Major League Baseball established a single season attendance record for the third consecutive season Saturday, surpassing the 76 million mark for the first time in baseball history. Clearly the naysayer’s who continue to suggest baseball is a dead and dying sport hasn’t been paying attention. Clearly those who believe allegations directed at many of the games marquee players in regard to the use of performance-enhancing drugs haven’t been paying attention. Baseball is hotter then ever.

 

"Major League Baseball is more popular today than it has ever been in its long history," said Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig. "Setting a new attendance record for a third consecutive year is a remarkable accomplishment. The record signifies the great passion that fans all over the country have for our great game."

 

Both the New York Yankees and New York Mets are heading to the post-season. ‘Big Apple’ Major League Baseball enjoyed its greatest single attendance year. The Yankees regular season attendance topped 4.2 million. The Yankees drew more than 4 million fans for the second consecutive season. The Mets, winners of the National League’s eastern division with 3,379,551. All told, the Yankees and the Mets sold more than 7.5 million tickets to 162 games. Last year the Mets and the Yankees drew a combined 6.87 million fans. The Yankees won the AL East in 2005. The Mets finished fourth in the NL East winning 83 games. New Yorkers have a many choices they can make with their disposable dollars. A winning team in Flushing led to the Mets for an increase of 700,000 fans in 2006 over the 2,782,212 they drew in 2005.

 

Los Angeles may not be home to a National Football League franchise; but Lotus Land is home to two very successful Major League Baseball teams at the box office. The Dodgers sold 3,758,421 this year, establishing a single season Dodgers attendance record. The Los Angeles Angels sold more then 3.4 million tickets. The Big Apple may have sold more tickets in 2006, but in selling more than 7.1 million tickets in 2006, Southern Californian’s seriously supported their baseball franchises. In 2005 when combined the Dodgers and Angels surpassed 7 million tickets sold.

 

In their third year at Petco Park, the San Diego Padres made the playoffs for the second straight season. Through the Padres first three years at Petco, the franchise has sold more than 85 percent of their available ticket inventory. The Padres won 87 games in their first year at Petco, ending up in third place in the NL West. The Padres won the NL West in 2005, winning five fewer games before getting bounced by the Cardinals in the NL Divisional Series. In making the playoffs for the second consecutive season, the Padres understand the honeymoon period (support when a team moves into a new stadium) is shorter than ever.

 

The Milwaukee Brewers opened Miller Park in 2001. Miller Park has a capacity of 43,000. The Brewers hosted the MLB All-Star Game in 2002. In Miller Park’s inaugural season the Brewers sold 2,811,041 tickets, averaged 34,704 fans per game and played to 81.7 percent of Miller Park’s capacity. The honeymoon was over quickly for the Brewers and fans buying tickets to Brewers games to experience what it was like to attend a game at Miller Park.

 

Despite hosting baseball’s mid-summer classic in 2002, the Brewers experienced one of the biggest single season attendance drops in Major League Baseball history in 2002. The Brewers sold 1,969,153 tickets, averaged 24,310 fans per game and experienced an average attendance drop of nearly 25 percent -- playing to 57.2 percent of Miller Park’s capacity. The Brewers were a terrible team on the field in the years preceding their move to Miller Park and haven’t won more than 81 games (they finished at 81/81 in 2005), since the 1992 season. Brewers’ fans have been forced to endure 14 consecutive seasons of losing baseball. Brewers’ fans are proof sports fans won’t get fooled again.

 

The Brewers 2006 attendance -- 2,335,643 fans, an average of 28,835 fans per game, playing to 68.0 percent of capacity. The Brewers increase in attendance – not the teams’ on field presence, appears to have more to do with new ownership than anything else.  Los Angeles investment banker, Mark Attanasio, purchased the Brewers for $180 million from Bud Selig’s family just before the start of the 2005 season. Attanasio has worked at curing the Brewers image. It remains to be seen if he’ll be successful, but Attanasio already knows unless he delivers a competitive product he’ll have serious issues selling tickets.

 

The Pittsburgh Pirates moved into PNC Park at the start of the 2001 season. The Pirates enjoyed their first year in their new ballpark, selling 2,428,661, an average of 30,742 fans per game or 80.1 percent of PNC Park’s capacity. Strikingly similar to the attendance problems the Brewers had in their second year at Miller Park, the Pirates, in 2002 sold 1,784,988 tickets, an average of 22,594 fans or 58.9 percent capacity of their stadium’s capacity. The Pirates share one more important distinction with the Brewers. The last time the Pirates had a winning record, 1992. The Pirates won 96 games that year. In 1993 the Pirates won 75 games. Since then they have offered their fans nothing more then losing records for 14 consecutive seasons. Coincidently the last year the Pirates had a winning record and made the playoffs – 2002 – the last year Barry Bonds played in a Pirates uniform.

 

The days of the ‘Big Red Machine’ have long left the Cincinnati Reds organization. The Reds moved into the Great American Ballpark in 2003. In the teams’ last at Riverfront Stadium, the Reds sold 1,784,988 tickets in 2002, an average or 22,594 fans per game or 58.9 percent of capacity in 2002.

 

The following year, Great American Ballpark’s first season, the Reds sold 2,355,259, averaging 29,077 fans per game or 69.1 percent capacity. Before the Reds moved into their version of a ‘ back to the future ballpark’ in 2003; every MLB franchise that moved into a ‘retro-baseball-stadium’ sold more than 80 percent of their available tickets in the teams’ first year in their new fan friendly ballparks, before the Reds 2003 season. The Reds won 96 games in 1999, but failed to make the playoffs that year. The Reds won 85 games in 2000. While the Reds flittered with the St. Louis Cardinals in July and August for the NL Central lead this year, the Reds again will be on the outside looking in when the playoffs start Tuesday. The Reds sold 2,134,472 tickets in 2006 an average of 26,351 fans per game or 62.7 percent of the Great American Ballpark’s capacity. Why the lower attendance figures in the Great American Ballpark’s first year, when compared to other franchises, baseball fans in Cincinnati expect more for their team.

