2012 attendence and fans

[PowerBoater69]

Going to a football game and yelling while your team is on offense is lack of basic fan knowledge.  Standing in front of people during the middle of a baseball game is obnoxious. 

I was impressed on Saturday night that the hometown fans were smart enough to stop the Wave as soon as the Nats came to bat.

[Obed_Marsh]

You overestimate the intelligence of the American public. You need to hit them over the head.

That is one option. I'd generally prefer to throw them from the balconies but I am afriad I might be inconvienced by delays in the game as they clean up the mess.

[tomterp]

2012 attendance through 28 games = 28,335, compared to 2011 (also through 28) 21,736, an increase of 30.3%

[OldChelsea]

2012 attendance through 28 games = 28,335, compared to 2011 (also through 28) 21,736, an increase of 30.3%

...and we're now only 670/fixture back of the best-ever Nats Park full-season average of 29,005 in 2008. It may be too late in the season to take aim at the post-relocation franchise best of 33,728 (2005 at RFK) but the Nats should break the Nats Park record with room to spare.

[Baseball is Life]

...and we're now only 670/fixture back of the best-ever Nats Park full-season average of 29,005 in 2008. It may be too late in the season to take aim at the post-relocation franchise best of 33,728 (2005 at RFK) but the Nats should break the Nats Park record with room to spare.

I predicted an increase of least 20% way back in the off season. I think I have a shot.

That Sunday June 3, game against the Braves really opened my eyes. It was almost a sellout and caught everyone by surprise, it seems.

[24 Nats]

2012 attendance through 28 games = 28,335.....

....and now ahead of Miami and its new stadium....averaging only 28,019 through 29 games.

[Baseball is Life]

....and now ahead of Miami and its new stadium....averaging only 28,019 through 29 games.

And their numbers will go down as the novelty of the new stadium wear off. Of course, that's doesn't take into account MDS buying up ticket blocks in the name of Giant Giancarlo and giving them to charity.

[OldChelsea]

I predicted an increase of least 20% way back in the off season. I think I have a shot.

That Sunday June 3, game against the Braves really opened my eyes. It was almost a sellout and caught everyone by surprise, it seems.

That was a surprisingly strong turn-out indeed (23rd-best in Nats Park history)...but did anyone envision 32k yesterday?

[Baseball is Life]

That was a surprisingly strong turn-out indeed (23rd-best in Nats Park history)...but did anyone envision 32k yesterday?

Wow. I had no idea there were 32K there yesterday. Man, the attendance numbers could get really interesting as the weather heats up, the Yanks bring some attention next week, and they keep winning.

[comish4lif]

Wow. I had no idea there were 32K there yesterday. Man, the attendance numbers could get really interesting as the weather heats up, the Yanks bring some attention next week, and they keep winning.

Was there yesterday with my wife - it was a real nice sized crowd. Of course that meant that traffic was a mess getting to and from the game. And the stands at the park don't know how to handle the crowds...

[MorseTheHorse]

32k yesterday is indeed impressive

[PowerBoater69]

...and we're now only 670/fixture back of the best-ever Nats Park full-season average of 29,005 in 2008. It may be too late in the season to take aim at the post-relocation franchise best of 33,728 (2005 at RFK) but the Nats should break the Nats Park record with room to spare.

Of course the dollars spent in 2008 was much higher as the team slashed ticket prices in large sections of the ballpark and introduced a number of dollar games and two for one plans.

[Baseball is Life]

32k yesterday is indeed impressive

Wasn't June 7 the Girl Scout Day promotion they had going with some big GSA event going on in town?

I remember someone coming on here and saying how terrible the idea was because it was during school hours. In classic WNFF fashion, we got into some tangential discussion about the merits of yanking your kids out of school for a baseball game.

[PowerBoater69]

32k yesterday is indeed impressive

I was stunned at the turn out, I always enjoyed the business man special games because you could sit anywhere in the park for the cost of the cheapest ticket available.  It would appear that those days are over, of course the Lerners pissed away half of the season ticket base once before, so there's a decent chance they'll do it again.

