 

Edited May 8, 2014 by caulfield12

[IlliniKrush]

Caulfield, you say there's nothing they can do. There is something they can do, and it's really easy - lower prices.

 

We covered this last year, but the tickets prices are insane for a series that has basically no hype around it anymore and 2 rebuilding teams. $79 to sit in the bleachers? When Friday vs Arizona it's $23. LOL.

[caulfield12]

Caulfield, you say there's nothing they can do. There is something they can do, and it's really easy - lower prices.

 

We covered this last year, but the tickets prices are insane for a series that has basically no hype around it anymore and 2 rebuilding teams. $79 to sit in the bleachers? When Friday vs Arizona it's $23. LOL.

 

 

I didn't realize they still had those elevated prices in place this year.

 

Were they also higher for the Red Sox series?

 

 

Hughes and Coomer said the bleacher seats were pretty empty...but I had no idea it was a crowd closer to 20,000 than 30K from the way they described it on radio.

 

In that case, I can't blame fans for not staying home when they're being gouged to that extent.

 

I still remember less than ten years ago being able to watch games in the upper deck or OF bleachers at Kauffman in KC for $7-10.

 

$79 is just insane, especially with the iffy weather recently. For a day game with beautiful weather in the summer months...with a good Sox team, I'd think about it, if I was only going once that season.

Edited May 8, 2014 by caulfield12

[IlliniKrush]

I think they did have higher prices for the Red Sox series (as they will for the Yankees series coming up), but not nearly this high. Cubs tickets are 2xish what the Yankees series is, and that's a weekend.

 

Like you said, you're not going to this game unless it's one of the only ones of the year. Would you rather go to 3 Sox games, possibly weekend included, or one Cubs game? The value just isn't there, they just haven't figured that out yet.

 

Plus, by not filling the stadium, you're making it harder to bring back the excitement to the series anyway.