There are rumblings of an alarming trend that could mean a fiscal nightmare among many MLB teams this coming year. There have been several teams in the last week who have set the record for all-time low attendance. The Washington Nationals only managed to have 11,623 spectators watch them defeat the Colorado Rockies on Monday. The Toronto Blue Jays also set a low water mark on Monday drawing only 10,314. These two could easily be written off because both teams seem to be destined for the cellar in each of their divisions not withstanding their good starts to the season. However, the Seattle Mariners also set a record low of 14,528 despite the team having high hopes entering the season. Attendance numbers are down 8% in Houston. Cleveland and Texas numbers are low and the Baltimore Orioles also drew a total of 33,000 for the entire series against the Rays.
Nobody in the league office has expressed concern yet over the dip in numbers. With the economy limping to restart itself, big corporations are cutting costs and it looks as though they are not spending lavishly on the big season ticket packages as they used to. Has baseball priced itself out of the average fan’s budget? According to the Team Marketing Report, the average ticket price in MLB is $26.79. I have to admit that prices have gotten to the point where I think twice before I plunk out my hard earned money to see a ball game. How will this affect these small market teams in the future? Will there be money to pay the demands of high priced free agents? There is a trend already in baseball where teams are going younger and cheaper (see Jermaine Dye). What would your plan of action be if you were the GM of one of these cash strapped teams?
On a side note, Biz of Baseball’s Maury Brown points out that two of the five record-breaking teams play in the AL East. If these numbers are a sign of apathy toward Yankees-Red Sox stranglehold, MLB could be facing this problem for awhile.
Loading ...
You gotta expect low attendance for teams that suck especially when the economy is like it is. They can keep their ticket prices but lower the price of beer and food. I cant go to a game unless I am ready to drop $200 for cheap seats and food/beer.
Bottom line is the market will dictate prices you will see teams start to lower pricing if the trend continues
Absolutely right. At the end of the day MLB is a business and they will adjust their prices to the market. Putting people in the stands is important to business and it helps pay the contracts of the players. So unless the owners don’t care, they will have to cater to their market (until the government takes over then BHO will tell everyone how much ticket prices costs and how much players/coaches are allowed to make).
When are people going to realize that Selig as a very bad commitioner….
And people use to laugh at the Montreal Expos, at least they had a reason for the decline mostly because of ownership and lack of goverment support for a stadium, and we all know with a statium downton it would off be full pack…
Look at the stadium all over MLB they are all 10-15K people and sometimes less, how long can you support those team on those cities….
you need a salary cap like NHL at a max cap of $80K and a floor of $40-to 45K
Than again Selig is happy with the Yankees and the red sox are in the world series….
he does not care about all the other cities.