 

Major League Baseball continues to fail miserably in Florida. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays finished 29th in MLB attendance, their brothers to the south, the Florida Marlins dead last in 2006. In the last six MLB seasons, the Marlins and Devil Rays finished in the bottom five each year, and would have held the two lowest attendance totals in five of the last six seasons, if not for the dreadful Montreal Expos holding that distinction in their last four seasons in Montreal (2001 through 2004).

 

Both franchises sold less than 40 percent of their available ticket inventory this year. The Devil Rays decade of terrible baseball (the D-Rays have the worst record in baseball over the ten years they’ve been a “major league” team), managed to sell 1,369,031 tickets this year, averaging 16,901 fans per game or 38.6 percent of capacity.   The Marlins who ‘managed’ to sell out their last game of the season Sunday against Philadelphia, pushing their 2006 season total to 1,165,120, averaging 14,384 fans per game, or 38.8 percent.

 

Ownership issues aside for both franchises, the Marlins and D-Rays play in two of the worst baseball faculties ever conceived. The D-Rays are stuck with the terrible Tropicana Dome and the Marlins have little if any political support for their new stadium plans. Dolphins Stadium is a football, not a baseball facility.

 

If Pittsburgh and Milwaukee are examples of bad baseball + a fan friendly baseball stadium = bad attendance, the Marlins and the D-Rays are bad baseball + bad stadiums = the worst attendance in baseball over the last six years.

 

Bud Selig did his best to bully Montreal out of Major League Baseball forcing the team of relocate to Washington. If Selig has any real courage of his convictions he’ll send the same message to both the Marlins and the D-Rays ownership, get your houses in order or get out of town. Six years of terrible attendance, enough is enough MLB – Florida may love Spring Training, but the good citizens of the Sunshine State are not supporting anything other then the Grapefruit League.

 

The Houston Astros opened Enron Field in 2000, selling out the ballpark during the teams’ first two years. Enron the company was gone before the start of the 2002 season, the ballpark was renamed Minute Maid Park. After two consecutive seasons strong attendance numbers, Astros attendance fell by 10 percent for the 2002 and 2003 seasons. In 2004 the Astros attendance rebounded, 3,087,872 tickets sold, averaging 38,121 fans per game or 93.1 percent of Minute Maid Park’s capacity. The Astros hosted the MLB All-Star Game in 2004. A slight dip in 2005 2,762,472 tickets sold, averaging 34,530 fans per game or 84.3 percent of capacity. The Astros won the National League pennant last year. Finally eliminated yesterday when they lost to the Braves in Atlanta, in 2006 an increase to 3,022,763 tickets sold, averaging 37,318 fans per game or 91.1 percent capacity. In the last eleven seasons the Astros had a losing record one year (2000, their last in the Astrodome when they won 72 games).

 

Astros owner Drayton McLane has been a good owner. He’s invested in his team, signing key players like Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte. McLane sending a strong message to Astros fans ~he as an owner is going to do whatever he reasonably does to win~. Never underestimate how important consumer confidence is in selling tickets to sports events.

 

Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks offered Alex Rodriguez the largest contract ever presented to an athlete playing in a North American sports league, signing A-Rod to a 10-year, $252 million contract before the start of the 2001 season.

 

The Rangers won the American League Western title in 1999 winning 95 games. A year later (the year before A-Rod) the Rangers won only 71 games in 2000. The Rangers sold 2,800,147 in 2000 and 2,774,501 in 1999. A-Rod was a member of the Rangers for three seasons 2001 through 2003. The Rangers were no better with A-Rod then without Rodriguez. The Rangers won 73 games in 2001, 72 games in 2002 and 71 games in 2003 Rodriguez’s last season in Texas before the Rangers traded a player they never could afford to the Yankees.

 

There wasn’t any A-Rod affect in terms of the teams’ attendance. In 2001 the Rangers sold 2,831,111 tickets (an increase of less than 30,000 over the 2000 season), 2,352,397 tickets in 2002 and 2,094,394 in 2003 A-Rod’s last year as a Texas Ranger. In 2004, the Rangers won 89 games and sold 2,513,687 tickets, won 79 games in 2005 and sold 2,525,259 tickets and winning 80 games this year, selling 2,831,021 tickets. Winning is always important in selling tickets. It does appear in a market like Dallas, signing a marquee player like Alex Rodriguez isn’t what sports fans in Dallas want from their team.

 

In a football driven market (Texas) it’s essential the Rangers understand what their stakeholders want (the ticket buying public) and that doesn’t include big name players with gigantic contracts. A-Rod may be traded by the Yankees if he fails to deliver in the post season, but if he is traded any interested team better place close attention how little A-Rod meant to selling tickets in Texas.

 

If the Yankees try and trade Rodriguez, any interested team should carefully consider the impact a player of Alex Rodriguez’s stature will have on their teams’ attendance. In a market as big as New York fans only care about winning. In the Dallas/Fort Worth market sports fans take a lot closer look at who is wearing the home team uniforms.

