quo vadis
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RE: SI article on sagging attendance
(01-12-2020 11:44 AM)_C2_ Wrote: (01-12-2020 10:45 AM)quo vadis Wrote: (01-11-2020 03:33 PM)Scoochpooch1 Wrote: (01-11-2020 02:24 PM)bullet Wrote: (01-11-2020 11:20 AM)usffan Wrote: Thanks - this has been an enjoyable thread to read, and I found myself a number of times agreeing out loud with what people wrote. I've used many of these same arguments to refute those who keep insisting that my alma mater (USF) needs to build an on campus stadium, since spending that kind of money on something that is undergoing such a drastic change would be folly.
One thing that I didn't see anybody mention was that another thing that has contributed to this has been schools/conferences being willing to hold kickoff times hostage for the "flex window" of broadcasting. It's hard to convince people to plan to attend a game when they don't know what time the game's going to kickoff until 13 (or, in many cases, 6) days beforehand. It dramatically impacts travel plans as well as other life events.
In many ways, we're seeing college football follow the path that MLB went down when RSN's first got full broadcast rights to games (especially home games). MLB is still making big money, but it's because of broadcasting, not because of people in the stands. For that matter, the same is becoming true of the NFL.
USFFan
Baseball has dramatically increased ticket prices. They have downsized their stadiums, but that is to reduce supply so they can raise prices.
Made me think about the baseball stadiums. I've been in Crosley Field and Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, the old Rangers park in Arlington, the Astrodome and Minute Maid Park in Houston, Turner Field in Atlanta and Fenway Park in Boston. Only 2 of the 6 are still hosting baseball and Riverfront, the Astrodome and Turner Field were replaced by smaller parks.
The sport is also become less relevant each year. It could already been done for had the NFL not tried to alienate true football fans.
Baseball's decline can be overstated. Yes, attendance has fallen by about 5,000 fans per game over the past 10-12 years, and that's not good. But by historical standards attendance is still decent.
For example, in 1955, at what might be called the very peak of baseball's Golden Age, average attendance at MLB games was about 13,500 per game.
In contrast, last year average MLB attendance was around 28,000.
Now true, the USA population has doubled during that time, from around 165 million in 1955 to around 330 million today. But, the number of MLB teams has about doubled as well, from 16 in 1955 to 30 today, so the increase in teams pretty much cancels out the increase in overall market size.
And even if you think it doesn't, and think 1955 attendance should be doubled to be compared to today's attendance, it's still basically the same now as then, despite baseball being the undisputed King of USA Sports at that time.
Plus, fans are paying more these days. For example, at this year's World Series between the Nats and Astros, the lowest face-value ticket price for either ballpark to see some guy walk up to the plate with "baby shark" blasting was $150.
In 1955, a bleacher seat in Yankee Stadium at the World Series to see Mickey Mantle, Duke Snider, Jackie Robinson, Whitey Ford, Pee Wee Reese, Roy Campanella and Yogi Berra would have cost you .. $2.10, which translates in to $19 in today's money.
It's no coincidence that baseball's so called Golden Age the Yankees and New York baseball's peak. The Golden Age talk is a media creation. Baseball was doing only okay outside the five boroughs.
That makes sense, and even in New York, it was around that time that both the Dodgers and Giants left for California. IIRC, there were other franchise movements in the 1950s as well, morseo than today's era.
When I was growing up in the 1970s, the move of the Dodgers to LA was a mythic story, the Great Tragedy of baseball history (for some reason, the Giants move to San Francisco was barely if ever mentioned). It was always cast as legions of loyal, dedicated Brooklyn fans betrayed by whatever the family was that owned the team. We were taught by the sports media that this Epic Tragedy was something that ripped at the hear of the New York Soul, hell the American Soul, and that neither the city nor country had truly been the same since. Paradise Lost.
Truth is, in 1955 the Dodgers averaged 13,500 fans per game in 30,000 seat Ebbets Field. There were a lot of Dedicated Lifetime Brooklyn Fans disguised as empty seats that year. A championship year with 4 Hall of Famers in the field and one in the dugout.
(This post was last modified: 01-12-2020 12:10 PM by quo vadis.)
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