South Florida sports fans should be ashamed of themselves, as should those who profess to cover sports for the local media. Here we are in September and for the fourth consecutive season, the two-time World Series champion Marlins are in the thick of the wild card race. This year is particularly special, given the low payroll and record number of rookies in the lineup.

 

Yet, with all of that, and more, this team plays in front of embarrassingly small audiences. I cannot honestly use the word "crowd" to describe the few that bother to show up. Just this past Wednesday, the Marlins and rookie pitcher Anibal Sanchez made another mark in the record books with the first no-hitter in the major leagues in more than two years. Regardless of the announced attendance of around 12,000, it was obvious that they were playing in front of less than 2,000. To make matters worse, the local media were disgraceful in their coverage, as they have been all season.

 

And the "fans" in this town are simply embarrassing. Should this young team make the playoffs, they will suddenly have 60,000 "loyal fans," all of whom will claim to have been at every game. On the team's last road trip, they pulled into Milwaukee to face a team that had lost seven straight. We swept the Brewers in that three-game series, but Miller Park was packed for every one of the games. That's right -- even in a tough losing streak, they had a full stadium. Kansas City, arguably the worst team in the major leagues, plays to bigger crowds, and they are nowhere near a playoff berth.

 

And here sit the young Florida Marlins, mere games out of the wild card in September, playing to acres of empty seats. If nothing else, it serves to cement South Florida's reputation nationally as a rinky-dink, bush-league town with no sense of pride.

 

Shame, shame, shame on all the self-styled fans, and particularly on the sports media, who seemed determined to drive fans away. Were it up to me and the Marlins made the playoffs, I would make sportswriters pay to see the game. They certainly have not earned the right to attend as a reporter, since they have done little if any real reporting all season.

 

 

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/l...la-news-letters

Before you all blow up.........

 

This article is NOT calling out the couple thousand die hards out there (including those of you posting here), it's calling out the rest of South Florida. Fact is, besides you die hards, South Florida is the worst sport market in the country, and it's not even close. I think the article itself is completely correct.

I'm glad this topic is finally getting media coverage!!!

...as should those who profess to cover sports for the local media.

 

You should've put that in title as well.

 

I stand by my belief that the Marlins need to drastically improve their efforts to advertise their product to the masses, not just the fans. Their marketing campaigns leave a lot to be desired.

Were it up to me and the Marlins made the playoffs, I would make sportswriters pay to see the game. They certainly have not earned the right to attend as a reporter, since they have done little if any real reporting all season.

 

:notworthy

Until and unless the Marlins consistently have at least an average payroll and have a new stadium, nothing will change down there, with the exception of a brief boost during playoff runs. There is simply not any interest from non die hard fans down there, and that's how teams are able to draw decent to good crowds.

I know some people on this board were amoung the people that cancelled their season tickets for this season because of the fire sale. I know all the reasons/excuses for doing it and even after hearing them I was still upset that people were doing that. People seem to forget that baseball is still a business and even with that in mind it was easy to see the business reasons for the firesale. Most of us understood why it happened and a lot of us actually knew that the parts we got in return for the high priced players were actually pretty good. But if you love the game and if you really are in this for the game and not just to follow a winner (ie be on the Bandwagon) then why do it? Also, now that we are actually winning where are those fans now? I mean even if you felt cheated at the beginning of the season, isn't the fact that the Marlins are in a WildCard race and have a promising future enough to forget all that and at least be there to support the players now? Sure the weather has sucked and the stadioum is aweful for baseball. I know, I had season tickets for 7 years while I lived in Miami and I had to endure some loosing years after that first firesale. I mean I only had the weekend packages because of the stadium being so far from my house but I looked forward to going every weekend even when we sucked. There should be NO excuse for not filling the palce up on the weekends at least.

 

 

Anyhow this topic has been beated to death and it is a sore spot to all Marlins fans including myself, but especuially to me cause I can't do nothign about it now that I live out of state. But I still have to hear it from anyone I encounter (how sh*tty a fan base we have).