 

Saturday was a great day to be a Detroit Tigers fans. Long suffering Tigers fans experienced the joy of having their team win their American League Divisional Series against the New York Yankees. For the Tigers, winning on the field in 2006 resulted in a great deal of success at the box office. The Tigers sold 2,595,937 tickets at Comerica Park, an average of 32,048 fans per game or 79.9 percent of capacity this year. The Tigers won 95 games, claiming the AL Wild Card playoff spot. The Tigers winning season was the teams’ first in 13 seasons. Since the 1992 season, the Tigers finished third three times, fourth five times, fifth five times and sixth once.

 

Winning and losing has had a tremendous impact on the Tigers box office – a great example of how important winning is to selling tickets. The Tigers moved from Tiger Stadium to Comerica Park at the start of the 2000 season. The Tigers sold 2,533,753 tickets, an average of 31, 280 fans per game in Comerica’s first season. The Tigers won 79 games that year, won 66 games in 2001. The Tigers experienced a significant drop in attendance in 2001, selling 1,921,305 tickets, an average of 24,016 fans per game or 60.0 percent capacity. The one year drop in attendance – 612, 448. A year later the Pirates won only 55 games in 2002 selling 1,503,623 tickets an average of 18,795 fans per game 47.0 percent capacity. The Tigers on-field performance hit rock bottom in 2003. The once proud franchise won a major league low 43 games, selling 1,368,245 tickets, an average of fans per game of 17,103 or 42.6 percent capacity. In the four years that Comerica Park was open, attendance had fallen by 1,165,508, an astronomical drop by anyone’s standards. The Tigers won 72 games in 2004 an improvement of 29 wins over 2003. Winning 29 paid off at the box office – selling 1,917,004 tickets, averaging 23,962 fans per game or filling 59.7 percent of Comerica’s seats. The Tigers won 71 games last year and had a better year at the box office (compared to 2004) selling 2,024,505 tickets, averaging 25,306 fans per game or 63.1 percent capacity. Bottom line, in Motown the Tigers winning means more tickets will be sold.

 

Billy Ball has driven the Oakland A’s to winning records, and home field advantage as long as the A’s stay alive in their drive to win the 2006 World Series. The A’s have had a winning record since the 1999 season, winning the 2002, 2003 and 2006 American League West titles. Over the last eight seasons the A’s have averaged 93 wins per season. The A’s sold 1,976,625 tickets in 2006, an average of 24,402 fans per game. Over the last eight seasons, the A’s have averaged 1,996,330 fans per season.

 

The A’s announced prior to the start of the 2006 season they would cover McAfee Coliseum’s upper deck for the teams’ entire home schedule, decreasing the stadiums capacity by more than 10,000 seats, to 34,077 seats. The seats have remained covered with huge tarps with the team's logos. For the A’s the rationale was simple, the law of supply and demand. Decrease the capacity, regardless of who the A’s where playing and drive demand. The A’s where steadfast throughout the regular season and have kept the policy in place for the ALDS games against the Minnesota Twins.

 

The A’s could have sold those tickets for Friday’s ALDS clinching game against the Twins but choose to follow their policy, turning away 10,000 potential ticket buyers.  A’s managing partner managing partner Lewis Wolff has announced the policy will remain in affect for the American League Championship series. If the A’s win the American League pennant MLB is expected to insist the A’s open the upper deck. World Series revenue is shared and helps determine players’ playoff and World Series shares. Giving away the revenues from 10,000 seats isn’t a good business decision.

 

The A’s 2006 opening day payroll -- $62,243,079 (21st overall). The A’s 2005 payroll -- $ 55,425,762 (25th overall). The A’s 2004 payroll -- $ 59,425,667. The A’s 2003 payroll -- $ 50,260,834 . The A’s 2002 payroll -- $ 40,004,167. The A’s 2001 payroll -- $ 33,810,750.

 

Billy Beane has spent a shade over $301 million on the A’s payroll over the last six seasons, an average annual payroll of $50.2 million. The A’s have averaged 96 wins each of the last six seasons. Compare what Billy Beane has accomplished to what Brian Cashman’s  Yankees have done on an off the field. Cashman has spent $975 million over the last six seasons on the Yankees payroll, an average annual payroll of $162 million (and that does not include the tens of millions of dollars in luxury tax the Yankees have paid above and beyond the teams’ payroll). The Yankees have averaged 98 wins each of the last six seasons. 

 

The A’s Bay City brothers, the San Francisco Giants have consistently better attendance numbers since they moved into Pac Bell Park at the start of the 2000 season. The Giants ballpark has undergone one other name change, SBC Park before it was rechristened AT&T Park before the start of the 2006 season.  In 2006 the Giants sold 3,130,304 tickets, averaging 38,645 fans per game or 93.0 percent capacity. The Giants won the National League pennant in 2002, losing the World Series to the Los Angeles Angels. In the six years the Giants have played at their new ballpark, the team has averaged 3.2 million fans per game, selling close to 95 of their available ticket inventory. Winning and Barry Bonds have been the driving forces. It remains to be seen if the Giants will sign Bonds for what is expected to be his final MLB season. The Giants paid Bonds $18 million for the 2006 season. Bonds is 21 home runs away from setting a new career homerun record, Barry Bonds is worth at least $10 million to the Giants in ticket sales for the 2007 season.

 

The St. Louis Cardinals moved into Busch Stadium III this year, selling 3,407,104 tickets, averaging 42,588 fans per game or 99 percent capacity (does not include standing room). The Cardinals actually sold more tickets last year 3,491,837, averaging 43,647, but less of their ticket inventory 86.7 percent at Busch Stadium II. The key to the Cardinals – the teams’ average ticket price went up 12.1 percent to $29.78, giving it the third highest average price in the majors, behind the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs. The Cardinals increase in their ticket prices was far smaller than the 50 percent average increase seen in the last ten teams to move into new homes since 2000. The Cardinals, another great example of the law of supply and demand. Create the demand by decreasing the capacity. In the Cardinals case Busch Stadium III’s capacity is 43,975 seats/46,861 with standing room. The Cardinals sold of their available seats for the 2006 season. Busch Stadium II’s seating capacity was 49,676. The Cardinals new ballpark has 5,701 fewer seats, but with higher ticket prices the Cardinals are generating more revenue from ticket sales.

