Attendance down

[Soul]

I wasn't all that excited seeing him sitting in the stands enjoying another loss anyway. GET ON YOUR SHIP AND GET OUTTA HERE PAL.

[UMFan83]

BTW, that new Russian Nets owner plans on spending 3/4 of the season in Russia. Where's the outrage?

[Schwarber Fan]

Tom Golisano, owner of the Buffalo Sabres lives in Florida.

[Soul]

BTW, that new Russian Nets owner plans on spending 3/4 of the season in Russia. Where's the outrage?

 

Oh, there's probably some NJ fan somewhere who is up in arms about it, calling talk radio shows and such.

[J.R.]

The New Jersey Nets could fold tomorrow and no one would notice.

 

They still have hockey in Buffalo?

[Banedon]

BTW, that new Russian Nets owner plans on spending 3/4 of the season in Russia. Where's the outrage?

 

I'm not sure the initial argument about Ricketts needing to be in town is a great one, but this is a worse rebuttal. Who cares about the Nets? We aren't fans of the Nets, so naturally we couldn't care less about where their owner spends his time.

 

Tom Golisano, owner of the Buffalo Sabres lives in Florida.

 

Again, who cares? I'm not a Sabres fan.

[jersey cubs fan]

BTW, that new Russian Nets owner plans on spending 3/4 of the season in Russia. Where's the outrage?

 

I'm not sure the initial argument about Ricketts needing to be in town is a great one, but this is a worse rebuttal. Who cares about the Nets? We aren't fans of the Nets, so naturally we couldn't care less about where their owner spends his time.

 

Tom Golisano, owner of the Buffalo Sabres lives in Florida.

 

Again, who cares? I'm not a Sabres fan.

 

It's freaking stupid to worry about the whereabouts of any owner, that is the point, nobody should care.

[Schwarber Fan]

I don't care about his whereabouts, I was just bringing a relevant point into the conversation. I guess that was inappropriate. :roll:

[UMFan83]

BTW, that new Russian Nets owner plans on spending 3/4 of the season in Russia. Where's the outrage?

 

I'm not sure the initial argument about Ricketts needing to be in town is a great one, but this is a worse rebuttal. Who cares about the Nets? We aren't fans of the Nets, so naturally we couldn't care less about where their owner spends his time.

 

Tom Golisano, owner of the Buffalo Sabres lives in Florida.

 

Again, who cares? I'm not a Sabres fan.

 

I think your missing the point....which is that it's not exactly unusual for a team owner to not be near the team during the season, and there's no reason for anyone to freak out about it, especially in this day and age.

[UK1679666180]

Is the original attendance figures based on tickets sold or those who actually show up at the park?

 

If it's tickets sold then you have to figure it's actually less than that and they're losing out on concessions, etc.

 

They're a bad team and while I don't want them to lose money, I am glad that the ticket brokers and regular jackasses that try and buy as many tickets as possible to sell them above face value are losing money since there isn't much demand regardless of it they are at face value or not.

[SouthSideRyan]

Attendance figures have been tickets sold for quite some time.

[UK1679666180]

I know which is why I questioned why they con't to mention attend. as tickets sold rather than actual attend. (which should somewhat avail. via the Cubs), which isn't the whole story especially with a situation like the Cubs where they have the initial somewhat optimism in winter once tickets go on sale compared to now when many people aren't using tickets they've bought or ticket brokers with tickets still in stock.

[Soul]

I'll be in Chicago July 17th and 18th, and I'm debating not even buying tix in advance. I'll bet there are some sweet deals to be had outside the ballpark day of game.

[lumafia]

I think some fans like the sound of an owner who loves the team as much as the fans do. I know that if I had the monetary means, I would be at nearly every Cub game. That being said, you don't have to present to be a fan.

[Wheelimus]

I'll be in Chicago July 17th and 18th, and I'm debating not even buying tix in advance. I'll bet there are some sweet deals to be had outside the ballpark day of game.

 

Very true, I'm kicking around the idea of heading up to Chicago for some late season series if things keep going they way they are. Always wanted to have a great seat at Wrigley and not have to pay great seat money.

 

Barring a miracle I'm betting someone with a little cash 5 minutes before first pitch is going to make out like a bandit. Or at least I've found that to be true in a slightly similar situation, Indiana University basketball.

[Soul]

I'll be in Chicago July 17th and 18th, and I'm debating not even buying tix in advance. I'll bet there are some sweet deals to be had outside the ballpark day of game.

 

Very true, I'm kicking around the idea of heading up to Chicago for some late season series if things keep going they way they are. Always wanted to have a great seat at Wrigley and not have to pay great seat money.

 

Barring a miracle I'm betting someone with a little cash 5 minutes before first pitch is going to make out like a bandit. Or at least I've found that to be true in a slightly similar situation, Indiana University basketball.

