Your old barkeep got a little flayed Monday night when I made a point on Twitter that the crowd at Camden Yards was, well, crappy.
Mom always told me I should improve my vocabulary.
So let’s call the announced attendance of 15,532 at Camden Yards for a late August game between a club in first and another clinging to the second Wild Card spot “paltry.”
Mom would have liked that better.
Well, many of the Orioles fans on Twitter didn’t like it at all. I got called a lot of names, like a shill, a sportswriting troll, and Skip Bayless (that last one’s a fighting phrase).
I can take it. I understand where it’s coming from. Because many believe I’m sitting at my ivory keyboard in the press box looking down my nose at fans that supposedly cheer for the Orioles but don’t show up in person.
I’m sure it seems pretty easy to judge when you don’t actually have to pay hard-earned money to go to games. I’m usually sensitive of that fact (maybe I wasn’t Monday).
Anyway, lots of fans felt like I was picking on them. I wasn’t.
What I was trying to understand is just why people aren’t coming out to the ballpark this year. I received a bunch of answers, and my sense is it isn’t just one factor.
In fact, individually, most sound like excuses that can be shot down pretty easily.
Monday was the first day of school for many kids in the Baltimore area. True, but the Orioles’ attendance all year has been down. The Orioles are 20th in the majors, with an average attendance of 26,956 – only the Cleveland Indians and Miami Marlins are over .500 and have a lower average mark.
Some have said the Orioles’ erratic play this season is a major factor to the attendance drop, except this team had been in first place for 111 days and is still very much in the Wild Card hunt. Yes, they are flawed, but so is most every team in baseball.
I’ve been told that people are afraid to come downtown for safety reasons – but the riots occurred in April 2015 and the Orioles averaged 29,374 fans that year for a team that finished .500. (And it doesn’t seem to be a safety issue when the Ravens are playing a night game across the street).
There was a price hike this year – and the announcement of it came out late, certainly hampering season-ticket sales. And I understand economics is definitely an issue. I’m sure that plays a part. But tickets were as low as $15 on Monday. You can bring in your own food. Pro sports are expensive, but, comparatively, the Orioles have one of the best Fan Cost Index rates in MLB.
Maybe the one reason I buy the most is that every game is televised. You get so much from watching on TV from the comfort of your home that you don’t need to be at the stadium that much. Yes, that one makes sense to me.
The list of possibilities goes on and on. And, like I said, I’m sure there are a multitude of factors that have merged this year.
But the bottom line is I heard for years that people didn’t come to the park because the product was inferior. The Orioles have had the best record in the AL in the past four seasons, have made the playoffs twice and are pushing for a third postseason appearance in five years.
So I want to know why only 15,500 people showed up Monday – about 4,000 were Blue Jays fans – to see these two teams play. Enlighten me.
Tap-In-Question: What do you think is the main reason attendance is down in 2016?
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Dan I’ve been a partial-plan season ticket holder since 2009 and here’s my take (and sorry if it crosses into borderline rant) on a number of things that affect attendance or ways that it could be improved (full disclosure I posted this to your blog after the Red Sox series):
Ticket prices
When the O’s instituted variable ticket prices, they ended up hurting themselves with attendance so that they could make more revenue per ticket on games against the Red Sox, Yankees, and on other traditionally high attendance days like Mothers Day and Fathers Day, and most Saturday nights. This has led to fans being priced out of games they should otherwise come out for.
Take the weekend series in early June for example. The O’s had “Prime” pricing on Friday and Sunday and “Elite” pricing on Saturday with a mediocre Yankees team visiting. The clear plan was that by raising the prices for the Yankees the team would make their revenue from Yankees fans who are used to the high pricing of New York and typically come down to Baltimore for a more affordable experience. Except what happened? The O’s only drew an average of 29,000 for the three game series or about 63% of capacity. I know this because I wanted to go but the ticket price was just not something I was going to pay. Additionally, walk up sales are hurt by the fact that the team demands an extra dollar per ticket for day-of-game purchases. Why discourage people from coming spontaneously by charging them more?
