Friday, May 07, 2010

Dodgers 2010 Attendance Surprisingly Holding Tight

I was at the game Wednesday night and crowds were pretty sparse; and, I realize they measure ticket sales instead of actual turnstile attendance. However I was surprised to see a Houston Chronicle article this week (no link) that stated the following:

  • Through Thursday night, 12 of the 30 MLB teams have attendance ahead of last year.
  • The Twins, with their inaugural season of Target field, lead MLB in improved attendance per game, with an average increase of almost 16K seats per game.
  • The Braves, Rangers, Pirates, and Brewers, follow the Twins (in order)--and in sixth place are the Dodgers, up 1,545 tickets per game over prior year.
  • The Dodgers also are leading the majors in attendance per game, at 46,427, over 1,000 per game ahead of the #2 Phillies.

If the Dodgers continue to hold last place in June, I don't think this trend will last. But maybe mine eyes deceive me, and Dodger ticket holders who have already paid are just choosing to stay home?

19 comments:

Josh S. said...

My bro-in-law works for a ticket site, and he's been saying they are inundated with excess tickets for the lesser demand games (non-giveaways, non-Yankees). Tickets for Wednesday were ranging from $3 for the top deck to $50 for Field Box VIP.

Kyle Baker said...

Dodger attendance #s have always been the most rigged in MLB. The night you were there, you could probably count the number of folks in the stadium if they all stood still.

Different teams measure attendance in different ways, some more realistic than others. Ours are almost always on the more unrealistic side.

Even if one accepts that the numbers are based on season ticket holders having paid for a seat but just didn't show up, I challenge that after hearing from several different sources that season sales were down this year for the first time in awhile.

In short: don't believe the hype.

On the upside, it's really easy to get last-minute good tickets for the games.

Lastly, as a leading indicator for attendance, men's restroom lines have been significantly shorter this season during every game I've gone to.

Kyle Baker said...

Josh's comment triggers a good point, which is that the over-emphasis on the Yankees series appears to have sucked the life out of other, non-Yankees dates.

Josh S. said...

Cheap seats for tonight's game, btw. Get your (Men in their) 60's Night poster!

Greg Zakwin said...

Josh- Which site?

Josh S. said...

Hmmm...they have $285 Baseline Box Club seats for $105. If I ever try that section, that's the way to do it.

Josh S. said...

KK: Zigabid.com

(I was trying to avoid a shameless plug.)

Kyle Baker said...

There's no such thing as shame, Josh.

Greg Zakwin said...

Josh- Thanks, nothing shameless about it. We all could use info on cheap seats.

MR.F said...

Oh. Everybody's moved over to this thread.

Kyle Baker said...

@Mr F

We're doing that Scooby Doo room-to-room mansion thing again, it would seem.

Kyle Baker said...

Holy shit:

"Jamie McCourt is awarded $637,159 a month in temporary spousal support." -LA Times

MR.F said...

$300k less than she was demanding! What a victory for Frank!!!

Josh S. said...

How will she survive?

I'm going to take up a collection.

*grabs a can, spits in it*

Steve Sax said...

Josh, maybe we should do a zigabid / sosg promotion...

Josh S. said...

@Sax: I'll have the bro email you. He's the one that sent you the Vons display pic.

dsheridan88 said...

Attendance figures have pretty much been a sham the last 8 years or so...when actual numbers of people coming to the game stopped being released.
Tickets sold is not attendance. Attendance means, well, attendance.

I would be curious to know...but I can't find the information anywhere, how the "jump" in attendance following the strike and "epic home run race" was really about a new cheater way of reporting it.....Perception is reality, I guess.

Unknown said...

I agree attendance way low been to 4 games this year including blanket night lots of field seats empty

Rocco said...

Lots of season ticket holders have their tickets listed on stubhub...true..you can get some bargains on there last minute..on ebay brokers are listing tickets for outrageously high prices...$100 for top deck mid week...gimme a break..