 

Major League Baseball’s two New York franchises sold 7.6 million tickets, the two Los Angeles teams’ 7.1 million tickets. The Chicago Cubs sold 3,123,215 tickets, averaging 39,040 at Wrigley Field or 94.9 percent capacity. The Chicago White Sox sold 2,957,414 tickets, averaging 36,511 fans per game or 89.9 percent capacity. Windy City baseball fans sold 6.08 million tickets in 2006, not quite as impressive as the numbers from Los Angeles and New York but the highest Chicago totals in years. In 2005 the Cubs and White Sox sold 5.4 million tickets, 5.1 million tickets in 2004, 4.89 million in 2003, 4.36 million in 2002 and 4.55 million in 2001. The Cubs made the playoffs in 2003 (the year of the Bartman ball) and the White Sox won the World Series in 2005. It will be interesting to follow the Cubs and White Sox attendance numbers in 2007.

 

Wrigley Field, which cost $250,000 to build in 1914, has a capacity of 41,118. That number allows the Cubs to keep their average ticket price second only to the Boston Red Sox in terms of average ticket price. Again, a classic example of the law of supply and demand.

 

U.S. Cellular Field a.k.a. "The Cell" (formerly Comiskey Park II), has a capacity of 40,615. The White Sox moved into their current ballpark before the 1991 season. It was the last stadium to be built before the Baltimore Orioles opened Camden Yards a year later, featuring the ‘back to the future’ retro look. Before the start of the 2004 season, the White Sox removed eight rows and 6,600 seats from the top of ballpark's upper deck.

 

Toronto Blue Jays owner Ted Rogers added $26 million to the Blue Jays payroll in 2006. Blue Jays general manager JP Ricciardi signed two free agents prior to the 2006 season, reliever B.J. Ryan and starting pitcher A.J. Burnett. The Jays won 87 games in 2006, seven more then they won in 2005. The Jays finished in second place in the AL East, 10 games behind the Yankees, and a game ahead of the Red Sox. Blue Jays management did their best to position the teams’ second place finish as an important step forward for the organization. When you’re in the same division as the Red Sox and the Yankees finishing ahead of either team is progress.

 

Long gone are the years (1991 through 1993) where the Jays not only became the first Major League Baseball franchise to surpass 4 million fans in a single season, but won the 1992 and 1993 World Series, with the biggest payroll in baseball – just north of $50 million each year. The Yankees $200 million payroll led baseball in 2006. At $71,915,000, the Jays had the 16th highest payroll in MLB. The Blue Jays sold 2,302,182 tickets this year, an average of 28,422 fans per game or 56.3 percent of the Rogers Centre capacity this year. A year earlier and an 80 win season produced 1,977,949 tickets sold, an average of 24,724 fans per game or 48.9 percent capacity. The Blue Jays payroll in 2005 -- $ 45,719,500.

 

In understanding the Toronto market one has to appreciate corporate Toronto (for that matter corporate Canada) only places real value in National Hockey League tickets. With just over 19,000 seats in Toronto’s Air Canada Centre (the home of the Toronto Maple Leafs), there is room in the marketplace for the Blue Jays. However, a contending team remains a key to the Blue Jays long-term success. In 2004, the Blue Jays won 67 games and sold 1,900,041 tickets, an average of 23,457 fans per game or 46.4 percent capacity. Jays’ payroll in 2004 -- $ 50,017,000. In 2003, the Jays won 86 games, well behind the Yankees and the Red Sox, with a payroll of $ 51,269,000. In 2003 the Jays sold 1,799,458 tickets, an average of 22,215 fans per game or 44.0 percent capacity. The real question that has yet to be answered in Toronto, if the Blue Jays payroll remains around $50 million, the Jays win 75 games will they continue to sell around 1.8 million tickets a season. In reality, the Jays won seven more games in 2006, added $26 million to their payroll and sold 324,233 additional tickets. That’s a great deal of payroll for only 324,000 additional tickets. Rogers has promised an even bigger payroll for Ricciardi and the Blue Jays in 2007. Here’s a safe bet – if Rogers agrees to increase the Blue Jays payroll to $80 million, the Jays better contend (if not win the AL east) and sell close to 2.8 million tickets in 2007, or it might not make sense for Rogers to spend, spend, and spend more money on the Blue Jays payroll.

 

One group of very upset fans are the longtime supporters of the Baltimore Orioles. A promotion dubbed “Free the Birds” organized by a Baltimore radio station saw 1,000 people who purchased tickets to that night’s Orioles – Detroit Tigers late season game walk out of that game as a sign they where fed up. Orioles’ fans reprised the classic line from the 1976 movie “Network” “I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!”

 

The Orioles' total attendance in 81 home dates was 2,153,139 for the season. The average attendance was 26,582, the fifth lowest in the American League. The total, down nearly a half-million fans from last season, represented the lowest in the 15-year history of Camden Yards, and the lowest for the club since 1988.

 

The Orioles won the A.L. East title in 1997 with a $64 million payroll, second in the major leagues to the Yankees’ $67 million. The Orioles’ payroll remained second to the Yankees the next two years, but then began plummeting — in successive seasons to 5th, 12th, 14th, 15th and 21st in 2004. Orioles owner Peter Angelos reaction to the much ballyhooed fan protest -- “We’re doing the best we can with a $75 million payroll,” Angelos said. “It’s tough to deal with teams that have double the payroll or triple. We expect to be increasing that payroll to compete.”

