2025 Attendance Projections

[Slateman]

the new orioles ownership doesn't seem to be much better than the old.

Lol, what?

https://www.thebanner.com/sports/orioles-mlb/orioles-spring-training-complex-sarasota-hitting-lab-pitching-lab-KSJ3LBQYM5BM7DX23UJ4447E5Q/

Our ownership was quibbling over 500k for a pitching machine

[imref]

They have a challenge in that market the Nats don't.  Baltimore is too small and doesn't have the $ DC does.  No one in Baltimore is paying $250+ for Terra Club. 

Rubenstein seems better than both Mini Me and Angelos, and I don't fault him for managing to the realities of an actual small market team.  They get tons of visiting fans too.  Considering they made the playoffs last year, have cheap tickets, and haven't been train wreck bad like this absolute cluster eff in DC, their attendance #'s are exceptionally bad.  Given the size of their local economy and media market, the model for them to emulate is KC, not DC.

The area around the park does nothing to attract fans either. That's the one advantage the Nats still have going for them.

Lol, what?

https://www.thebanner.com/sports/orioles-mlb/orioles-spring-training-complex-sarasota-hitting-lab-pitching-lab-KSJ3LBQYM5BM7DX23UJ4447E5Q/

Our ownership was quibbling over 500k for a pitching machine

Somehow the pitching machine isn't having much impact on the O's this season with attendance being down 22% and the team being in last place.

I went to a game a few weeks ago, Camden has become a dreary experience and whole sections of the stands are now closed off ala Oakland.

If you are arguing that their ownership is better than ours, you might have a point. But my earlier point was that there hasn't been any improvement with the Rubenstein group (and in fact, the team is going in the reverse direction).

[Smithian]

I think marketers have determined you're better jacking up the price on the diehards than you are lowering prices to the point the casuals will want to come to a game based on price factors, more than just "I have a night off."

From a point of behavioral economics, I understand it. I don't like it. I guess I understand it. Doesn't seems sports would be fun to invest in when you're strategy is pinch fans for a few extra cents.

[PowerBoater69]

I think marketers have determined you're better jacking up the price on the diehards than you are lowering prices to the point the casuals will want to come to a game based on price factors, more than just "I have a night off."

From a point of behavioral economics, I understand it. I don't like it. I guess I understand it. Doesn't seems sports would be fun to invest in when you're strategy is pinch fans for a few extra cents.

When the team was playing well their strategy was to squeeze the highest paying customers for even more money, which worked at the time. Now they need to get back to outreach.

I wonder how much the shooting in 2021 has impacted attendance. About two thirds of the games over the last weeks of the season are day games, which is a big shift.

[Slateman]

I think marketers have determined you're better jacking up the price on the diehards than you are lowering prices to the point the casuals will want to come to a game based on price factors, more than just "I have a night off."

From a point of behavioral economics, I understand it. I don't like it. I guess I understand it. Doesn't seems sports would be fun to invest in when you're strategy is pinch fans for a few extra cents.

Especially in DC, where a significant portion of people associate expense with being good.

When the team was playing well their strategy was to squeeze the highest paying customers for even more money, which worked at the time. Now they need to get back to outreach.

I wonder how much the shooting in 2021 has impacted attendance. About two thirds of the games over the last weeks of the season are day games, which is a big shift.

Considering that attendance has gone up since then, I'd say the shooting had no effect

[Natsinpwc]

I guess I don’t understand it totally. More people mean more concession and merchandise sales also??

[Smithian]

When the team was playing well their strategy was to squeeze the highest paying customers for even more money, which worked at the time. Now they need to get back to outreach.

I wonder how much the shooting in 2021 has impacted attendance. About two thirds of the games over the last weeks of the season are day games, which is a big shift.

There are some decent deals like their Tuesday plans, but it's still a shockingly expensive ball park by pro sports standards even before you get to the record.

