Members TampaYankee Posted September 16, 2011 Members Posted September 16, 2011 The 12 major league teams running out of fans By Michael B. Sauter, 247wallstreet.com Sports teams often go through sharp swings in popularity. Attendance rises and falls. This frequently has to do with how well a team performs. When teams do well, people outside of their primary fan base become interested and start going to games. An example of this is the Florida Marlins, who won the world series in 2003 and saw attendance rise 60 percent in a single year. Alternatively, teams who do poorly also win new fans. Attendance for the four major league sports – NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL – remained relatively flat from 2001 to 2010. The total fan increase for all NHL teams – the best performer of the four – was only 2.59 percent. The weakest, the NFL, only grew .49 percent Despite the relatively anemic growth overall, some teams have done extraordinarily well drawing fans. MLB teams such as Los Angeles and Minnesota saw crowds increase more than 50 percent, while Philadelphia’s attendance doubled. NFL teams such as Arizona, Atlanta, and Dallas jumped more than 25 percent. Using records provided by ESPN, 24/7 Wall St. examined changes in attendance for the four major league sports from 2001 to 2010 to identify the twelve teams that decreased more than 20 percent. The majority of these teams have performed poorly in recent years, causing fans to lose interest. The win-lose record and number of championships is included after the jumps to reflect the former and current state of each team. These are the 12 sports franchises losing the most fans. 12. Oakland Raiders • Decrease in attendance: 21.32 percent • 2001 W-L record: 10-6 (finished 1st in AFC West) • 2010 W-L record: 8-8 (finished 3rd in AFC West) • League championships last decade: none More on the Raiders’ decline 11. Columbus Blue Jackets • Decrease in attendance: 21.76 percent • 2001 W-L record: 28–39–9–6 (finished 5th in Central Division) • 2010 W-L record: 32-35-15 (finished 5th in Central Division) • League championships last decade: none More on the Blue Jackets’ decline 10. Indiana Pacers • Decrease in attendance: 24.32 percent • 2001 W-L record: 41-41 (finished 8th in Eastern Conference) • 2010 W-L record: 32-50 (finished 10th in Eastern Conference) • League championships last decade: none More on the Pacers’ decline 9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers • Decrease in attendance: 24.78 percent • 2001 W-L record: 9-7 (finished 3rd in NFC Central Division) • 2010 W-L record: 10-6 (finished 3rd in NFC South Division) • League championships last decade: won Super Bowl XXXVII in 2002 More on the Bucs’ decline 8. Philadelphia 76ers • Decrease in attendance: 24.94 percent • 2001 W-L record: 56-26 (finished 1st in the Eastern Conference) • 2010 W-L record: 27-55 (finished 13th in the Eastern Conference) • League championships last decade: none More on the 76ers’ decline 7. Arizona Diamondbacks • Decrease in attendance: 25.05 percent • 2001 W-L record: 85-77 (finished 3rd in NL West) • 2010 W-L record: 65-97 (finished 5th in NL West) • League championships last decade: won World Series in 2001 More on the Diamondbacks’ decline 6. Detroit Lions • Decrease in attendance: 25.18 percent • 2001 W-L record: 2-14 (finished 5th in NFC Central Division) • 2010 W-L record: 6-10 (finished 3rd in NFC North Division) • League championships last decade: none More on the Lions’ decline 5. Oakland Athletics • Decrease in attendance: 33.51 percent • 2001 W-L record: 102-60 (finished 2nd in AL West) • 2010 W-L record: 81-81 (finished 2nd in AL West) • League championships last decade: none More on the A’s decline 4. Pittsburgh Pirates • Decrease in attendance: 33.78 percent • 2001 W-L record: 62-100 (finished 6th in NL Central) • 2010 W-L record: 57-105 (finished 6th in NL Central) • League championships last decade: none More on the Pirates’ decline 3. Seattle Mariners • Decrease in attendance: 40.54 percent • 2001 W-L record: 116-46 (finished 1st in AL West) • 2010 W-L record: 61-101 (finished 4th in AL West) • League championships last decade: none More on the Mariners’ decline 2. Baltimore Orioles • Decrease in attendance: 44.00 percent • 2001 W-L record: 63-98 (finished 4th in AL East) • 2010 W-L record: 66-96 (finished 5th in AL East) • League championships last decade: none More on the Orioles’ decline 1. Cleveland Indians • Decrease in attendance: 56.08 percent • 2000 W-L record: 91-71 (finished 1st in AL Central) • 2010 W-L record: 69-93 (finished 4th in AL Central) • League championships last decade: none More on the Indians’ decline See original article for more active links on the teams: http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=ys-247wallstreet-pro_teams_losing_fans_091511 Quote
BiBottomBoy Posted September 16, 2011 Posted September 16, 2011 The thing is tickets for sporting events have gotten crazy expensive and in this economy if you can watch the game on television for free or have to pay $100 or more for a ticket you'll watch it at home. I notice that nearly all those teams are in areas that were hit particularly hard by the recession. Quote
Members RA1 Posted September 16, 2011 Members Posted September 16, 2011 Agree about the cost of tickets. One would like to think that with declining attendance the owners might be able to adjust the pay to the athletes and therefore adjust the ticket prices but that takes time AND very likely the main source of their income is TV, not folks in the seats. I don't think the fans can win this one without a wholesale disinterest in sports from any venue. Not likely to happen. Best regards, RA1 Quote
Members Lucky Posted September 17, 2011 Members Posted September 17, 2011 Shh. This is one of the reasons I get such good seats for Yankee games in Oakland at a low price! Quote
Members MsGuy Posted September 17, 2011 Members Posted September 17, 2011 Don't forget Dodger Stadium. Dodger Stadium's worst showing ever Earlier this week, about 30 minutes before a Dodgers game, a picture of the near-empty stands at Dodger Stadium made the rounds on Twitter, and things got worse Wednesday. It's the smallest crowd I've seen in my 23 years of following the Dodgers. It might be the smallest crowd in the 49-year history of Dodger Stadium. The official attendance is 27,767, the second-lowest of the season, but that accounts for the number of tickets sold, not the number of actual people in seats. This is surely the worst. This is surely not even close. Eleven sections are completely vacant. Most of the pavilion sections are in single digits. The left-field corner section, previously known as Mannywood, is Deadwood, inhabited by precisely 20 people. Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/morning-jolt/09/01/0901/index.html#ixzz1YBT6Wkpu Probably more the result of the McCourt fiasco more than anything else. Quote
BiBottomBoy Posted September 17, 2011 Posted September 17, 2011 To be fair I can't think of any reason any reasonable person would want to watch The Dodgers. Quote
Guest CharliePS Posted September 17, 2011 Posted September 17, 2011 As someone who loves statistics, I'm always suspicious when they don't make sense. How could the Arizona Diamondbacks have finished third in their division in 2001, and yet have won the World Series that year? That record wouldn't even get them into the playoffs. By the way, 2001 is a bad year to choose as a base for baseball, since the 9/11 attacks seriously disrupted the schedule. Quote
BiBottomBoy Posted September 19, 2011 Posted September 19, 2011 It not only disrupted the schedule it made people scared to be in stadiums. Quote
