http://www.democraticunderground.org/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=215x92888Oh my.
I hadn't paid much attention to the cboy4 primitive, who's the most qualified on Skins's island, to discuss sports, amateur and professional, and so wandered over there to see what's up.
Upton (1000+ posts) Mon Apr-20-09 10:56 PM
Original message
How low can you go? ..Nats and Pirates attendance
On Sunday, the just brutal Washington Nationals were playing the hottest team in the league and drew but 16,974. However, that was not the lowest attendance figure of the day...that dubious distinction belongs to the Pirates who drew a pathetic 14,776.
The Nats are 26th in the league in attendance, the Pirates 29th...so, the only question that remains for these two teams is...how low can you go?
Btw, the Giants, though struggling, are 9th in attendance as the Real sports fans of the Bay Area continue to exhibit their loyalty.
TZ (1000+ posts) Mon Apr-20-09 11:04 PM
Response to Original message
1. Yeah well with nothing better to do
Of course the giants get attendence. Folks in DC have lots of things to do including playoff Hockey.BTW still better attendence than Montreal or Miami.
Upton (1000+ posts) Mon Apr-20-09 11:17 PM
Response to Reply #1
2. Last year the Nats were 19th in attendance, averaging 29,005 a game.. This year, they're averaging but 23,348 a game...I guess you could blame it on hockey, the weather, or the economy, but the warning signs are there. This is a struggling franchise, not only on the field but in the stands as well.
cboy4 (1000+ posts) Mon Apr-20-09 11:21 PM
Response to Reply #1
3. Yea, there's just absolutely nothing to do in San Francisco.
TZ (1000+ posts) Tue Apr-21-09 07:05 AM
Response to Reply #3
8. Compared to here
With all the FREE stuff ...in this economy if you don't think it's going to make a difference..
The truemud primitive, who along with the forkboy primitive, thinks he knows more about sports than the cboy4 primitive; people with lesser delusions than that, have been lobotomized:
trumad (1000+ posts) Tue Apr-21-09 06:52 AM
Response to Reply #1
7. Umm
You can't be serious about nothing to do in San Fran---one of the great Metropolitan City's of the world.
cboy4 (1000+ posts) Mon Apr-20-09 11:25 PM
Response to Original message
4. 8,790 in Pittsburgh tonight...the AAA Sacramento Rivercats routinely draw more people than that, even though people can drive an hour and a half to watch the parent A's in Oakland.
flvegan (1000+ posts) Tue Apr-21-09 12:41 AM
Response to Original message
6. OR, California, though divided in team loyalty, just likes baseball.
Let us see, the Giants this month played so far:
5 games v the Dodgers
3 games v Oakland
3 games v San Diego
madinmaryland (1000+ posts) Tue Apr-21-09 08:08 AM
Response to Original message
9. Hmm. Another shut-out for the Pirates last night.
Upton (1000+ posts) Tue Apr-21-09 09:17 AM
Response to Reply #9
12. Too bad nobody was there to see it after drawing less than 9000 last night, the Pirates are now officially LAST in MLB in attendance.
I dunno; I haven't seen any numbers, but I've heard the Minnesota Twins haven't been drawing well for a long time now.
TZ (1000+ posts) Tue Apr-21-09 08:31 AM
Response to Original message
10. I can tell you this.
If the Nats had a playoff game..they would sell out (I'm looking at you Atlanta). And lets look at the Florida Marlins who even with WS wins underneath their belts have worse attendence than either team. There are far sorrier teams in attendence then the Nats
Upton (1000+ posts) Tue Apr-21-09 09:15 AM
Response to Reply #10
11. Not so fast as of this morning, Atlanta is 19th and Florida 25th in attendance...this compares with the Nat's dropping to 28th, after a dismal 12,473 last night. I know the weather wasn't great, but in a similar situation you'd see at least 30,000 in the Bay Area for the Giants.
We'll see how things work out as the season progresses, but for such a new franchise that came on the scene with such fanfare.. Nat attendance has to be considered a major disappointment.
TZ (1000+ posts) Tue Apr-21-09 09:33 AM
Response to Reply #11
13. Actually a lot of the Nats attendence or lack of is because of the politicians/lawyers/corporations who buy up a lot of the good seats for occasional use. Thats kind of the sports culture around here..with the notable exception of the Redskins.. .
