Comments made by Gammons on BBTN

[Guest Moneyball]

He said, "This team won the WS last year, you would think people would show up at the ballpark!"

 

I for one have to disagree with him attendance is up close to 50% and he obviously doesn't live in the South Florida. I am pleased with this year's attendance it is a huge increase over last year's and I think he should look at the facts.

 

But tonight he did seem a little mad during the whole show. He complained like a baby about the Marlins, A's, Orioles, and Cubs.

[Hotcorner]

wasn't much of a crowd today, but for the most part there's been a decent increase this season. Give it a rest already Gammonds, go talk about your BoSox.

 

was it the attendence a defending WS champ deserves? certainly not, but we're talking about south florida here, not exactly known for it's sports fans...

 

i'm not disgusted with the attendance this year.

[fishfan25]

oops i put B instead of C by accident............yeah it was real increase but still i mean i was still expecting more fans to come out to a freakin game after we win the WS.

 

i mean red-sox sell out but havent won a world series since 1918 i think.

and we win 2 in 12 seasons....i know this is south florida but c'mon.

[Guest Moneyball]

wasn't much of a crowd today, but for the most part there's been a decent increase this season. Give it a rest already Gammonds, go talk about your BoSox.

 

was it the attendence a defending WS champ deserves? certainly not, but we're talking about south florida here, not exactly known for it's sports fans...

 

i'm not disgusted with the attendance this year.

568156[/snapback]

 

i think the team as a whole did very good this year, tv ratings through the roof, attendance at the games up 50%, team stayed in the playoff hunt late and a 500 record, we gained respect from the league FO wise and on the field wise.

[Hollyberry]

People do work and go to school

 

You just can't skip school/work for a game.. Maybe you can lol

[rferry]

Before the hurricanes it looked very promising.

[Fish Tank Frenzy]

oops i put B instead of C by accident............yeah it was real increase but still i mean i was still expecting more fans to come out to a freakin game after we win the WS.

 

i mean red-sox sell out but havent won a world series since 1918 i think.

and we win 2 in 12 seasons....i know this is south florida but c'mon.

568159[/snapback]

Like you said since 1918, the Blow Sox, Cubs, Yanks etc have been around how long, over a century, come on man, after generations of Marlins fans growing, maybe by the year 2090 the Marlins will sell out all there games, as for right now, the Marlins have increased attendence over 100% over the last two seasons not too bad

[fishfan25]

oops i put B instead of C by accident............yeah it was real increase but still i mean i was still expecting more fans to come out to a freakin game after we win the WS.

 

i mean red-sox sell out but havent won a world series since 1918 i think.

and we win 2 in 12 seasons....i know this is south florida but c'mon.

568159[/snapback]

Like you said since 1918, the Blow Sox, Cubs, Yanks etc have been around how long, over a century, come on man, after generations of Marlins fans growing, maybe by the year 2090 the Marlins will sell out all there games, as for right now, the Marlins have increased attendence over 100% over the last two seasons not too bad

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yeh that's true....gotta remember that

[rferry]

This is the first year the Red Sox have sold out all their home dates despite having fanatical fans and asmall stadium in the middle of town.

[Everlong204]

attendance was a vast improvment this year, more then any year i can remember, and it would have kept going if not for the hurricanes that hit you guys.. I expect that next year, if we keep most of the team and bring in a few new players, will be even better then this year, and when the new stadium comes, if we have a good team, i'm sure it will do better then joe robbie

[fanofthefish]

I feel attendance was a lot better this year. Sure there was let down after the WS win, but losing Pudge, DLee, etc.... probably left some with lingering feelings from 98. This years team despite being inconsistent is still mathmatically in the post-season hunt. If the FO can afford to put some money into keeping the major pieces intact and a winning ball club on the field, I would see no reason that attendance wouldn't increase in the future.

[Marlins]

I would give them a C+ or a B-...

 

On the one hand they did very good and they deserve a lot more fans but I think the location of the stadium stops a lot of fans from coming so I don't think its their fault that much.

 

But there is no exscuse next year...we better get more fans even if we do worse.

[FishFan24]

While attendance has been up over previous years...ITS STILL PATHETIC.

 

 

Your team just wins the World Series, you still have a great product on the field and you don't show up. And the ones that did showed up, only showed up for the first few weeks of the season to get their little rings and so on and so forth.

 

 

I had some guy tell me last week that if the Marlins move to the OB site, he'll never go to another Marlins fan again. I asked him how many games he went to last year and he told me "all of the playoff games". South Florida (Dade, Broward AND Palm Beach) cannot support this team no matter what and I'm sick of hearing from Broward and PB fans especially that the majority of Marlins fans come from their area.

 

 

BULL SH*T. :fyou Don't be suprised if Loria decides to spend a little less this offseason. He kept this team mostly intact because he thought he still had a winner and people would go out and see them all season long. Atleast now we all know where people stand. If the Marlins were in the playoffs or ready to clinch a spot, that stadium would be packed. But since its not, they refuse to show up.

 

 

I'm through. :mad :

[Accord]

I'm giving it an A compared to last years attendance numbers but compared to the rest of the Major League Baseball it get's a C+ at best.

 

Miami Heat attendance has been absolutely pathetic over the years as well so the Marlins aren't alone in this, it took the Heat acquiring Shaq to actually improve attendance. The only way the Marlins will ever consistently have very good attendance is if we traded our entire starting lineup for Barry Bonds, and that's sad.

[rferry]

I'm giving it an A compared to last years attendance numbers but compared to the rest of the Major League Baseball it get's a C+ at best.

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What's the point of comparing it to the rest of MLB? The Devil Rays are the only other team without a history or nice stadium, and they never suffered through a fire sale or contraction rumors.