Cable
Another clear factor is that many O’s fans pay outrageous cable prices in order to access all O’s games on MASN. If it weren’t for the deal that MLB has in place that the only way to watch an in-market game is through your cable company I personally would have disconnected my cable service long ago. So if I don’t already have a ticket to the game but I have to pay $150 for my cable, I might just sit at home and watch the game I’ve already paid for the luxury of watching. Why do O’s pay so much for cable in the first place? Well MASN makes a TON of money for the Orioles through the cable deal. If fans are at home watching ads on cable during the O’s game and not at the park, the team is still making money. It doesn’t matter to the bottom line if the fans are at the park or at home as long as they’re watching. Either way, the team is getting paid.
Giveaways
Boy do O’s fans love their giveaways. It really doesn’t seem to matter what team the O’s are playing, if there’s a floppy hat involved the fans show up. You can rest assured between fireworks night and all the giveaways this upcoming weekend the park will be full of fans for the Astros. What happens when there are no giveaways and its a weeknight? You get what happened last night, a bunch of Red Sox fans who are probably not tourists but who have come from the DC/NOVA area instead. O’s fans have little incentive to fight traffic to swelter when they can watch the game in the luxury of AC instead.
Bargain Nights
The O’s mysteriously did away with bargain nights this year or last where you could come down on any Tuesday night and get in for about $10. Why?
Dollar Food
Who doesn’t like hot dogs for a dollar? Have the O’s ever had a dollar hot dog night? Probably not since hot dogs cost a dollar every night in Memorial stadium. The Nationals right down the street manage to have dollar hot dogs or ice cream on Tuesday or Wednesday nights throughout the season, and I’ve heard that everything is a lot more expensive down there. What better way to get a family to come out to the park mid-week than to offer cheap dinner or desert? The Nationals also have let people bring their dogs to the ballpark once a month this season. Bottom line is that the O’s are not innovating when it comes to fan experience at the park, choosing stale Hot Dog races and Crab Shuffles versus actual fan interaction.
Latinos
Okay, this one comes out of left field, but its been on my mind for aw while. The O’s have had a number of Latino players on the team for years now. Maybe not as much this season as others, but it begs the question as to why the O’s have never marketed to Latinos in the area. There are probably several million between Baltimore and DC, but the Orioles don’t have a Spanish language broadcast nor have I ever seen any marketing aimed towards them. Its probably no coincidence that I’ve never seen too many come out to support the Orioles, but many of them are seem to be wearing Yankee caps. In my opinion this market has gone untapped for far too long.
Nationals
I believe that it is every bit true that attendance has never recovered from the Nationals moving in down the street. It couldn't have happened at a worse time for the Orioles when the team was not playing well for many years. The team must have drew so many fans from Nova and DC area who adopted the Nationals as their home team because it was closer to home. Those same fans from Virginia and DC area that might still be O's fans now just don't come to weeknight games because the traffic is that much worse over the last decade. If the O's could run a special train from Camden Yards to Union Station after every game they could ameliorate this problem.
The Orioles Organization has only themselves to blame for not attracting more fans to the ball-park, and the play on the field will never be enough on its own to draw them back.
19: as always, well detailed. But I will say this: a few years back when Tejada was with the team the Orioles had Latino nights with a mini-concert before the game etc. had some of the guys go out to it, etc. and it wasn't very popular.
19: Excellent post, as usual. Glad you went in-depth. Too much to hit on, but let me say one thing. O's held Latino nights about 5-10 years ago. Had live music pre-game and some of the Latino players went out to the party to mingle. And it wasn't particularly popular.
That's interesting about Latino night, I never knew about that, even though I've been a season ticket holder for almost a decade.
I think the bottom line is that the team is not marketing games at OPCY and is not doing enough to get butts in the seat, most likely because they're satisfied with the revenue being generated from MASN.
I clearly remember Pedro Strop dancing in uniform, so I'm gonna say 2011 was one of them. And I think they did it for several years
Agree and disagree. While the recent offensive stagnation has been annoying, I would hardly say that this team can be called unwatchable. When they are ON, it is must see TV, as watching Davis and Machado whack the ball all over the Yard is spectacular to see. Even when they are OFF and say, hitless going into the 7th, just the idea of going from Jones to Machado to Davis to Trumbo to Schoop etc. meant that, with one swing, you might miss something. The team has it's slumps offensively, but it's hardly boring.