 

How much of an increase?

 

“In order to be competitive in the American League East,” the owner said, “you have to spend $100 million at a minimum, unless you push the right buttons and have the insight that Billy Beane and Terry Ryan has.”

 

Peter Angelos can take this to the bank – Orioles fans are fed up and in particular they’ve had enough of his ownership style. The biggest problem with the comments Angelos made after the fan protest was in how arrogant and aloof his opinions made him appear to be. In Baltimore the consumer has lost complete confidence in the product Angelos is selling. That is a recipe for disaster if you’re the owner of a professional sports franchise in terms of selling tickets.

 

In Boston, it was the same old, same old. The Red Sox sold out their entire 2006 home schedule. The Red Sox accomplished that feat for the third consecutive season. The last time the Red Sox did not sell out a game at Fenway Park – May 15, 2003. The Red Sox average ticket price for the 2006 season, $46.46 the most expensive average ticket price in Major League Baseball.

 

In a classic case of supply and demand, the best barometer for how hot any ticket is to a sports event is often determined by the capacity of the facility. Fenway Park has a capacity of 35,692 for day games and 36,108 for night games, the smallest in Major League Baseball. Red Sox management have leveraged Fenway’s capacity, the success the Red Sox have enjoyed on the field in the last decade, to drive the cost of Red Sox tickets into the stratosphere.

 

According to Team Marketing Report, the Red Sox average ticket price for the 2006 season is $46.46 the highest in Major League Baseball. TMR’s Fan Cost Index, which estimates what it would cost a family of four to attend a sports event pegs the FCI at Fenway for the 2006 season at $287.84. The cost of tickets increased by a modest 4.27% at Fenway this year. After winning their first World Series in 86 years, Red Sox tickets increased by 9.30% in 2005 to a league leading average ticket price of $44.56. The average ticket price for Red Sox games in 2004 was $40.77. 2003 -- $38.59. 2002 -- $39.68 (the first year under the teams’ current ownership group). According to TMR the Red Sox have had the highest average ticket price since the 1998 season. The Yankees had the highest average ticket price in 1997 -- $18.36. The Red Sox average ticket price nine years ago, in 1997 stood at $17.93.

 

In the last nine years, the average Red Sox ticket price has increased by more then 250 percent.  The ever evolving secondary ticket market had to have opened many eyes in the Red Sox front office in September. Yes the Red Sox managed to sellout their September home games, but hundreds of tickets were available at face or less then face value through the secondary ticket market. On August 17 the Red Sox where 1.5 games behind the Yankees. Two weeks later the Red Sox where 8 games behind the Yankees as August turned to September. The Red Sox where 6.5 games out of the wild card playoff spot – to Red Sox fans the season was over.

 

If the law of supply and demand applies to Red Sox tickets, it appears Red Sox Nation is about to send a sobering message to John Henry and the teams’ management group – we’re prepared to pay the price your demanding for tickets but you better deliver a winning team each and every year.

 

Jacobs Field is one of the greatest single examples of the law of supply and demand, or at least it was. The Cleveland Indians sold out the first 455 games they played at “The Jake”. Located in the heart of downtown Cleveland, adjacent to the Quicken Loans Arena, the home of the Cleveland Cavaliers, The Jake’s capacity is listed at 43,345. Before the 1994 season the Indians played their home games at the Cleveland Municipal Stadium (better known as The Mistake on/by the Lake). By the time the stadium hosted its last sports event, the facility had driven the original Browns to Baltimore and the Indians nearly followed. At 78,000 seats The Mistake by the Lake had too many seats.

 

Every honeymoon ends, and the numbers in Cleveland since the streak ended on April 4, 2001 have been ‘interesting’. In 2006 the Indians sold 1,998,070 tickets, an average of 24,667 fans per game or 56.9 percent capacity. In 2001 (the sellout streak ended on April 4, 2001) the Indians attendance drop was insignificant, selling 3,175,523 tickets, averaging 39,694 fans per game or 92.6 percent capacity. In 2002 the drop in ticket sales became a clear and immediate danger for the Indians. The team sold 2,616,940 tickets, averaging 32,307 fans per game or 75.4 percent capacity. In 2003 the Indians fell to 24th in MLB ticket sales with 1,730,002 tickets sold, an average of 21,358 fans per game or 49.2 percent capacity. In three full seasons, the Indians had lost 50 percent of their fan base. In 2004 the Indians sold 1,814,401 tickets, averaging 22,400 fans per game or 51.6 percent capacity. In 2005 the Indians sold 1,973,185 tickets, averaging 24,664 fans per game or 56.8 percent capacity. Between 1995 and 2001 (the sellout seasons, the Indians won six division titles, and won the American League pennant in 1997. In that seven year period the Indians averaged 93 wins per season. Since the 2002 season, the Indians had one winning season (2005 – 93) and averaged 78 wins per season. Not only did the ‘experience’ of attending a game at The Jake come to an end, but a losing team directly correlated to an attendance drop just south of 40 percent for the five year period. One of the greatest challenges any sports franchise can face is losing their fan base (the loss of consumer confidence) and winning back a lost generation of fans. Clearly the Indians have to return to their winning ways of the late 1990’s, not their recent losing seasons.

 

The Minnesota Twins have long been an enigma when it comes to analyzing their attendance. Major League Baseball commissioner suggested both the Montreal Expos and the Minnesota Twins would become the first two MLB franchises to ever be contracted five years ago. Five years later, the Expos are now the Nationals and they’re in Washington. The Twins are getting ready to break ground on what they hope will be a new ballpark. What a difference a day has made in the lives of the Minnesota Twins.

