how would YOU fix the sox attendance woes?

[SouthSidePride05]

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.

Edited October 14, 2012 by SouthSidePride05

[soxsoxsoxsox]

Sign a legitimate superstar

 

This

 

Build a bullpen strip club and casino in left field.

 

and THIS

 

[southsider2k5]

The Yankees not selling out postseason games and the Sox attendance problems have a lot in common. Both teams have old cores that their fans have tired of. In other words, it's time to find good young players.

 

BTW, the Jets game against the Texans Monday night had higher ratings than the Yankees/O's playoff game locally.

 

Yeah, the Yankees never win either.

[joeynach]

I honestly wouldn't mess with the price of tickets. I think they do a good job at selling their product as premium that attracts a certain buyer and a certain fanbase. I think its very important to the Sox to appeal to people who feel like there are premium options, they are buying a premium ticket, and enjoying a premium entertainment experience. The reason I believe so is b/c they know at $15 per ticket or $30 per ticket they prolly are going to have average to below average attendance. And the marginal benefit they get from $15 tickets isn't worth offsetting the atmosphere they want to sell to. They keep things of quality and premium so they can extract the most revenue from sponsors, advertisers, corporate partners, corporate outings, etc etc. With proverbial low attendance they must create high and consistent revenue streams elsewhere. Also I have heard from the mouth of Brooks Boyer another reason every seat isnt $15 all the time is they want to maintain a certain in ballpark atmosphere. Basically they don't want to appeal to drunks, college kids, lower income (trashy) families to fill their park.

 

All that being said I think if they lowered parking prices to near $15-$17 they would attract more suburbanites and families, which is a good demographic to attract.

[caulfield12]

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.

 

Revenues and team values have been soaring the last decade. Attendance is only 20-30% of revenue now for the large market teams...closer to 20-25% for the biggest. Baseball can also deliver product over 81 games, plus spring training, plus post-season, WBC, etc. NFL has a limitation to around 20 different dates in a year.

 

If anything, the NBA kind of peaked during their battle to take over 2nd from MLB...when's the last time you watched an entire Bulls' game, except for when Michael Jordan was playing? I guess the Heat "superteam" has renewed some interest, but a large number of NBA teams have empty arenas, relocation debates and financial struggles.

 

If you look at the big differences from the last 20 years, it has been the rise of NASCAR, MMA/fighting (boxing has slumped correspondingly, especially the heavyweight division) and golf due to Tiger Woods.

 

NHL also kind of peaked...it's just not the same experience watching on television. Same with futbol/soccer.

[SI1020]

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.

At the moment? Are you kidding? In 1958 the Colts and Giants had that epic overtime championship game. Between that time and the first Super Bowl (Janurary 15, 1967) football passed baseball and never looked back. It's not even close now in this country.

[SI1020]

You have to figure the Sox have done the math that lowering the ticket prices wouldn't equal more revenue when accounting for the increase in attendance and money spent on concessions. The bottom line is revenue (at least that is the Reinsorfian model), so you would have to imagine, the set the prices for what they deem to maximize the revenue.

I don't agree at all. Many supposedly brilliant business people are penny wise and pound foolish. This ownership group has made many mistakes and every now and then is known for throwing its fan base under the bus. Now I know the sweetheart deal they have guarantees a tidy profit, even with modest to lousy attendance. That being said they could do much better with adjustments in their ticket and parking pricing. Fielding a consistently winning team wouldn't hurt either.

[southsider2k5]

I don't agree at all. Many supposedly brilliant business people are penny wise and pound foolish. This ownership group has made many mistakes and every now and then is known for throwing its fan base under the bus. Now I know the sweetheart deal they have guarantees a tidy profit, even with modest to lousy attendance. That being said they could do much better with adjustments in their ticket and parking pricing. Fielding a consistently winning team wouldn't hurt either.

 

Yes Random Message Board poster knows more about the bottom line for a baseball team than a baseball ownership group, all of whom are already independently wealthy, and have been running at a profit for pretty much 30 solid years.