Marketing-wise though, the Orioles err in the same way MLB as a whole has, through overuse of what I call 'Field of Dreams-ing'. I'll have to explain. In the 1990's, when baseball was wracked with labor strife, their response from a marketing standpoint was to push this hokey, overly sentimental caricature of itself. Every game was cast as this teary eyed walk through Americana where you played catch with Dad and George Will and Ken Burns waxed poetic about the simpler times "when it was a game". That's all fine and I have spent many a day with my own father at the Yard, but they laid that crap on so damn thick for 20 years it ran off the younger generation of fans. The ballpark in the 70's and 80's wasn't like that, there was no James Earl Jones voiceovers about "a part of our past", they were rowdy rollicking good times. Baseball needs to bring that back. Saturday and Sundays are fine for bringing the kids, I've got two boys. But Thursday and Friday nights you need to get those people getting off work who want a cold one, and get all those people out of the Fells Point and Fed Hill bars and into the Yard
LOL. Thanks for the laugh on a Wednesday.
That was supposed to be in response to Bancells Moustache.
Here's something I wrote late last night somewhere else (click my name if you're curious):
I'm more and more of the opinion that it's not simply a "why aren't they coming? Those fools!" problem so much as a marketing problem. You can't really blame the fans. We know (or hope!) they'll come if properly enticed. But where is the enticement? We've been seeing the same cookie-cutter ads for years now on MASN, nowhere else. It ain't workin'. It's time for a new approach, highlighting how great the yard is, how you can still bring in food and drink, etc. Make things more fun, less stodgy.
Plus, is it really any fun to watch this team any more? I think the recent beatings at the hands of the Yankees and others have people a little shell-shocked. The fan base at large knows that we're a sinking ship of a team right now, even if they acknowledge that it's still possible that we make the playoffs. This Toronto series though... as mentioned in the post, nobody in their right mind expects to win any one of these games. Why go to see another beating?
It'll get better as we get nearer to the end of the season, especially if we defy the odds and remain in serious contention. But next year? Unless we come out of the gates with a new approach to marketing and ideally a team that's less one-dimensional, less reliant on godawful pitching that's painful to witness even on TV let alone in person... I fear for the future. Some things have to change or we'll continue to hemorrhage attendance-wise. Even all the winning in the first half didn't put butts in seats. We need to creatively find new ways to do it, and fielding a team that's less difficult to watch could be a factor.
The marketing strategy is definitely something many people have pointed to. It seems like the message of the ballpark experience has gotten buried. The one thing that stands out to me most in your post is whether this team is still fun to watch. I've been concentrating on the fact they are still in the playoff hunt. But that's something worth pondering. Certainly, they should be, given their position in the standings. But they either bludgeon or don't score. And you can't count on the pitching to show up every game.
This is a funny team. It's like the first half was one season. And the second half? To me, there is a clear perception and now backed by reality, that the team is falling apart. But it's more than a decimated pitching staff. We're seeing a team that simply doesn't hit, more often than not, up and down the lineup. For example, it's almost a given now that when they score more than 6 runs or more, they'll score one or two runs the next few games at least. As you've said above, the second half has seen inconsistency on a constant scale, most of it in the loss column. Thing is, the confidence level for making the playoffs is not very hopeful. What upsets me is ESPN, which has always been totally dismissive of Baltimore teams, has another excuse to drop us in the ratings.
Attendance is always solid for a weekend/afternoon game. I think the problems with weeknight games are out of the Orioles' control. It's not really anyone's fault. Baltimore is just a city where most of the more prosperous fans live in the suburbs and have to drive 45 mins to an hour to get to a game. For a 7:05 start when everyone's been at work all day, that just isn't happening.