 

And if nobody will sell cheap, to heck with them. Hop on the subway and check out the Hancock building or something. It's not like you just missed out on great baseball.

 

You missed late season slop from a crap team. Go have a beer at Murphy's. :-)

[d_money]

The one thing I hate about Wrigley is that people will continue to show, no matter what the product. I bet the minimum avg. attendence would be 20K if they REALLY sucked.

 

I wish they'd tear it down and build somewhere else - I'd still be a fan. The place is a [expletive] hole.

[J.R.]

The one thing I hate about Wrigley is that people will continue to show, no matter what the product. I bet the minimum avg. attendence would be 20K if they REALLY sucked.

 

I wish they'd tear it down and build somewhere else - I'd still be a fan. The place is a [expletive] hole.

 

Yeah, nobody needs a beautiful, profitable ballpark! [expletive] great places that people will pay money to see!

[Soul]

I think we're starting to see a few cracks in that theory.

 

Yes, people will still show. But when the team isn't generating any excitement, the # of no shows is definitely going to increase. If years go by and improvements aren't made, I'll bet you will start seeing fewer initial tickets sold as well.

 

I've seen a bit of a shift in the Cub fan base in the past few years. The Cubs have actually been a contending baseball team more than they were in past decades. The fan base has been more impatient, with higher expectations, than I remember.

 

Wrigley's stature as a baseball altar will keep attendance from eroding to catastrophic levels, but there will be enough empty seats to cause significant pressure on the Cubs if they don't turn things around.

[Wheelimus]

There's always going to be people at Wrigley. Especially while companies like Paetec continue to make business deals to buy a bunch of tickets. Which I know due to the Cubs hat (with Paetec logo on the side) and un-used ticket stub a coworker brought back from said conference. No, I'm not bitter about that. NOT AT ALL.

 

But there is quite a big difference fiscally for the club between 80% full and 100% full. And if our down-slide continues, that bottom may fall out even more. Right now so many people buy tickets early because they're afraid of availability. If we get to a point where that isn't a concern, less and less will buy early.

[Soul]

Yep.

 

Believe it or not though, I do have faith that the Cubs will turn the club around before we reach the point where pre-season sales are dramatically reduced. I think they use that as a touch point to gauge how they're doing. If they see a big drop in interest in February one year, it'll spark major changes.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

There's always going to be a floor to how many tickets are sold. There are at least 20,000 season tickets with a waiting list of at least that many people. While those people may choose not to use the tickets or flood the secondary market with them, there's that many sold no matter what.

 

If the team has a prolonged slump, that number may decrease, but it would take a prolonged slump of 3-5 years for that to happen. Someone who has had tickets for 15-20 years isn't going to give them up after 1-2 bad seasons, and someone who has waited 4-5 years on the waiting list isn't likely to pass up the opportunity to buy just because the previous season was a disappointment. If they do give up seats or pass up opportunities, that's probably more an economic decision than one based on the current climate of the team, unless the team takes a prolonged nosedive, which I doubt it does. All it takes is 1-2 years of semi-success, playoff appearances for those people to want tickets and be a part of the excitement again.

 

The Cubs have always held back a certain number of seats to sell on an individual game basis. My guess is that they will try to contain some of the uncertainty by increasing the season ticket base even more this offseason. Instead of capping sales around 20K, they could go down the waiting list and try to increase season ticket base to 30k tickets which would create an even greater demand for the remaining 12k tickets when they go on sale in February. They could also try to get season ticket buyers for the premium dugout box, bullpen box, and bleacher box tickets that they have up to now only sold on a game to game basis.

 

This could be bad for the average fan who wants tickets during the good seasons, but it would help the Cubs out during seasons like this one.

[Wheelimus]

Yeah, I don't think things are ever going to be "10th row single seat $10" bad for the Cubs. But then again they would never get that bad for the Cubs...they'd get that bad for the scalpers. Like that $10 ticket to Wisconsin last season probably stung for **that** scalper.

[Soul]

I didn't think about the season ticket thing. You're right, they could make some tweaks there to attempt to get through a bad season or two.

[jersey cubs fan]

I didn't think about the season ticket thing. You're right, they could make some tweaks there to attempt to get through a bad season or two.

 

And those tweaks might not help. If the Cubs do not have a bounce back year very soon, they will see a hard drop in attendance. Season ticket list be damned. That thing started when the economy was rocking and the team was great (and tickets were cheaper). People who otherwise could not afford season tickets could get them with the expectations of financing their tickets through later sales. Or they put their name on the list knowing they would not have to pay for years. Without a quality team, those sales dry up, and people take baths. This is two years in a row of people bathing. There will easily be 15,000 attendance days if the team doesn't improve significantly in 2011.