[Dick Allen]

The Sox for a team whose attendance is what it is, do pretty well on Mondays when the tickets are half priced. Pricing is a problem. Last offseason was a problem because it took the season ticket base down. For all those who don't think pricing is a problem, how would attendance be if tickets cost $1 each and parking was free? The argument the fans don't like the team is silly, that they don't like JR, that's silly or the Bulls would have empty seats. Its that tickets cost a lot of money. Parking costs a lot of money. Concessions and souveniers cost a lot of money, on top of that you pay a ticketmaster fee which is one of the highest ticketmaster fees in baseball. I would think every team that goes through ticktmaster has the same fees charged, but apparently not.

 

Dynamic pricing probably works gloriously when you have a base buying up a lot of tickets, but it works terribly if you are trying to build up your base. People don't want to jump through hoops to find a Dynamic deal or a Sox save of the week or search the internet for discount codes. Dump the system. I think it cost the Sox money in 2012.

[IlliniKrush]

I thought one reason that they put dynamic ticket pricing in was to lower prices as games got near and demand wasn't there. Clearly that didn't happen. Only thing they did was those deals, but dynamic pricing should bring down all prices.

[SI1020]

Yes Random Message Board poster knows more about the bottom line for a baseball team than a baseball ownership group, all of whom are already independently wealthy, and have been running at a profit for pretty much 30 solid years.

Read The Best and the Brightest or The Peter Principle just for starters. Did you lose money in the 2008/09 stock market real estate debacle? I hope not but lots of people did. I bow not to the elites. They make mistakes all the time. Some of them are even catastrophic. The Reinsdorf group has made many questionable business moves. That's not to say that Jerry Reinsdorf is not the classic up from his bootstraps American success story. He is. That doesn't mean that smart successful people don't make bonehead business moves. They do it all the time. If I make one of those bonehead moves then you'll see me on the street pleading for money. Once you've made it there is more leeway. One last thing. I already conceded that the White Sox are doing OK financially the way they run things now. I'm just a random dumbass that doesn't care all that much for some of their policies.

 

[greg775]

Also I have heard from the mouth of Brooks Boyer another reason every seat isnt $15 all the time is they want to maintain a certain in ballpark atmosphere. Basically they don't want to appeal to drunks, college kids, lower income (trashy) families to fill their park.

 

Well that's just great, Brooks. You don't want working class Mt. Greenwood families to come to your games. That's just great. The Sox are happy with the 15,000 fat cats that attend the games. Or wait, the 15,000 fat cats who have tickets and either don't go to the games or spend most of their work days trying to give away their tickets.

[greg775]

At the moment? Are you kidding? In 1958 the Colts and Giants had that epic overtime championship game. Between that time and the first Super Bowl (Janurary 15, 1967) football passed baseball and never looked back. It's not even close now in this country.

 

I'm just weird, I guess, but I give pro football a chance and I watch it on TV and I see all these short passes to running backs and bullets up the middle at breakneck speed. I just find it a bore. I prefer a good high school football game No. 1, followed by college football before the NFL. I realize I'm in the vast vast minority.

 

I just love MLB baseball except the umps' small strike zone drives me absolutely insane.

[LittleHurt05]

I thought one reason that they put dynamic ticket pricing in was to lower prices as games got near and demand wasn't there. Clearly that didn't happen. Only thing they did was those deals, but dynamic pricing should bring down all prices.

 

That's how I thought it would work, that the pricing would fluctuate depending on the demand. Obviously that wasn't the case, judging by all the empty seats at the Cubs & Yankees series, while the prices stayed high up to first pitch.

[southsider2k5]

Yankees fans don't buy tickets, this is what they get...

 

Jeff Passan ‏@JeffPassan

 

Apathy and malaise have replaced mystique and aura. Yankees fans know a fraud when they see it.