I've been to games in Boston, Chicago, San Francisco. Those are teams that will always draw well, and not just because they're playing well. They have stadiums that are located within safe walking distance of some of their city's wealthiest neighborhoods. I'm not a Baltimore resident, but it doesn't seem like any of the higher end neighborhoods within the city are within walking distance of the stadium. Heck, it's not even great walking back to the parking garages sometimes.
You make some good points, but there are plenty of cities that are still drawing more on average than the Orioles that also have challenges: Detroit, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, San Diego, etc.
can't argue with anything Creatively said, but I hear from a lot of people that crime in general keeps them from going (and from going out in general in downtown at night) I go as often as work and $ permit.
Because despite what the mainstream media is saying....the economy SUCKS! It's too expensive for a family of four
As I've said before on this site, you cant simply say the customers are apathetic and lazy when you are failing to sell a product. There are a myriad of reasons why the Orioles are not putting the meat in seats anymore and, no doubt, they will be talked about ad nauseum over the next few days. Last night was shocking. You could argue that this is the biggest series of the year for the O's, and the stadium looked like a June Tuesday nighter for the Delmarva Shorebirds. Rather than beat on the fans, I'll just reiterate a point I have been making the past 2 years:
The Orioles are in a market that simply cannot support two Major League teams. The money, as has always been the case, lays on the other side of the Potomac. So the presence of the boys in Red is devastating for the long term viability of the O's franchise. The Orioles play in a dying city which produces a mere fraction of it's fanbase, the vast majority of which actually travels from Anne Arundel, Harford Counties, the Eastern Shore etc. Of those people, many are genuinely frightened to even venture into the city, and why bother? You can drink your own beer and have a better view from the comfort of your own couch. The Orioles are going to lose the MASN case. The way that the entire league has drawn its swords against them makes it only a matter of time. They WILL get screwed. Finally, while Camden Yards is as glorious and beautiful a baseball cathedral as you will find, it's still a 25 year old stadium in a broke ass city whose tenant has an 85 year old owner. Take all that into consideration, and then remember that there are cities like Nashville, Charlotte, San Antonio and even Las Vegas who would LOVE to have professional baseball, and one is forced to think of the unthinkable...
Wow, Stache, that would be the unthinkable. And I don't think you have to think it. But I see your point. No question the Nats' presence has had an effect. And will have more of one when that team develops its own generation of fans (10 year-olds today that don't remember life without the Nats will become 20-year-old consumers in a decade).
Dan, Detour Dave on WBAL posed the same question and this was my answer. I also agree with everything I have read so far.
"I tend to agree that after the "unrest" last year, people's perceptions are that going into the city is not safe. But those of us who go to games can't seem to convince the "out in the country" folks that there is plenty of security and police presence in and around OPACY. I have walked to the Yards from the OM Metro and/or the light rail and never felt unsafe, However, that being said, it was preferable when the MTA ran the free shuttle buses from in front of Lexington Market right to the Eutaw St gate. I wish they had continued them." More thoughts:
I was a season ticket holder for over 25 years, starting with the 1990 season at Memorial Stadium. I bought walk-up tickets to games before that. I wanted a good seat at the "New stadium" and carried two ticket plans.. a 13 game and a 29 game plan so we saw 42 games a year. Now we are retired, we have 5 grandkids and we travel a lot. We let our season tickets go a few years ago. Now we maybe go to 4-5 games a year. We enjoy going, but watching on MASN(we even got a Slingbox so we can watch O's games on the road) makes going to the games in person not as much a priority as it used to be.
I hope the younger generation of O's fans appreciates what we have here as we pass our baton on to them. I was one of those young parents who took my kids to every game and brought a bag of juice boxes and Goldfish crackers to save money on concessions. It can be done. Now it is time for me to rest, stay out of the heat(doctor's orders) and hope we make the playoffs. Go O's.
Pop: I do think the technology (slingbox) and accessibility (MASN)is playing a major factor, along with Nationals, economics, etc. I mean, your fandom hasn't decreased, but your attendance at games has. So I guess the question for the O's marketing/sales people is how to make that translate to the turnstiles.