 

 

Although I can cofirm what the article said about Miller park I was there for all 3 game against the MArlins and the palce was still packed even sold out for Saturday and Sunday.... Even those fans that were ashamed were there, I got a great photo of some fans with Brown Bags on their heads.

I agree with everything he said. There's no reason that we shouldn't have a full house.

miami only support team with winnning season and football. their will only come out when we in playoff. i remember during 2003 playoff it was hard to get ticket FOR BASEBALL GAME that some thing that you donot see here in south fl i was one of few to get last few ticket for game three of wc game .so let get out their support this young marlins team their need our support NOW

South Floridians go to where they can be spotted. The right place to be. The chic locale. Make the Marlins that and you might succeed.

Were it up to me and the Marlins made the playoffs, I would make sportswriters pay to see the game. They certainly have not earned the right to attend as a reporter, since they have done little if any real reporting all season.

 

:notworthy

:lol :notworthy :notworthy

Its just, I doubt the the media even knows the marlins have die hard fans.

I have nothing to be embarrassed about. I have been to about 40 home games this year. and I went to the series in New York.

Come on people, stop being sheep. Publicly traded companies release their financial situations and sales(attendance). Privately held companies like your local restaurant do not. MLB teams do not open their books, we have no idea how much they make or lose...but we need to know attendance figures? Why? Why is this of my concern?

 

We had less than 5% of the locals show up for this past election and no one cares but we are suppose to do backflips because attendance at the stadium is low?

 

Start worrying about sales within our local economy and stop worrying about attendance at the stadium when if things were in such bad shape why is MLB pushing hard for a stadium here?

 

This topic is getting very old and is simply the result of brainwashing by the league, the announcers, etc. Anyone old enough to have watched baseball in the 70's and 80's knows that crowds in the mid teens were the norm. Things only changed when MLB started to push the attendance # and use it as a threat against cities. Again, if the threat was real....if it really mattered...MLB would not be negotiating with Miami now would they?

 

It would be nice to have larger crowds for the team....but if someone decides to spend their money elsewhere I have no problem with that.

 

Just my two cents.

South Floridians go to where they can be spotted. The right place to be. The chic locale. Make the Marlins that and you might succeed.

 

Petey, you're a Gilmore Girls fan?

 

Damn, and I thought I was the only one!!!!!!

We keep hearing this bulls*** every god damn day, its getting old, it really is.

South Floridians go to where they can be spotted. The right place to be. The chic locale. Make the Marlins that and you might succeed.

 

Petey, you're a Gilmore Girls fan?

 

Damn, and I thought I was the only one!!!!!!

 

Yeah. It's funny it took you this long to notice that.

H Wayne and the Dolphins own this town , media included outright. That needs to change guys...Hate Huizenga and the freakin Dolphins...especially that Queer Dolphin Denny!

Come on people, stop being sheep. Publicly traded companies release their financial situations and sales(attendance). Privately held companies like your local restaurant do not. MLB teams do not open their books, we have no idea how much they make or lose...but we need to know attendance figures? Why? Why is this of my concern?

 

We had less than 5% of the locals show up for this past election and no one cares but we are suppose to do backflips because attendance at the stadium is low?

 

Start worrying about sales within our local economy and stop worrying about attendance at the stadium when if things were in such bad shape why is MLB pushing hard for a stadium here?

 

This topic is getting very old and is simply the result of brainwashing by the league, the announcers, etc. Anyone old enough to have watched baseball in the 70's and 80's knows that crowds in the mid teens were the norm. Things only changed when MLB started to push the attendance # and use it as a threat against cities. Again, if the threat was real....if it really mattered...MLB would not be negotiating with Miami now would they?

 

It would be nice to have larger crowds for the team....but if someone decides to spend their money elsewhere I have no problem with that.

 

Just my two cents.

 

I enjoyed your post, but I think you misunderstand a few things.