 

Sox fans don't buy tickets, and somehow it makes them lesser people if you listen to the idiots in local media around here... Funny how that works.

[SI1020]

I'm just weird, I guess, but I give pro football a chance and I watch it on TV and I see all these short passes to running backs and bullets up the middle at breakneck speed. I just find it a bore. I prefer a good high school football game No. 1, followed by college football before the NFL. I realize I'm in the vast vast minority.

 

I just love MLB baseball except the umps' small strike zone drives me absolutely insane.

Down here in the south greg college football is king. Even in places like Atlanta and Charlotte. The devotion to school and team borders on religious zealotry.

 

[southsider2k5]

That's how I thought it would work, that the pricing would fluctuate depending on the demand. Obviously that wasn't the case, judging by all the empty seats at the Cubs & Yankees series, while the prices stayed high up to first pitch.

 

At the end of the day we will know if it was profitable in 2012 by how it is used in 2013.

[Dick Allen]

At the end of the day we will know if it was profitable in 2012 by how it is used in 2013.

It seems this year it was used like airlines use their pricing methods. I remember Brooks being quoted as basically saying the system was something that they expected fans to take some time getting used to. Obviously, having tickets drop to next to nothing the day before and day of the game isn't going to help revenue. I think they should ditch the system until the attendance starts trending upward.

[Bubba Philips]

It seems this year it was used like airlines use their pricing methods. I remember Brooks being quoted as basically saying the system was something that they expected fans to take some time getting used to. Obviously, having tickets drop to next to nothing the day before and day of the game isn't going to help revenue. I think they should ditch the system until the attendance starts trending upward.

All seats in upper deck at 1959 prices for April games in honor of the go go whitesox and the 2013 season. their mostly empty in april anyway. Edited October 15, 2012 by forrestg

[ewokpelts]

As part owners of CSN, it would benefit the Sox (and Cubs) greatly to get CSN on in places like Indianapolis before 2016 in order to maximize revenue from that deal.

they get that money no matter where CSN airs.

 

[southsider2k5]

As part owners of CSN, it would benefit the Sox (and Cubs) greatly to get CSN on in places like Indianapolis before 2016 in order to maximize revenue from that deal.

 

I would imagine Cincy has a better market down there than the White Sox.

[ewokpelts]

I thought one reason that they put dynamic ticket pricing in was to lower prices as games got near and demand wasn't there. Clearly that didn't happen. Only thing they did was those deals, but dynamic pricing should bring down all prices.

exactly. the cardinals dynamic pricing had games as low as $5 the day tickets went on sale. and they adjusted prices up AND down daily.

 

[cabiness42]

they get that money no matter where CSN airs.

 

Yes, but if CSN is airing in more households, that equals bigger ratings which equals more ad revenue which equals more money in the next TV contract.

[ewokpelts]

Read The Best and the Brightest or The Peter Principle just for starters. Did you lose money in the 2008/09 stock market real estate debacle? I hope not but lots of people did. I bow not to the elites. They make mistakes all the time. Some of them are even catastrophic. The Reinsdorf group has made many questionable business moves. That's not to say that Jerry Reinsdorf is not the classic up from his bootstraps American success story. He is. That doesn't mean that smart successful people don't make bonehead business moves. They do it all the time. If I make one of those bonehead moves then you'll see me on the street pleading for money. Once you've made it there is more leeway. One last thing. I already conceded that the White Sox are doing OK financially the way they run things now. I'm just a random dumbass that doesn't care all that much for some of their policies.

Jerry has made more bad movies based off emotions than anything. like keeping Ozzie guillen longer than he should have.

 

[ewokpelts]

Well that's just great, Brooks. You don't want working class Mt. Greenwood families to come to your games. That's just great. The Sox are happy with the 15,000 fat cats that attend the games. Or wait, the 15,000 fat cats who have tickets and either don't go to the games or spend most of their work days trying to give away their tickets.

mt greenwood residents are hardly working class. mostly city workers with nice pensions an union benefits.