On the second part, the stadium did get rough in 2021. After seeing the crap show stadium response to the shooting then having a couple nights where I has hassled after games on Half Street, I went to less Nats game in 2022 than I probably went any other season. Didn't really recover in 2023, but did more starting in 2024 and this season. I feel some positive changes were made around the Park. However, I don't really think cases like mine add up to a big number.

[Smithian]

Considering that attendance has gone up since then, I'd say the shooting had no effect

Wasn't Nats Park on restricted attendance beginning of 2021?

[Smithian]

I guess I don’t understand it totally. More people mean more concession and merchandise sales also??

That's my thought, but I'm guessing they have data showing the price aware ticket buyer isn't their top buyer of concessions and merch.

[PowerBoater69]

Wasn't Nats Park on restricted attendance beginning of 2021?

They had us sitting in pods, no one to the immediate left or right and no one directly in front or back. Some of the ushers got really into the masking rules, I avoided getting kicked out but I got two strikes and a printed out warning message.

[HalfSmokes]

That's my thought, but I'm guessing they have data showing the price aware ticket buyer isn't their top buyer of concessions and merch.

They probably dump the extra inventory on the secondary market as game day approaches

[imref]

37,397 total attendance for the Marlins series

[varoadking]

1,704,682 over 70 dates thru 9/3 with a 24,352 per game average (22nd in MLB) thru 09/03, projecting to a 1,972,561 season 81 home game total.

[OfftheBat]

37,397 total attendance for the Marlins series

Lol, I wonder if Mini Me cares? 🤔

[JCA-CrystalCity]

The Marlins series punished the average.

[Smithian]

The Marlins series punished the average.

It should be a real scary sign for ownership that a new low is possible. The weather was perfect, no NFL to compete against, a holiday.

The attendance floor may be lower than expected.

[PowerBoater69]

It should be a real scary sign for ownership that a new low is possible. The weather was perfect, no NFL to compete against, a holiday.

The attendance floor may be lower than expected.

Back before the Nats started getting a piece of the ticket transfer action I used to buy $1 tickets on eBay, just a buck, no fees or taxes. Then I'd pick out some real nice lower bowl seats. I had a ticket plan but I used to get a bunch of extra games this way. A playoff race would be better but there is something to be said for an empty ballpark.

The other big benefit of the last rebuild was that our ticket group started out near the back of section 113 in 2008 and by 2012 we were ten rows behind the Nats dugout. Seats that we never thought would come open were available. I watched the Wild Card game from there and the top of the first of World Series game five ended in a Rendon to Zimmerman to PowerBoater69 double play. Loyalty paid off.

[Slateman]

Meh, the Marlins never bring a crowd. Even in 2019, on a weekend, the Nats didnt crack 20K fans for any game during their September series with the fish

[imref]

35,774 combined attendance for the Marlins 4 game series. Gotta wonder how much longer that team can survive in that city.

[Natsinpwc]

35,774 combined attendance for the Marlins 4 game series. Gotta wonder how much longer that team can survive in that city.

Probably 10K actually came.  Just move to Nashville or wherever.

[HalfSmokes]

Their average attendance is barely beating a team playing in a aaa park. They need to be moved, but that would require baseball admitting a mistake

[IanRubbish]

Their average attendance is barely beating a team playing in a aaa park. They need to be moved, but that would require baseball admitting a mistake

Their lease goes to 2041, so nothing happening until then at least.  But agree that it's crazy how low their attendance is in an up-to-date ballpark.

[imref]

Their lease goes to 2041, so nothing happening until then at least.  But agree that it's crazy how low their attendance is in an up-to-date ballpark.

crappy team and location.

[IanRubbish]

Fairly light 18k tonight

[OfftheBat]

crappy team and location.

I'd argue that the location is nice, just a few miles away from the beach in Miami Beach (even though there's lots of traffic to go there), I was there last month. I think that their owners just need to field a competitive team and fans will eventually show up.