21 hours ago, Dick Allen said:

That's exactly right. Even though the area is safer than it's ever been. The easiest stadium for the masses to get to in the city, JR can't admit the reason people dont show up is his fault. Nope, it's the neighborhood.

This must be why teams across MLB are falling all over themselves to follow the Sox successful stadium model - lots of parking lots and right off an expressway. Perfect. They're all jealous of the White Sox juggernaut.

The area is safe, but it doesn't matter - people just aren't interesting in going to Bridgeport unless its for a Sox game. In the last 30 years, the Sox have been in the top half in MLB attendance only once (2006). That is it, even when they were fielding pretty good teams they were bottom half of the league. Anecdotal examples from individual fans doesn't change that reality.

17 minutes ago, 77 Hitmen said:

This must be why teams across MLB are falling all over themselves to follow the Sox successful stadium model - lots of parking lots and right off an expressway. Perfect. They're all jealous of the White Sox juggernaut.

The area is safe, but it doesn't matter - people just aren't interesting in going to Bridgeport unless its for a Sox game. In the last 30 years, the Sox have been in the top half in MLB attendance only once (2006). That is it, even when they were fielding pretty good teams they were bottom half of the league. Anecdotal examples from individual fans doesn't change that reality.

The reason people don't come isn't because it's Bridgeport. It's because JR doesn't know how to build a team that is supposed to win. A successful team with endless parking lots draws a ton of people 90 miles away. Ever been to Milwaukee?

39 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

The reason people don't come isn't because it's Bridgeport. It's because JR doesn't know how to build a team that is supposed to win. A successful team with endless parking lots draws a ton of people 90 miles away. Ever been to Milwaukee?

It can be both. It's JR's mishandling of the team and the location. If the Sox built the perfect stadium at the best location....but still ran the team Jerry's way, I totally agree that they'll have trouble drawing fans after a new ballpark "bounce" wears off. But 15th or worse in the league in attendance every year since 1995 except for the 1 time they were reigning WS champs - those are the numbers and they weren't losing 100 games all of those 30 years. Argue all you want, but those numbers are what they are. That includes all the Thomas, Konerko, Buehrle, AJ, Thome years when the team had players with lots name recognition and were pretty decent on the field.

Yep, I've been to Milwaukee. I mentioned them above. They obviously succeed in drawing fans at a ballpark with nothing around it. They're also an outlier in MLB in making that work. Maybe someone here from Wisconsin can explain that because I can't. But the last thing I want the next Sox owners to do is look for single outliers and conclude that it obviously will work here.....even though it hasn't for 30+ years.