Am I saying the Mayflower vans are idling on Washington Boulevard this morning? No. However Dan, you cannot dismiss this as a plausible scenario going forward. I guess the first question would be, why stay? Certainly the ownership would be loathe to be raked over the coals Bob Irsay-style, but history has shown us that the almighty dollar trumps any concerns about being burned in effigy in Dundalk. Hell, look right across Russell St at the pretty purple building for evidence of that. And who knows who that ownership will be? While Peter Angelos may be a tort-lawyer and thus a bloodsucker, I'm pretty sure he's not actually a vampire and is indeed a mortal octogenarian. There is the fact that Baltimore has a rich baseball tradition that can more than punch its weight with the Boston's and St Louis of the world, but is that tradition any richer than the Philadelphia Athletics or Washington Senators? Finally, the Orioles must always do business with the Baltimore municipal government, as ferocious a money bleeding leech as there is in the western world, which shows no signs of mending its ways. Watching them launch an all out assault on Under Armour's attempt to genuinely improve this cities economic prospects has been a sight terrible to behold. As I said, it's not an immediate concern, but as attendance continues to flag, the ballpark keeps aging and the city keeps hemorrhaging money, it's definitely something to watch.
I think you watch places like Oakland and Tampa way, way before Baltimore. Just don't see it happening.
My take on this...the crowds have been good the last few years...not great but decent. The true Orioles fans seem to be out in force when the O's are playing well. Two things I've noticed this year...I think the fans bought into the media hype that this team was playing well above its head and when the team started playing crappy baseball the last month and a half, people stopped coming. I get frustrated watching them this year because the pitching and hitting has been spotty. I used to go more often in the summer, but as I have gotten older, I have noticed how miserable it is to sit in the summer humidity at Camden Yards. There is no breeze whatsoever. I went to M&T this weekend and it was humid but there was somewhat of a breeze. I think the Hilton and the warehouse really cut off any kind of breeze. It's very uncomfortable to sit there in the summertime. I prefer spring and September. In the summer heat, I'd rather stay home in the AC. I also live in Leesburg, Virginia and still go, so its definitely not that it's far away...in the end, I think the media has played a role in steering people away from the O's, whether it was the riots or baseball writers being down on the team as a whole.
Ditto.
I understand, ultimately though, this team is better than last year's. The riots were last year. And average attendance is significantly down. The attendance has never been good this year with the exception of the occasional popular promotion or the visit from a team with a traveling fan base.
I grew up going to 10-12 games a year with my family. We lived in Rockville, and it took us about 40 minutes. Parking was in the lot next to the stadium, which you drove directly into from exit 53. Easy in, easy out.
That same route now takes an hour at least for a weeknight game, usually more. Unless you have season tickets, you can't park in the stadium lot, which is half the size is used to be since the Ravens came to town. Parking is usually $20, not directly off 95, a few blocks from the Yard, and takes 30 minutes-plus to exit.
I love the O's and wish I could go more, especially with three young kids who I desperately want to expose to MLB in person. However, a trip for the five of us will involve 2-3 hours riding in the car, walking a good distance to and from the stadium (fine for us, not the most enjoyable with a 1, 3, and 5 year old), spending roughly $120 minimum for the cheapest seats and parking (add $50 or so for food and drink if we don't pack it), and then all that to get home after 11pm on a good night. I could stomach the late night, but not in combination with all the rest.
I love my O's, but it just costs too darn much in terms of money and time. And it has nothing to do with length of games. That doesn't bother me at all. It's 2-3 hours minimum for all major sports. It's the additional 2-3 hours minimum for a DC Metro area family that is brutal.
Very fair response. Add in the fact that you can watch them all from home, and the erosion makes sense.
Watch StubHub for better parking (and often at better prices) in lots B/C and Lee. Less walking and better access.
Very true. There are ways around the parking, especially when attendance is down.
The Nats have a lot to do with things overall, however my belief is that the attendance is fading at about the same rate as the team is right now. Coincidence?
That's not a belief that meshes with the numbers. People weren't coming out on weekdays when they were in first in May/June, either.
I wish I could see a game by game number on that.
I echo others in wondering why the Orioles organization has not mounted compelling marketing strategies, campaigns tailored for each segment of its attendees, current and prospective. This is something an organization has to continually communicate and engage.
