Author Topic: 2012 attendence and fans  (Read 5619 times)

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Offline zimm_da_kid

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2012 attendence and fans
« Topic Start: May 15, 2012, 11:24:23 PM »
I haven't been to any home games yet but i am curious as to how the attendence and noise level compare to previous years.

Offline KnorrForYourMoney

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Re: 2012 attendence and fans
« Reply #1: May 15, 2012, 11:38:34 PM »
Except for the Philly series, typical dead silence punctuated by the stadium's attempts to pump artificial noise.

Offline Smithian

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Re: 2012 attendence and fans
« Reply #2: May 15, 2012, 11:55:18 PM »
Except for the Philly series, typical dead silence punctuated by the stadium's attempts to pump artificial noise.
So, your typical MLB experience for non-big games?

Offline The Chief

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Re: 2012 attendence and fans
« Reply #3: May 16, 2012, 12:01:12 AM »
Except for the Philly series, typical dead silence punctuated by the stadium's attempts to pump artificial noise.

Not sure I completely agree.  We've still got a long way to go but at least on TV it sounds like the crowds (such as they are) are more into the games this year than in recent years.

Offline KnorrForYourMoney

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Re: 2012 attendence and fans
« Reply #4: May 16, 2012, 12:01:50 AM »
So, your typical MLB experience for non-big games?

Uhh, no.  Try actually watching MLB games in other stadiums, hoss (other than Wrigley this year where Cubs fans are already drinking cyanide).

Offline DPMOmaha

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Re: 2012 attendence and fans
« Reply #5: May 16, 2012, 12:02:05 AM »
Isn't attendance up in general from this point last year

Offline KnorrForYourMoney

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Re: 2012 attendence and fans
« Reply #6: May 16, 2012, 12:02:21 AM »
Not sure I completely agree.  We've still got a long way to go but at least on TV it sounds like the crowds (such as they are) are more into the games this year than in recent years.

I've been to the stadium, trust me.  Silence until the 9th inning or runs score.

Offline CALSGR8

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Re: 2012 attendence and fans
« Reply #7: May 16, 2012, 06:06:10 AM »
I've been to the stadium, trust me.  Silence until the 9th inning or runs score.

Then you dont sit inMY section!

Online PowerBoater69

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Re: 2012 attendence and fans
« Reply #8: May 16, 2012, 06:24:51 AM »
In 2008 the team claimed that even though the announced attendance wasn't what they wanted at the new ballpark that at least they had one of the lowest rates of no-shows in MLB.  Well that sure isn't the case anymore, for the Monday through Wednesday games I doubt if even half the people who bought tickets are showing up.  I'm at a loss to figure out why attendance is down, it hasn't been as rainy as in some past years and the team is winning.

Offline MarquisDeSade

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Re: 2012 attendence and fans
« Reply #9: May 16, 2012, 07:14:04 AM »
Memories of 2008-2011 aren't going to go away because of a hot start.

Online PowerBoater69

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Re: 2012 attendence and fans
« Reply #10: May 16, 2012, 07:16:58 AM »
Memories of 2008-2011 aren't going to go away because of a hot start.

Very true, but what is strange is that actual attendance seems to be down, announced attendance for the weeknight games I've been to has been in the high teens, but there is no chance there were 10K people there for a couple of those games on nice nights.

Offline tomterp

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Re: 2012 attendence and fans
« Reply #11: May 16, 2012, 07:20:58 AM »
Paid attendance is up 23% this year for the Nats based on a comparison to the first 18 games of 2011 - 25,333 vs 20,526.  In 2011 (and previous years based on mindfact survey) this was the low point as average attendance improves into the summer months, ending 2011 at 24,878.  If this trend holds, Nats could threaten 30k average for the full season in 2012.

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=mlb/teams/006/attendance.aspx?team=006

Online PowerBoater69

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Re: 2012 attendence and fans
« Reply #12: May 16, 2012, 07:26:37 AM »
Paid attendance is up 23% this year for the Nats based on a comparison to the first 18 games of 2011 - 25,333 vs 20,526.  In 2011 (and previous years based on mindfact survey) this was the low point as average attendance improves into the summer months, ending 2011 at 24,878.  If this trend holds, Nats could threaten 30k average for the full season in 2012.

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=mlb/teams/006/attendance.aspx?team=006

Wasn't there bad weather for just about the entire month of April last year?  Or was that the year before?  Over the last few weeks we've had some very poorly attended games when the conditions were perfect.

Edit: Last April we had a Saturday game postponed and a number of rainy games, opening day weekend was miserably cold, and we had the Phillies mid-week instead of on the weekend.  So I'd contend that the numbers aren't really up when comparing nice whether games against similar opponents.

Offline tomterp

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Re: 2012 attendence and fans
« Reply #13: May 16, 2012, 07:31:57 AM »
Wasn't there bad weather for just about the entire month of April last year?  Or was that the year before?  Over the last few weeks we've had some very poorly attended games when the conditions were perfect.

You mean like this Monday's game?    :lol:

Yeah, I think April was cool and rainy last year, but the season ticket base is larger this year.  I'm going to go slightly out on a limb here and predict we get very close to 30k average for 2012, and will beat all years since the franchise moved to DC with the exception of 2005.  Note 2008 > 29k.

Offline MarquisDeSade

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Re: 2012 attendence and fans
« Reply #14: May 16, 2012, 07:44:30 AM »
The Phillies series was on a weekend.

