Attendance

[ewokpelts]

"Decibel level"? Oh, for heaven's sake. Stop with that.

 

Whether I'm voicing my opinion from the ChiSox Bar and Grill (which I was at a couple of weeks ago when I was in town prior to watching Sale's outstanding start against the Padres) or from the moon is irrelevant to the discussion. As a former season ticket holder in Comiskey Parks Old and New and who still makes it to 2-3 games a year when I'm in town, I am more than qualified to speak on this subject.

 

Fact remains the Sox have an attendance problem. It's because they don't have enough season ticket holders. They don't have enough season ticket holders because they don't win enough and get into the playoffs enough to generate the kind of interest it takes for people to justify spending money on season tickets. The Sox haven't gotten into the playoffs enough times because White Sox management simply hasn't put together teams that have managed to get the job done. I'm not saying they haven't tried, but the record of performance is what it is over the past few decades, which is not very good. And from an accountability perspective, that's not the fan's fault. That's on Sox management, and ultimately, the buck stops on Mr. Reinsdorf's desk.

The season ticket base won't grow when a veteran team designed to compete loses 99 games. That's what happened in 2013.

 

Let's.

 

NOT.

 

f***ing.

 

forget.

 

that.

 

And it won't grow when the team goes younger the next offseason. No matter how positive the moves are.

 

And let's not forget the stubhub effect. The benefits of an ST plan are not always good enough for a value shopper on stubhub. I've talked to people that decided against an ST plan(even 7 game plans) because of the cost and commitment to make sure all games are used/sold. And when i say "what about playoff tix?", the respond that they're ok with going on the secondary considering that they saved money earlier in the year not being tied down to a package.

 

 

[ewokpelts]

Well, you may choose to not care about attendance, but for those of us who attend the games and/or watch them on TV, seeing the team you love playing in an empty ballpark is downright depressing. Is it not a different experience for you when the park is packed vs. the ghost yard experience we're typically treated to? And as far as payroll goes, we'd be able to cover an even larger payroll if we had more ticket and concession revenue coming in.

 

You do bring up one interesting point, though - the "rich man's plaything". Maybe that approach should be adopted. Could be fun, ya know, and it certainly couldn't render any worse results than the so-called "sustainable business" model you claim they're employing. Go "rich man's plaything", I say! Get wild! Shake this thing up a little bit, and who knows? WE MIGHT START WINNING MORE!!

You want a rich man's plaything? Look at 1060 w Addison and tell me if that's better for you.

 

[caulfield12]

You want a rich man's plaything? Look at 1060 w Addison and tell me if that's better for you.

 

I think that reference is to the Detroit Tigers.

[Thad Bosley]

The season ticket base won't grow when a veteran team designed to compete loses 99 games. That's what happened in 2013.

 

Let's.

 

NOT.

 

f***ing.

 

forget.

 

that.

 

And it won't grow when the team goes younger the next offseason. No matter how positive the moves are.

 

And let's not forget the stubhub effect. The benefits of an ST plan are not always good enough for a value shopper on stubhub. I've talked to people that decided against an ST plan(even 7 game plans) because of the cost and commitment to make sure all games are used/sold. And when i say "what about playoff tix?", the respond that they're ok with going on the secondary considering that they saved money earlier in the year not being tied down to a package.

Oh, I won't f'ing forget about 2013, bro. I'd like to, but I won't. And you are absolutely, positively correct - last year's team was "designed to compete", but they didn't. Didn't even come close. Every one of KW's eleven teams were designed to compete as well. Only two did. Only two made it to the postseason. That's two in twelve years - not quite enough to energize a fan base and entice them to come out to the ballpark more often.

 

[Balta1701]

Oh, I won't f'ing forget about 2013, bro. I'd like to, but I won't. And you are absolutely, positively correct - last year's team was "designed to compete", but they didn't. Didn't even come close. Every one of KW's eleven teams were designed to compete as well. Only two did. Only two made it to the postseason. That's two in twelve years - not quite enough to energize a fan base and entice them to come out to the ballpark more often.

I've got to dispute this. Winning mid-80's numbers of games and missing the psotseason is still a competitive team to me. And I should throw in, I'm not quite sure the 2012 team was "Designed to compete" and yet somehow they pulled it off.