 

On August 29, 2006 the Hennepin County board approved sales tax extension one of the final steps in the Twins se curing the needed public (taxpayer) dollars needed to build a new ballpark for the Twins. The vote authorizes the county to begin imposing a .015 percent sales tax, the proceeds of which will be used to fund a portion of the ballpark. The Twins will pay $130 million of the total price tag, which is expected to be $522 million. The new 42,000-seat open-air ballpark will be built in the Warehouse District, north of the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis.

 

The Twins have produced on the field, consistently over the last five seasons. The Twins have won the AL Central four of the last five years. Six consecutive winning seasons, averaging 90 wins per season – that’s consistent and above average performance consumers have been able to count on.

 

Over the same six year period the Twins average attendance at the Metrodome has been 1.659 million fans per year, well below the MLB average. In the last five years MLB has averaged more than 2.4 million fans per franchise, clearly the Twins are not adding to that total.

 

In the last six years the Twins have gotten the biggest bang for their buck in terms of annual payroll relating to the number of wins. The Twins 2001 payroll -- $ 24,130,000, 2002 -- $ 40,225,000, 2003 -- $ 55,505,000, 2004 -- $ 53,585,000, 2005 -- $ 56,186,000 and 2006 -- $ 63,396,006.

 

What exactly are the issues the Twins are facing? Is it the lingering ‘affect’ of Twins owner Carl Pohlad’s reputation as a ‘stingy billionaire’?

 

He agreed to contract his baseball team sending a message to Twins fans he didn’t care about baseball in The Land of 10,000 Lakes. Remember the Montreal Expos, the other franchise that would have been contracted, was owned by Major League Baseball when Selig proposed contraction.

 

Pohlad was smart enough to stay as far away from the Twins proposed ballpark negotiations as possible. Minnesota taxpayers have always been ‘hesitant’ when it comes to public funding for sports franchises – welfare for billionaires. The Twins have a great private/public partnership. The Twins are contributing $130 million towards the cost of the ballpark and they’ll be retaining all of the revenues. The corporate naming rights will be worth more than the capital commitment the Twins are making. Carl Pohlad should not only be sensitive to that, but be prepared to dramatically invest in the Twins payroll when the new stadium opens. He had better stand and deliver or as has been demonstrated by baseball fans in Pittsburgh, Milwaukee and Cincinnati – Twins fans will not support their team simply because they’re moving into a new stadium. There will not be a honeymoon period for Carl Pohlad to enjoy. 

 

If the Twins have been winners on the field, but a team with serious issues off the field, the once proud Kansas City Royals have serious issues both on and off the field. The Royals have been consistent in being near the bottom in the standings and attendance for the last five seasons. In 2006 the Royals sold 1,372,684 tickets, averaging 17,158 fans per game or 42.1 percent capacity.

 

The Royals have finished fifth in the AL Central the last three years, third in 2003 and fourth in 2002. The Royals had a winning record in 2003 (83-79), but have had a losing record every other season since 1993. In the last ten seasons, the Royals have averaged 66 wins each year. That’s a decade of pathetic baseball, embarrassing baseball.

 

If Baltimore Orioles fans are upset with Peter Angelos, it’s a wonder why anyone attends Royals games. A team averaging 66 wins annually over a decade is a team losing 96 games annually over the last ten years. Over that same ten year period, the Royals have averaged 1.528 million fans a game. As Major League Baseball continues to set annual overall attendance records, either fans in Kansas City haven’t heard the news, or (more likely) fans in Kansas City have no confidence whatsoever in Royals management. The Royals are a terrible baseball organization both on and off the field. Royals fans are proof positive what happens when the consumer loses complete confidence in the product they’re being offered.

 

The Seattle Mariners moved into Safeco Field midway through the 1999 season, on July 15, 1999 (an interleague game against the San Diego Padres, won by the Padres 3-2). The ballpark’s capacity is 47,116, and follows the style first made popular by Baltimore’s Camden Yards – the back to the future, open air, ‘retro look’.

 

In 2006, the Mariners who finished last in the AL West sold 2,480,717 tickets, averaging 30,626 fans per game or 64.1 percent capacity. In the seven full seasons the Mariners have been at Safeco, the team has sold more than 21 million tickets, averaging more than 3 million fans annually. However, while the Mariners attendance peaked at 3,539,938 in 2002, the Mariners attendance had declined annually since.

 

In the last five years the Mariners have lost close to 1.2 million fans (from the franchise high in 2002 to their 2006 numbers) a tremendous decline, and a strong indication to Mariners management that they better wake up and realize the product their putting on the field isn’t meeting fans expectations. The Mariners won a franchise record 116 regular season games in 2001, and followed that with back to back 93 win seasons in 2002 and 2003. While the Mariners won 78 games in 2006, the team has finished dead last in the AL West each of the last three seasons.

 

The Mariners at one time featured Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez, three players destined for the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Mariners couldn’t afford to keep any of their franchise players when they became free agents. That is a terrible message to send to your fans, once you’re players become marquee players; management can’t or won’t pay the players their market value.

 

The Mariners are owned by a consortium since 1992 that includes Japanese businessman Minoru Arakawa, and have one of the biggest stars in MLB, Ichiro Suzuki. Ichiro Suzuki joined the team before the start of the 2001 season, and was the first Japanese position baseball player to sign with a Major League franchise. In his first six seasons he has averaged more than 200 hits a season – Ichiro has sold a great many tickets for the Mariners. Ichiro is also 33 years old. He may have four more productive seasons left in his career. The Mariners should begin planning for Ichiro’s retirement sooner rather then later.

