SouthSidePride05

If we don't draw as many fans as last season, this will be the 8th straight season that attendance has declined from the previous season. I see it as a downward trend that will only get worse until we're drawing less than 10K a year and last in attendance by a considerable gap. I don't even think a winning season and a postseason appearance will change things at this point. I think the only way to draw fans again is to tear down the stadium and build a new one. Somewhere far away from 35th and Shields.

The stop button on the webcam

Any fans of the band Live? I followed the band back in the 90s, bought all their albums, went to a couple of their shows. Big fan! The band broke up after their 7th album in 2006, but their lead singer Ed Kowalczyk is still putting out music. His first solo album was pretty dismal, but his 2nd one coming out in the US in Oct (The Flood and the Mercy) is spectacular. It's already been released in a few Europen markets to coincide with tour dates, and leaked online, and in my opinion it's his best album since Throwing Copper. If you liked Live, I think you'll dig this new album.

Already planning a trip to AT&T Park. Never been there, never even been to SF. Good times ahead!

Now they just need to contend. Get 10 over .500 again, and I think we might see a spike in attendance. It's still not guaranteed though. If I had to predict next season's attendance, I'd say we'll avg 25K if we don't suck (over 2 million fans), 19K if we suck.

Could it be that baseball is just not that popular at the moment? Maybe it's not about the money, because even the cheap tickets aren't getting sold. I think popularity in sports goes around in cycles, and maybe in a few years, MLB will be all the talk at the water cooler. Right now it's all about the NFL. The casual fan just isn't watching baseball right now. One of the main reasons is because the epic rivalries of recent years have lost their spark due to some teams falling into oblivion. The Cubs/Sox crosstown rivalry is non-existent at the moment because Cubs fans are in hiding.. and likewise, the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry is non-existent due to Saux fans in hiding. The casual fans aren't hearing the trash-talking and are evidently finding other things to occupy their time.

You obviously haven't taken a look at Google Maps recently. The images are fairly recent, probably taken sometime this summer. Just zoom in. In a perfect world, they'd tear down Adler Planetarium (move it south on Northerly Island), and build a new ballpark right at the site of the Adler Planetarium with the seats facing the skyline.

There's definitely plenty of Sox fans in the Chicagoland area to consistently fill the park. The reason they don't go is because it's just not worth it. Why not? One of the main reasons is because the stadium is almost always empty, which takes away a lot of the excitement from the ballpark experience. It puts a damper on the experience. People are generally social and want to be where other people are, where the party is at. Everyone and their Grandpa in Chicago knows about the Sox attendance woes.. and that's what's hurting attendance every year. If attendance ever goes up in a few years, the news will get around, and then everyone will want to go. Just like in the summer of 2006 when most games were sellouts or near sellouts, the White Sox instantly became a hot ticket. How do you make the Sox a hot ticket again? Cater to the casual fan and tourists. This means get rid of Thunderstruck. It's annoying and off-putting. Get rid of the current "rough" culture and start to create a more family friendly culture. If families coming from the burbs begin to notice that the crowd no longer resembles a typical crowd for a Mega Death concert, more families would likely start to go more often. Create an "Out of State/Visitor Parking Lot", where any vehicle with a license plate other than Illinois pays only $5. Build new roads/lots to ease the traffic nightmares. Build tourist attractions around the park, like the Bean or Cloud Gate or whatever it's called. Or a giant Ferris wheel. Fountains. Lots of them. Inside and outside the park. Anything to beautify the immediate area around the park. We NEED to draw more tourists. If attendance picks up, the locals and diehards will notice and simple supply and demand will take care of the rest.

If more games at the Cell were guaranteed to draw huge crowds, more Sox fans, casual fans, and tourists would want to spend their hard earned cash to experience that lively atmosphere.

There are Sox fans everywhere in the Chicagoland area. And they're the most passionate fans you'll ever find. When they make the playoffs, tickets sell out within minutes, and the fans go nuts. They show up at Midway Airport, 5000 strong, to welcome home the team when they return after clinching a playoff series. Sox fans live and die with every pitch. I honestly think they're one of the best fanbases in all of sports. The problem is, there's just not enough casual fans or tourists who want to visit US Cellular to draw large average attendance figures at home, and most fans would rather save and wait for the best possible game during the season, the ones that will likely draw big crowds, and since that hasn't been happening, the domino effect continues and attendance figures continue to dip.

QUOTE (Brian @ Oct 2, 2012 -> 06:19 PM) Giangreco? Yep He should've just said "Nobody in the media cares about the Sox."

He's somewhere in this pic.

QUOTE (Brian @ Oct 2, 2012 -> 06:08 PM) Had to be Kaplan Nope

Guess who said it? Hint: he's a well-known Chicago sports anchor. Tonight on the sports segment he said "And the miserable baseball season in Chicago comes to an end. The Cubs lose 100 games, and nobody cares about the Sox. It kills me". Why do people say stuff like this? It just pissed me off. I've been in a horrible mood ever since the collapse, and hearing someone say this makes me even more upset.

Thornton in... there goes the season.

Anyone else care about the attendance.. or lack thereof.. and wish they didn't? Regardless if I'm watching on tv or at the game and I see an empty outfield and upper deck, it puts a damper on watching Sox games. I never miss a game if I'm at home and have followed the Sox religiously since '93.. and unfortunately this problem is getting worse. How can I get myself not to care about attendance?

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 25, 2012 -> 05:02 PM) Less than 14k at the game today....wow And today was beautiful! According to the seat map, it doesn't look much better for the remaining homes games either. I think the lack of a real home field advantage in the last week will play a big factor in us not making the playoffs. If this was anywhere else (except Florida), there would be 35,000 or more fans the entire week giving the team a huge push down the final stretch. Instead of the players feeling energized, they're presumably feeling disheartened and depressed with only 13K fans there. This is embarrassing.

If we somehow come back and win this game, it would definitely re-energize the team. And then hopefully Minnesota gets lucky and wins both games tomorrow... both in extra innings. Why not dream a little?

IMPRESSIVE!

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 22, 2012 -> 09:30 PM) Angel Hernandez and his crew always suck So does that Nissan pitch track.

Hawk probably would've gone on another epic rant if it weren't for Stoney stepping in and explaining the Ump's call.

QUOTE (Noonskadoodle @ Sep 22, 2012 -> 09:21 PM) I agree.....but must you & a few others make it miserable in the gamethread when the team is behind? Trust me we ALL our frustrated. Just adds to the frustration when we have to read a post in the 2nd inning saying game is over or something like that. This place is like group therapy. I don't know what I'd do without you guys.

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 22, 2012 -> 08:53 PM) That's freaking pathetic, and you have a feeling if they're one out heading into Monday, a lot of people won't bother walking up for tix. Well, even if the Sox were up 3 games going into Monday, it wouldn't make a difference, except for a potential clincher. The Sox are essentially trying to find ways to give away as many comp tickets as they can just to fill some seats next week. If we don't make the playoffs and we find ourselves out of contention in May of next year, I think we'll be contending with TB and Houston for last place in attendance.

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 22, 2012 -> 08:50 PM) Is that true? That sucks Yeah, it's pretty bad. For every game, the outfield and UD are basically empty.