[caulfield12]

I've got to dispute this. Winning mid-80's numbers of games and missing the psotseason is still a competitive team to me. And I should throw in, I'm not quite sure the 2012 team was "Designed to compete" and yet somehow they pulled it off.

 

Or 2008, for that matter.

 

That said, nobody will reward the 2010 and 2012 for their "surprising" finishes or KW's seemingly logical additions of guys like Youkilis, Liriano and Myers.

[Thad Bosley]

I've got to dispute this. Winning mid-80's numbers of games and missing the psotseason is still a competitive team to me. And I should throw in, I'm not quite sure the 2012 team was "Designed to compete" and yet somehow they pulled it off.

 

We have won mid-80s games and been competitive quite often in the past two decades, but being "competitive" is not enough. You gotta get into those playoffs - it's as simple as that. That's when you really generate interest. Nobody remembers any of the number of 2nd place White Sox teams of the past couple of decades, who were good teams but have nothing to show for it. You obviously can't go to the postseason every year, but a big market team like the Sox should be able to go on a run where they dominate over a three, four, five year period, especially in a division such as ours. And yet they just haven't managed to do so. Hence, attendance problem discussions!

[soxfan49]

If my math is correct, the Fire average more fans per home game than the Sox do.

[greg775]

When did Baltimore stop drawing fans? Last two nights looked like lousy crowds on mlb.com.

[Jake]

I always remember the good things the Sox do in the games I go to, but I honestly don't think about the bad play in the losses I've attended. It's fun either way. The games I've been to have been some of the best times of my life. I love going and try to make it every year.

[iamshack]

Applying analytics to the business side of baseball

[GGajewski18]

I was there yesterday, and the crowd was just awesome. It was good to see just over 30k attend the game. Sox put on a show in the game and the fireworks after.

[GREEDY]

I live in the very far southwest suburbs and then spend weekends at my place in the city.

 

I would attend games during the week, but cannot. I used to split seasons with a friend but no longer buy them.

 

The traffic on I-55 is so unpredictable it makes it difficult. On a good day I can be to the park in 50 minutes, often it will take 90 minutes, and maybe 20% of the time: it will take over 2 hours. Sometimes there is a reason (friday night, holiday, accident etc), but often there seems to be no rhyme or reason to how long the commute will be.

 

It is due to the roulette wheel that is I-55 that I must skip out of work early, and leave three hours before a game, if I want to go. It turns going to the game into a huge ordeal, and this ordeal is something I can only do a dozen times a year (instead of 40).

 

Traffic was not this unpredictable a decade ago.

 

 

 

 

[caulfield12]

Applying analytics to the business side of baseball

 

 

The Indians have already been doing this for 1 1/2 seasons, FWIW.

[iamshack]

The Indians have already been doing this for 1 1/2 seasons, FWIW.

That is mentioned in the article.

[greg775]

The crowd looked smallish on mlb today.

[Dick Allen]

The crowd looked smallish on mlb today.

It wasn't bad.

[IlliniKrush]

Sox just sent out an email survey, the focus was about April games and perhaps starting a "Foul Weather Fan" Club. The other focus was on the use of replays at the park (not just during challenges).

 

I don't know that they'll move the needle much on these April games, but it appears to be a focus of theirs.

[lord chas]

Sox just sent out an email survey, the focus was about April games and perhaps starting a "Foul Weather Fan" Club. The other focus was on the use of replays at the park (not just during challenges).

 

I don't know that they'll move the needle much on these April games, but it appears to be a focus of theirs.

Saw this as well. I don't think giving me a hat would make me sit through a 40 degree game personally but give them credit for trying something.

The weather this April was terrible

[IlliniKrush]

Saw this as well. I don't think giving me a hat would make me sit through a 40 degree game personally but give them credit for trying something.

The weather this April was terrible

That was the gist of my response, many Sox fans know they are going to attend around X games per season, so why not wait until it warms up a bit? April games in 40 degree weather, when there are what 65ish other ones outside of April, aren't worth going to for most people, and how can you blame them? They are still making the same amount of games, just going later.

 

I said one thing to try to help would be not only to continue comps, but to maybe comp a May/June/July/August game for any April game bought, or something along those lines. Or greatly discount the tickets, or parking, or some sort of concession voucher. If April games are generally the same in price and benefits as a June game, you can figure out which one most people will pick.