 

Mariners fans have established Seattle as a solid baseball town (remember Seattle lost the expansion Seattle Pilots after their inaugural 1969 season). Bottom line – find young players, and keep those young developing players in Seattle uniforms.

 

The Philadelphia Phillies moved into Citizens Bank Ballpark at the start of the 2004 season. In contention for the National League wild card spot until the final days of the 2006 regular season, the Phillies sold 2,701,815 tickets this year, averaging 34,200 fans per game or 78.6 percent capacity. In the ballpark’s inaugural season (2004) the Phillies filled their new ballpark selling 3,206,532 tickets, averaging 40,589 fans per game or 93.3 percent capacity. In 2005 the Phillies sold 2,665,301 tickets, averaging 33,316 fans per game or 76.6 percent capacity. A drop of nearly 18 percent between the 2004 and 2005 season continues a message that baseball fans are delivering – management have to stand and deliver, the so called honeymoon period teams used to be able to enjoy three or four years after moving into a new stadium is now down to one season, if that.

 

The Phillies won 85 games in 2006 and again contended for the NL wild card spot until the last few days of the season. On the field the Phillies over the last six seasons have averaged 85 wins per season, just north of .500 baseball. Over that same six year period the Phillies have averaged 2.377 million fans per game. The Phillies face dynamics that are particular to their market. The Eagles opened Lincoln Financial Field in 2003. While the Eagles have sold out their first three seasons at the Linc, and there are a finite number of Eagles tickets, the growth of the secondary ticket market (making it more expensive for those looking for Eagles tickets to sold out games) has taken money away from the discretionary spending Philadelphia sports fans, that might have otherwise committed to Phillies tickets.

 

Atlanta Braves fans have little to complain about in regard to their teams’ on-field performance. For the first time since the 1990 season, the Braves had a losing record. The Braves record of 15 consecutive NL east titles (remember the strike shortened 1994 season didn’t count), suggests Braves fans grew complacent. For all the success the Braves enjoyed during the regular season, the franchise won the 1995 World Series and the National League pennant in 1991, 1992, 1996 and 1999. The Braves have played better then .600 baseball between the 1991 and 2005 seasons. That’s an average of better than 90 wins each year. Ask Kansas City Royals fans what they would give to have a team as good as the Atlanta Braves to support.

 

The Braves moved into Turner Field at the start of the 1997 season. The facility which served as Atlanta’s Olympic Stadium when Atlanta hosted the 1996 Summer Olympics, had a capacity of 85,000 during the ’96 Games. The stadium was a $200 million "gift" from the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG), paid for by revenue from the Olympics. Half the stadium was demolished as soon after the Games ended. The stadium was built across the street from the former home of the Braves, Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, which was demolished in the summer of 1997. The stadium’s current baseball capacity -- 50,091.

 

The Braves first year at The Ted -- 3,464,488, an increase from the 2,901,242 who attended Braves games during the franchises last season at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Yes Atlanta was hosting the Olympics that summer (the Braves went on a three week road trip during the heart of the 1996 season), but the Braves where defending their 1995 World Series title and won the NL pennant in 1996.

 

The Braves regular season attendance topped more than 3 million fans per year each of the teams’ first four seasons at The Ted, but never topping the attendance record the team set in their inaugural 1997 season at The Ted. After selling 3,234,304 million tickets in 2000, the Braves attendance has fallen steadily since.

 

In 2006 (again the Braves first losing season since 1990), the Braves sold 2,549,522 tickets, averaging 31,869 or 63.6 percent capacity. In 2005 the Braves sold 2,521,534 tickets, averaging 31,519 fans per game or 62.9 percent capacity. In 2004 the Braves sold 2,322,565 tickets, averaging 29,399 or 58.7 percent capacity. In 2003 the Braves sold 2,401,084 tickets, averaging 30,393 or 60.7 percent capacity. In 2002 the Braves sold 2,603,484 tickets, averaging 32,141 tickets or 64.2 percent capacity. Over the last five seasons (four seasons of winning the NL east) the Braves averaged 2.479 fans per season. 

 

The difference between the attendance high during the last five years, and the seasonal low is less than 280,000. Braves fans seems to have leveled out at around 2.5 million fans annually, and that is during winning seasons; playoff baseball seasons. If the Braves are in a losing cycle, it remains to be seen if Atlanta sports fans will continue to buy tickets. In seven losing seasons between 1983 and 1989 the Braves barely exceeded more than 1 million fans annually.

 

Major League Baseball failed twice in The District before The Lords of the Diamond moved the Expos to Washington where they became the Nationals before the 2005 season. The Nationals sold 2,692,123 tickets in 2005, averaging 33,651 or 74.4 percent capacity. In 2006 the Nationals sold 2,153,150 tickets, averaging 26,582 or 58.7 percent capacity. The numbers are much better than the last years the Expos didn’t enjoy in Montreal, but it’s important to note Washington was without major league baseball for 34 years before the Nationals returned in 2005.

 

The key to any long-term success the Nationals hope to enjoy in Washington is the teams’ new stadium. Ground was broken on the new stadium on May 5. RFK Stadium is anything but a baseball friendly facility. Built in 1959, the stadium was typical of the multi-purpose ‘cookie-cutter’ stadiums of the 1960’s and 1970’s. RFK was home to the Washington Redskins (moved to FedEx Field), the Senators (until they moved to Dallas in 1971), and the home of D.C. United of Major League Soccer. RFK was built at a cost of $20 million. Today’s complex sports industry necessitates sports specific stadiums, faculties that offer a ‘game-day’ experience included as a critical component to attending a sports event.

