MLB attendance could be down as much as 20%

[missionhockey21]

If baseball was smart, they would reduce the price of tickets to make attending multiple games affordable for the average family and allow them to bring their own food/snacks. The biggest barrier to attend is the cost of a ticket. I have never had a primo seat in my life at a big league park, not even the next two or three best sections, but I don't want to sit in the worst section either. If baseball was made affordable, people might actually starting going to more than just a game (for the average fan.)

I really believe that if baseball encouraged the family visit, not only would attendance be up (with no worse an impact on revenue) but many new fans could be created. Who cares if a mom makes up peanut butter sandwiches and has baggies of chips or pretzels for the kids to eat at the game when you know that if you get the family hooked on the team that they'll be buying hot dogs and soft pretzels when the economy smooths over?

Major League Baseball has warned club businesspeople that attendance is expected to be down 17-20 percent in 2009, and that it could be worse, especially for franchises such as the San Diego Padres, Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians, Houston Astros, Colorado Rockies and others that could be seriously impacted by the recession.

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Empty spring seats spawn creative regular-season deals
By Bob Nightengale and Michael McCarthy, USA TODAY
Major League Baseball clubs, concerned by a 12% drop in spring-training attendance, already are trying to find ways to avert a similar downturn in the regular season.

"Baseball is comfort food," says Bob Crotty, founder of the private Green Diamond Gallery of baseball memorabilia near Cincinnati, who has traveled to Florida and Arizona this spring to watch games. "And people can't afford that comfort right now. Every industry is down 20%, and baseball is no different. Baseball has got to get creative to compete."

SPRING ATTENDANCE: Arizona hit hard
TICKET DEALS: Ties to birthdays, stock prices

Teams have begun offering lower-priced — even free — tickets to help attract cash-strapped fans. Faced with the worst economic climate in decades, some clubs are dropping prices for cheap tickets below the $7.18 average cost of a movie ticket.

"We're the first sport to really go on sale in the teeth of this (recession)," MLB President Bob DuPuy says. "We'd like to hope that people recognize that we are affordable and that there are ways of coming to games."

The Los Angeles Angels are requiring everyone in the organization to attend a customer-service seminar. The Baltimore Orioles are offering free tickets to fans celebrating their birthdays that month. The Toronto Blue Jays are offering a $95 pass for 81 home games in their upper deck. And the Minnesota Twins, playing their final games in the Metrodome, are pricing select tickets on the close of the Dow Jones industrial average. If the Dow closes in the 7000s, the $21 tickets will cost $7.

"At least if the market goes down," says Patrick Klinger, Twins vice president of marketing, "so does the price of a Twins ticket."

The average spring attendance downturn is due in part to some less-attractive exhibitions featuring World Baseball Classic teams. There have been fewer such games at sites in Arizona, where the recession has hit hard; attendance is down more than 1,200 a game there. The Arizona Diamondbacks took note: In the regular season, the club will invite fans to bring their own food to the ballpark.

Empty spring seats spawn creative regular-season deals - USATODAY.com

[browntown653]

I wish you ran the league.

[love_that_reefer]

I really feel bad for the Detroit Tigers. It is so bad in Detroit, the average home now cost $18k!!

[cjkalt]

I read that the Arizona Diamondbacks are already allowing fans to bring in their own food, this is amazing, too bad my Red Sox have no such problems selling tickets