I'll admit there are better sports citites but really as I said...When you have the Smithsonian, monuments, Kennedy Center, and all kinds of other (and many free) activities going on down at the Mall (we just finished the Cherry Blossom festival) I am not at all surprised with as bad as the Nats are playing attendence is down. Also..there are a few minor league ball teams around here that offer really good cheap deals for families and I think with budget tightening...why go into the city and pay a ton to see a rotten sports franchise when you can go right down the road and have a good time with a not so bad team myself..I've been to a few Frederick Keys games myself..some outings sponsered by my employers and I can DEFINITELY see the appeal there.
Edit: If they improve their play, the attendence will most likely improve. But Spring time in DC--there is a hell of a lot of other things to do here...
cboy4 (1000+ posts) Tue Apr-21-09 05:57 PM
Response to Reply #13
25. That's such a lame excuse...The politicians lawyers and corporations buy up the luxury suites and the seats down near the field.
There are plenty of seats available for anyone that wants to be a loyal fan and go to the game.
Furthermore, I don't really believe people who live there go to the monuments and the museums. That's like saying people in NYC don't go to the games because they can go to the top of the Empire State building and ride the Staten Island ferry. Those are tourist activities.
And let's just say people in metro DC are going to the museums and monuments .. they certainly aren't going at night, because they're closed. So you can do all of that and still go to a Nationals game, because most games are played at night.
Stop apologizing for all of the fair weather fans. I know your team sucks, but just admit people aren't going because they suck.
It's not because there are so many other choices at night. I've been to DC many times, and the place, with the exception of Georgetown, is a ghost town after 5 when the federal workers go home.
trumad (1000+ posts) Tue Apr-21-09 11:35 AM
Response to Reply #10
14. The Marlins play in a football stadium not conducive to B-Ball
I expect them to do much better when their new stadium is built in Miami.
charlie and algernon (1000+ posts) Tue Apr-21-09 11:42 AM
Response to Reply #14
15. and during that 2003 playoff run, they were averaging 65,000 people a game
Oops, I thought they had more, but after checking ESPN.com, they had 65,000 a game. A lot of Marlins fans were incredibly hurt as a result of the 1997 firesale and the subsequent mini firesales. If the Marlins continue their run, that stadium will fill up again.
TZ (1000+ posts) Tue Apr-21-09 12:22 PM
Response to Reply #15
16. but before and after the WS runs
The Marlins have had pretty dismal attendence..so much so that when DC was looking for a team there was some talk that the Marlins would do better HERE then down there....I don't buy the bad stadium deal that much either. Some places aren't as good as others. I will buy that DC is one of them (definitely a football town first) I think Miami is just one of those places with too much other stuff going on for a baseball team to be a big draw..
charlie and algernon (1000+ posts) Tue Apr-21-09 01:00 PM
Response to Reply #16
17. it was the firesales that did it if the nationals have the worst GM, we've had the worst owners, BY FAR. The same guy that destroyed the expos is now running the show in Miami. It's not just losing Miggy, Derek Lee, and Becket, it's losing that loaded 1997 team. Imagine if we had kept Kevin Brown and Gary Sheffied a few more years? Perhaps we could've built a solid foundation and developed into a consistant contender.
I'm hoping that the contract extension for Ramirez and the new stadium is the start of change, but I'm not hoping too much. It's nice that's we've won World Series titles, but the fans can support forever the model of winning a title, selling the pieces, and sucking for 5 years till the prospects mature, rinse and repeat.
trumad (1000+ posts) Tue Apr-21-09 01:21 PM
Response to Reply #16
18. Well then you've never been in Phin stadium for a b-ball game.
Their new Miami stadium should increase their attendance big time.
Then the primitives for some reason start discussing football game attendance, not brought over here. And then back on topic:
dakota_democrat (191 posts) Tue Apr-21-09 04:15 PM
Response to Original message
24. I'm surprised the Nats do as well as they have in attendance.
You can't just move a team into a town and tell the fans, "This is who you're supposed to cheer for now."
And Pittsburgh...the Pirates are just the low man on the totem pole. Tack on that Pittsburgh's been more heavily hit by the recession than other baseball cities, and what do you expect to happen?
Your efforts to make the SF Giants look good could use some improvements.