[QuickGold]

I give it a C. Attendence should be alot higher. Obviously I'm a little bias as I'm used Yankee Stadium type crowds but the levels we see at PPS is ridiculous. We're not the Expos and we're not a cellar dweller. We've been in contention for 95% of the season and regardless, I can count on my right hand the amount of times we've had a "decent" amount of people show up.

[Guest Juanky]

Don't be suprised if Loria decides to spend a little less this offseason.568290[/snapback]

Well then don't be surprised if attendance falls. It's a hassle and a half for me to get to as many games as I do, drive there, pay gas, pay parking, be there until 10-10:30 or so when I had work often the next morning and then drive back to Miami to have to do everything I usually did after. It was a bore I took on happily, but I will not do it again if the FO doesn't have an offseason sufficient to my tastes. I'll still go to games, but sorry I don't think this team can survive at its current payroll. If it isn't increased, gone are Pavano and Benitez and maybe more. I can't live with that.

 

I give it a B, and don't be upset at Gammons. He was pissed at Keith Foulke, as were alot of people (me included).

[Marlins2003]

While attendance is clearly up this season, there are a plethora of reasons why attendance hasn't improved more this season.

 

In no particular order:

 

1. Rain and fear of rain (and the weather generally). Until we get a domed (retractable) stadium people will not commit their dollars, their families well-being, etc. Last night was a case in point. I didn't go last night, even though I wanted to, because it was raining so hard at my home an hour before the game (inwhich it rained twice) I couldn't justify taking my kid out to be soaked on a school night in fear of a rain delay and getting him home at midnight.

 

2. The mid-season swoon. Enough said.

 

3. The curfews in Palm Beach County and the impact of the hurricanes (and fear thereof) generally.

 

4. The also-ran status the local media has towards the Fish. Only to not waste your time I won't begin one of my rants on this subject. Yesterday, two of the three local sportscasts I watched had already pronounced the Marlins season over. The third didn't even mention the series against the Phillies begining last night.

 

5. The loss of the home games that wound up in Chicago both at Wrigley and "The Cell". The if the three Marlins/Cubs home games had been played at home on schedule another 100,000 fans would have attended and increased fan support.

[FreshFish]

I give it a B (B+ or A-).

 

I feel people on attendance are becoming die hards, they are a showing a lot more passion for this team that what I was used to seeing on previous years. In addition, today's kids will be a strong fan base tomorrow. And I'm seeing a lot kids at the ballpark. I think we have built a good foundation.

 

Remember, Boston and NY have generations upon generations of fans. Please do not compare them to us.

 

If Loria decides to lower payroll for 05, he may kill what it was built for the past two years. I feel he has no choice but to increase payroll and keep Pavano and others. We shall see. . .

[FishFan24]

Remember, Boston and NY have generations upon generations of fans. Please do not compare them to us.

 

 

I agree with you there. Both teams have been around for about 100 years and have built a strong fanbase through generations of play. I guess things will improve as time goes on, but in an age where everyone wants it now, will baseball wait for the next generation of fans to cheer for the Marlins? :confused

[TarHeel324]

C. but this years attendance is an A compared to last year

[Beetle]

The potential "market" is ~5.something million if you count PB/Broward/Dade.

 

What is the greater Chicago area population?

 

What is the greater NYC area population?

 

When you do the math (which I did a while ago), the fish draw comparably to the Yankees when attendence is figured on rate basis.

 

Consider - 5M/40,000 = 125

 

This means approx 1 out of every 125 "warm bodies" - elderly, infants, street people, smack addicts, people in comas in hospitals, people who work at 7/11 during games, cops on duty, etc AND those who are actually free to attend would have to show up to get 40K attendence.

 

1:125 is a rather unrealistic number IMO for ANY metro area on a regular basis.

 

That the fish managed to do maybe 1:250 on average is rather incredible. I think the Yankees came out to about 1:300 when I did the math for the greater NYC area a while ago.

 

The people who complain about fish attendence don't know a damn thing about statistics or population.

 

The bottom line is south FL is a "small/medium market" in terms of available population - and worse is its a very geographically spread out small/medium market (unlike Boston) with lousy public transportation.

 

Add in lingering "Wayne factor" and the gate is astoundingly high.

568375[/snapback]

Good post, tonyi. I agree wholeheartedly. :thumbup

[Beetle]

I feel people on attendance are becoming die hards, they are a showing a lot more passion for this team that what I was used to seeing on previous years. In addition, today's kids will be a strong fan base tomorrow. And I'm seeing a lot kids at the ballpark. I think we have built a good foundation.

 

Indeed, I believe this as well. Give us another 10-15 years and a new stadium, and we'll be right up there with the likes of St. Louis and Philly.

 

Remember, Boston and NY have generations upon generations of fans. Please do not compare them to us.

 

Two notorious college towns, with lots of young people with expendable income and enough free time on their hands to fill seats, even during the day. :cool

[TSwift25]

I give it a B because this is a "transition year" as far as I'm concerned. Next year, after two consecutive winning seasons, I'm going to expect much more.

 

 

And about that whole "Loria could spend even less," well, if he does that, next year may be the last year I have full season tickets. There's no reason for me to make that substantial a commitment time-wise and financially when he's going to put an average product on the field.

[Marlins2003]

I believe it (2005 payroll) may come down to how MLB compensates the Fish for lost revenue from the three Cubs home games (all of which would have drawn at minimum 45,000 per game) plus the Montreal series held in Chicago.

 

Collectively one could argue lost revenue from those games could reach $2.5 - $3 million. The three Cubs games (which turned into a single pay doubleheader on a weekday), if played on a weekend as intended would have been the biggest draw of the season.