Online PowerBoater69

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Re: 2012 attendence and fans
« Reply #15: May 16, 2012, 07:47:55 AM »
You mean like this Monday's game?    :lol:

Yeah, I think April was cool and rainy last year, but the season ticket base is larger this year.  I'm going to go slightly out on a limb here and predict we get very close to 30k average for 2012, and will beat all years since the franchise moved to DC with the exception of 2005.  Note 2008 > 29k.

Indisputable that the base is up because the bottom numbers are higher, but the actual crowd sizes have been very small.  There have been several games when the number of butts in seats couldn't have been half of the paid attendance.  They've also started doing the $1 promotions earlier this year than last year.

Offline welch

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Re: 2012 attendence and fans
« Reply #16: May 16, 2012, 07:48:35 AM »
Data points:

- Yankee fan at my pharmacy knows about Bryce Harper ("talented kid!") and says, "In spite of the injuries, your team is really good".

- Bumped into former Mets fan on facebook who now wears a Nats hat. "The Nats have built their organization the right way."

- Member of my family who grew up  mid-90s Yankee fan is now fanatic Nats fan.

Hard work to rebuild a die-hard fanbase after 30 years without baseball and the beginning of Nats III, but this team will draw.

Online PowerBoater69

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Re: 2012 attendence and fans
« Reply #17: May 16, 2012, 07:48:44 AM »
The Phillies series was on a weekend.

This year it was on a weekend, last year it was mid-week, which would inflate the numbers for 2012.

Online PowerBoater69

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Re: 2012 attendence and fans
« Reply #18: May 16, 2012, 07:50:32 AM »
Data points:

- Yankee fan at my pharmacy knows about Bryce Harper ("talented kid!") and says, "In spite of the injuries, your team is really good".

- Bumped into former Mets fan on facebook who now wears a Nats hat. "The Nats have built their organization the right way."

- Member of my family who grew up  mid-90s Yankee fan is now fanatic Nats fan.

Hard work to rebuild a die-hard fanbase after 30 years without baseball and the beginning of Nats III, but this team will draw.

Those sorts of things are part of why I called it "strange" in my post below that the crowd sizes have been so small.  I've seen tons of Nats hats around town and the sports talk radio guys are now talking about the team on a regular basis.

Offline Baseball is Life

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Re: 2012 attendence and fans
« Reply #19: May 16, 2012, 08:13:02 AM »

Yeah, I think April was cool and rainy last year, but the season ticket base is larger this year.  I'm going to go slightly out on a limb here and predict we get very close to 30k average for 2012, and will beat all years since the franchise moved to DC with the exception of 2005.  Note 2008 > 29k.

This. Feffer has said that the season ticket base is the biggest since 2008 (first year at park). And given that this is the most competitive, star-laden team the franchise has fielded since being here, the numbers will undoubtedly be substantially higher than last year.

Those who speculate on actual butts in seats are, well, just speculating.

Offline OldChelsea

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Re: 2012 attendence and fans
« Reply #20: May 16, 2012, 08:27:36 AM »
This. Feffer has said that the season ticket base is the biggest since 2008 (first year at park).

If one takes a look at the lowest-ever announced attendances in each of Nats Park's five seasons, there may be some substantiation for that:

2008 - 20,657 (Tuesday 23rd September vs Marlins)
2009 - 12,464 (Monday 20th April vs Braves)
2010 - 10,999 (Monday 20th September vs Astros)
2011 - 13,413 (Tuesday 12th April vs Phillies [!])
2012 to date - 14,520 (Wednesday 18th April vs Astros)

Average announced attendance this season is 25,332/fixture, up 1.8% from last year's full-season average of 24,877 (and this latter number includes all of the bigger-drawing summer fixtures, making this year's numbers look even more promising).

Online PowerBoater69

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Re: 2012 attendence and fans
« Reply #21: May 16, 2012, 08:45:42 AM »
Those who speculate on actual butts in seats are, well, just speculating.

As opposed to stating something as fact then retreating when questioned.

Online PowerBoater69

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Re: 2012 attendence and fans
« Reply #22: May 16, 2012, 08:47:13 AM »
If one takes a look at the lowest-ever announced attendances in each of Nats Park's five seasons, there may be some substantiation for that:

2008 - 20,657 (Tuesday 23rd September vs Marlins)
2009 - 12,464 (Monday 20th April vs Braves)
2010 - 10,999 (Monday 20th September vs Astros)
2011 - 13,413 (Tuesday 12th April vs Phillies [!])
2012 to date - 14,520 (Wednesday 18th April vs Astros)

Average announced attendance this season is 25,332/fixture, up 1.8% from last year's full-season average of 24,877 (and this latter number includes all of the bigger-drawing summer fixtures, making this year's numbers look even more promising).

A slight increase over last year which was inflated by the two for one season ticket offer.

Offline Baseball is Life

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Re: 2012 attendence and fans
« Reply #23: May 16, 2012, 08:51:29 AM »
As opposed to stating something as fact then retreating when questioned.


Sorry but I am no longer wasting time on trolling games. Have a Sunshiny day.

Offline Galah

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Re: 2012 attendence and fans
« Reply #24: May 16, 2012, 08:56:03 AM »
...in my opinion, having attended 17 games so far this season, yes, attendance seems to have been picking up and the crowd is becoming more engaged...I'm also finding smarter fans attending, folks who know at least SOME facts about the team beyond Zimm and Stras and Harp
but that's just an observation