 

The Nationals new stadium built almost exclusively with public (taxpayer) dollars will cost $535 million. The stadium will open in time for the 2008 season. RFK Stadium seats 45,596 for baseball.

 

When the stadium is complete, there will be 41,000 seats -- 22,000 of them in the lower bowl. According to the architects, HOK Sports, who have worked on 25 of the 30 Major League Baseball stadiums and 30 of the 32 of the National Football League stadiums, more than half the fans will be able to reach their seats without using elevators, ramps or stairs because the field is 24 feet below street level.

 

One of the biggest issues relating to the new ballpark – parking. Currently plans call for only 1,225 spaces. While District officials want fans to use public transportation to get to Nationals games, with 10,000 parking spots available at RFK, 1,225 parking spots is a disaster waiting to happen. The parking issues needs to be addressed or the Nationals ability to sell tickets will be directly impacted. Washington baseball fans have failed MLB twice; unless the parking issue is addressed long-term baseball will be doomed to fail a third time.

 

The Arizona Diamondbacks won a World Series in their fourth season; proof positive money can buy a championship. In 1969 the baseball world marveled at The Amazin’ Mets, winning the World Series in their eighth season. Jerry Colangelo’s personal investment in the Arizona Diamondbacks was less than 2 percent. Colangelo had the unique ability to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in getting people to support projects he believed in. Colangelo sold Major League Baseball on the Phoenix market, found a group of investors, secured the additional funding for Bank One Ballpark and then built (bought) the 2001 World Series.

 

Built at a cost of $349 million, and seating 48,569, the D- Backs sold 2,091,505 tickets in 2006, averaging 25,821 or 52.7 percent capacity. Winning wasn’t an issue in the teams’ inaugural 1998 season. The D-Backs won 65 games and sold 3.6 million tickets. A year later, the D-Backs won 100 games and made the playoffs. Interestingly the teams’ attendance fell to 3,013,778, a drop of nearly 600,000 but a team that won 35 more games and made the playoffs in their second season. The D-Backs 2001 World Series title attendance fell to 2,736,361. The fall in attendance while delivering a contending and competitive team had to raise a great many red flag about baseball’s future in Phoenix.

 

The D-Backs enjoyed a nice attendance bump after winning the 2001 World Series selling 3,198,977 tickets, averaging 39,493 or 87.7 percent in 2002. In 2003 the D-Backs sold 2,910,386 tickets, averaging 35,930 tickets or 71.4 percent capacity. The D-Backs won 98 games in 2002 and 84 games in 2003. After the 2003 season the D-Backs completed the dismantling of their 2001 World Series team by first trading Curt Schilling to the Boston Red Sox, and then traded Randy Johnson to the New York Yankees a year later for two players and $9 million. If ever a baseball franchise sent a message to their fans the good days where over it was the Arizona Diamondbacks in dealing Schilling and Johnson.

 

Schilling shared the 2001 World Series MVP Award star with Johnson. He and Johnson also shared Sports Illustrated magazine's 2001 "Sportsmen of the Year" award. In 2002, he went 23-7 with a 3.23 ERA. Both years he finished second in the Cy Young Award voting to Johnson.

 

In 2004 the D-Backs first year without Schilling, the teams’ attendance fell to 2,519,560. In 2005 the D-Backs first year without Schilling and Johnson their attendance fell to 2,059,331. Delivering a World Series in the teams’ fourth season was amazing. Winning 100 games in the teams’ second season must have seemed unbelievable, but at the end of the day it’s too much success to early on. How exactly was the D-Backs management team going to follow-up their first four seasons. It was 86 years between World Series titles for the Red Sox. The Chicago Cubs haven’t won a World Series in 103 years. The Cleveland Indians who joined the American League in 1901 have NEVER won a World Series. D-Back fans have no understanding of the suffering and pain fans of the Cubs and Indians have had to endure. They’ve only experienced success, not exactly a recipe for building long term box office success.

 

The Colorado Rockies joined the National League in 1993. The Rockies stunned the baseball world by selling 4,483,350 in their inaugural season, establishing a single MLB season attendance record in their first season. The Rockies played their first two seasons, 1993 and 1994, in Mile High Stadium before moving to Coors Field before the start of the 1995 season. Mile High Stadium’s capacity was 76,098, also served as the home of the Denver Broncos.

 

Coors Field built at a cost of $300 million seats 50,200. Rockies attendance topped 3 million fans each of the franchises first seven seasons. Selling more than 80 percent of their available ticket inventory for seven consecutive seasons sends an interesting message to consumers. The law of supply and demand – Rockies tickets where in demand.

 

That was before the 2002 season. The Rockies sold 2,737,838 tickets, averaging 33,800 fans or 67.3 percent capacity. In 2003 the Rockies attendance continued its freefall. The team sold 2,334,085 tickets, averaging 28,815 fans or 57.1 percent capacity. In 2004 the Rockies sold 2,338,069 tickets, averaging 29,595 tickets or 58.7 percent capacity. In 2005 the Rockies attendance experienced yet another dramatic fall to 1,915,586. In 2006 Rockies attendance actually increased to 2,105,995.

 

The Rockies won the NL wild card spot in 1995 losing the NLDS to the Braves. In their last six seasons the Rockies have averaged 72 wins, losing an average of 90 games. That doesn’t create consumer confidence, it offers the consumer quite the opposite – the product you’re interested in having someone purchase has little if any value. Since the 1998 season, nine seasons, the Rockies have finished fourth five times, and fifth the other four seasons. Again a strong message of an expectation that stakeholders (in this case the ticket buying public) will readily support an inferior product.

 

For Sports Business News this is Howard Bloom