I'll add, I attend about 6 Nats games a year (Os games, offers from colleagues, Dusty Baker bubblehead night.) And while, Nats Park lacks OPACY's charm, its openness - no walls behind the stands of seats - adds an air of connectedness to the ballpark experience that is appealing. They also offer a much more developed experience for attendees who will spend the majority of their time NOT in their seats, in the stands. That vast swath of area behind their scoreboard pavilion is extremely popular with the 20-30s set , about 5 times the size of that of the Os rooftop deck. Was this part of some targeted strategy for the people who prefer to spend their ballgame experience budget more on beer than on and seats? Who knows. In short, some elements of Nats Park were thought out. No reason the Os couldn’t copy, renovate the backside of the park over the course of a few years. Hard to see the game from the Os family picnic area, no street size screens for them.
Also, the Nats experience shows the Orioles could improve on the quality of food vendors, and I’m not just talking about those who know not to touch the rim of your cup with their hands, or have vendors offer chicken nuggets with real chicken.
I've said for the last couple of years the food is much better at Nats Park. Other than a couple of stands, the food at Camden Yards leaves much to be desired. I also agree with your assessment of the stadium.
I have *fantastic* seats. Section 22, Row 6. Behind the Orioles dugout. Took me a long time to get here. Many years of patiently moving up as horrible Orioles team after horrible Orioles team drove out full-season plan holders.
And going to games annoys the living daylights out of me. What do I get to see the most of from my *fantastic* seats? Vendors. Vendors and idiot fans who can't sort out that the time to be wandering up and down the aisles is BETWEEN INNINGS, not during them.
Oh, and the Orioles, in their infinite, ham-fisted wisdom...the Orioles decided to raise prices 20% in one year, rather than 5% a year over four years.
I'm not sure how much longer I'm willing to haul myself up from Arlington for this...
Is there a way to see ticket sales by Corporate, Group and Individual ticket sales? I suspect Corporate and Group sales are down much more than individual ticket sales. I think Corporate and Group sales have been hit harder by some of the factors discussed - the Nationals, the economy, and poor marketing by the Orioles.
Sign Tebow. Get him ready to debut next spring and watch the seats fill up like never before!
I think it has quite a bit to do with the team's performance last year in a. 500 campaign and the decision to raise the prices of most season ticket plans. Renewing my plan was more of an easy decision because it only had a $30 increase, but I know there was quite a bit of sticker shock as some other plans increased by hundreds of dollars. It sounds to me that they lost quite a few season ticket holders and some of the ones that renewed downgraded their packages to fewer games or cheaper seats. Even last year with the riots, they still had a fair number of tickets sold for the game, even if there was a number of people who did not show up because of the security issues.
I think quite a few of these former plan holders have come to the games, but instead of going to a weekday game because that was on their chosen schedule, they are going to the games that they want, on the days that they want with the giveaways that they want.
I do think that there is a backlash against the individual game prices, but not as big as the backlash for the season plan increases. Had it been more gradual or more carefully chosen (say after an ALCS appearance in 2014), they may have gotten away with it more.
Also, if I were Peter Angelos, I would be more than a little paranoid that the Os have really not gotten too many weekend series with their chief rivals that they have gotten in the past. And yes, the O's PR and giveaways need a bit of an overhaul. A good number of people possibly don't want another t-shirt.
I can't believe that no one has mentioned the heat. This summer has been the hottest on record. Add the typical Baltimore humidity and game-time head indexes are over 100 degrees. If I don't already have tickets to a game I'm not thinking that I'll have a great time at the game. Even more so, I won't be able to convince my SO that we should go.
I think it's a number of factors for sure, Casey, with the heat being one of them.
IMHO...fans have seen this before. The O's stay close throughout the season then falter due to upper management's philosophy. They are stuck in the past and no longer have a grasp on what it takes to buy a championship. We all knew going into the season that hard times would come when our pitching goes down late in the season. Unfortunately the family did nothing to prevent this. Remember their primary goal is to be competitive....not to win championships.