[Baseball is Life]

of course the Lerners pissed away half of the season ticket base once before, so there's a decent chance they'll do it again.

I just love the LoD. The crap never gets old.

[PowerBoater69]

Wasn't June 7 the Girl Scout Day promotion they had going with some big GSA event going on in town?

I remember someone coming on here and saying how terrible the idea was because it was during school hours. In classic WNFF fashion, we got into some tangential discussion about the merits of yanking your kids out of school for a baseball game.

There were not a lot of kids there yesterday, a few groups, but not many kids at all scattered around the stands.  Lots and lots of beer drinkers, the beer cooler near us was just about empty and they ran out of the more popular brands. 

[Tyler Durden]

Nats Journal has a blog post up today about attendance -

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/nationals-journal/post/nationals-home-attendance-is-up/2012/06/19/gJQAzn8hnV_blog.html

Up about 28% compared to this point last year.

[OldChelsea]

Nats Journal has a blog post up today about attendance -

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/nationals-journal/post/nationals-home-attendance-is-up/2012/06/19/gJQAzn8hnV_blog.html

Up about 28% compared to this point last year.

Not only is that average attendance a huge increase, but it's the highest ever at Nats Park and trails only the RFK debut season for best Nats home attendance ever.

[LostYudite]

Not only is that average attendance a huge increase, but it's the highest ever at Nats Park and trails only the RFK debut season for best Nats home attendance ever.

That's been the biggest surprise to me so far - it turns out there was a lot of pent-up demand to go to a ball game based on the performance of the team - I expected this year to be in the 20% range BiL talked about - best Nats Park year ever is impressive.  I hope it proves, once and for all for the Lerners that baseball is a revenue-growth model, not a cutting costs model.  If they want to spend to make us the Yankees of the NL, they can keep the stadium pretty close to packed.

[OldChelsea]

It'll be interesting to see what kind of attendance we get for this Rays series. The Rays have the fourth-worst road attendance in MLB (http://espn.go.com/mlb/attendance/_/sort/allAvg - only KC, the White Sox and Cleveland are poorer away draws) - odd considering that they've been a quality team for some time now, not the doormats they were in their 'Devil Rays' early history. But the Nats haven't drawn less than 25k at home since the Padres finale on 15th May. If we keep drawing big over this upcoming series - despite it being a weeknight series and against a poor road draw - this team's supporter base can be deemed in major growth mode...and if so...be afraid, Ted Leonsis and Dan Snyder...be very afraid.

[Baseball is Life]

If they come out even we have a little mini heat wave coming up, then we might have something.

Too bad we didn't get a Price vs. Stras showdown. That would have drawn 30K easily.

[welch]

I suspect fans will go just to see the Nats play, and win, no matter who is pitching against them. MLB dumped garbage on Washington for about 35 years. Last year was good, but this year looks amazing.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Nats Journal has a blog post up today about attendance -

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/nationals-journal/post/nationals-home-attendance-is-up/2012/06/19/gJQAzn8hnV_blog.html

Up about 28% compared to this point last year.

actually, if you go by games played, B-R has us up an even more.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/current_attendance.shtml

Through 31 games, we are up 7,637 per game, or almost 35%. 

totals through 31 games:
2011 - 680,779
2012 - 917, 525

[Baseball is Life]

actually, if you go by games played, B-R has us up an even more.

[welch]

actually, if you go by games played, B-R has us up an even more.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/current_attendance.shtml

Through 31 games, we are up 7,637 per game, or almost 35%. 

totals through 31 games:
2011 - 680,779
2012 - 917, 525

Note: back in the '50s and '60s, 1 million was great attendance. The target, the mark every team aimed for. The Nats often finished around 650,000. That's for the entire season, 154 games in the old stadium that held about 25,000 people (maybe 20,000 with an unimpeded view), or 162 in the new one.

Wow.

Of course, the 1957 AL HR champ, Roy Sievers, made about $25,000 a year...Calvin Griffith's explanation (swiped from the Pirates to Ralph Kiner): without you, we still would have finished last.