1. The role attendance has for fans. It's a pride thing. We don't play on the field. We sit in the stands and cheer for those that do. We take pleasure in championships and wins. We are sad when we lose. (Then there are some characteristic of fans you claim victory but distance themselves from failure. 'We won' / 'They need to do better'.) But that's not enough. There's more to being a fan than simply watching the game. Fans support their clubs. We wear their paraphenalia. We promote both our fandom and the team. And if fans and the team are inseperable, which in the fans' mind they are, thus measures such as wins and losses are incomplete. In addition we rely on attendance, loudness, rowdyness, season ticket sales, walk-up sales, merchandise sold, merchandise worn, number of messageboards, messageboard activity, quality of posts, number of celebrity fans, baseball knowledge of our fans and so many others.

2. The role attendance has for the media. It's much the same way a fan sees attendance however from a third party perspective. Also the media is about selling their product and people buy what is popular. Attendance is a mesaure of popularity. So attendance signifies to the media what to promote.

3. Why and how MLB threatens cities. As far as I know from attendance hasn't been the REAL reason behind these series of threats in 50 years ago. However what better way to scare fans into supporting their team by showing up in the stans and at the polls and on the phones than by touching one of their buttons. Most fans don't know or care about the lease agreements at certain ballparks. Or broadcast rights contracts. Or stadium advertising. Or minority investors. Or appreciate the high and consistent revenue that comes from catering to Johnny Jaguar in the box seats. If MLB came out and said, this team needs a new stadium because they need to produce more luxury box and stadium advertising revenue to keep up with rising salaries and the revenues of the other 29 clubs, how many fans will understand, relate or even care? I mean I understand and I understand why I should care, but I can't relate to that. I don't care what revenues the team makes off Johnny Jaguar. I can relate to, understand and care that my team can pay for players I like and win. And that's why when attendance is not a credible or sufficient answer to cause concern for fans, issues such as a team's ability to compete is tossed in as a reason. That's not the real reason why MLB or owners want a new stadium. It's one of a number with the top ones being increases in revenue and franchise values.

Were it up to me and the Marlins made the playoffs, I would make sportswriters pay to see the game. They certainly have not earned the right to attend as a reporter, since they have done little if any real reporting all season.

 

:notworthy

:lol :notworthy :notworthy

 

One of the very best quotes I have seen all year. Heck, this whole millenium. I don't fully blame the media's so called coverage but it is a reason. Take last Thursday for a great example. The NBC affiliate here in WPB was so hot on the NFL coming back to their station for the Dolphins/Steelers game that night that they only mentioned Anibal's no-no in passing. A freaking no hitter!!!

Go back to the '97 World Series. I saw a channel 5 (WPTV in WPB) reporter doing a live broadcast from the top of their truck as we were walking into the game. I literally screamed out asking him why he was there when all season long he did nothing but knock our team. Did I ever get some looks from him and his crew. But that was his last year with the station. LOL

But I also blame a very lackadaisical fan base that is more willing to make up excuses of why they can't go to the games instead of finding reasons why they can go to games. They can get VERY...ummmm...inventive with their excuses. Not even going to go there in this thread.

And now we have a new South Florida fan newly born into the Girardi family. And a stereotypical South Florida fan the little sweetheart is. When doctors tried to induce labor they heard a little voice say, "No way!!! It's too far and it looks like rain!!!." (Could I ever go a long way with this joke!! LOL)

I don't think we actually disagree with anything. All the reasons you stated on why attendance is important I agree with. My point is, why isn't TV ratings the issue? We do well in TV ratings...isn't that a judge of team support too?

 

In the end teams have a bottom line. That as you know consists of everything from attendance to sales of caps and jerseys to TV deals, etc. Notice how MLB only lets us see and debate certain numbers? We are give the numbers that consist of nothing more than counting each other in the stands but NOTHING is released with how much we spend.

 

What is released is what works for MLB. What fans get all antsy about is exactly what MLB tells us to. Let's debate TV ratings. DO we know what they are? How we compare? I don't. The debate is attendance because how best to make the comsumer feel sorry for the team, the sport than to blame ourselves. I do not mean to compare but it's like the beaten spouse or child that thinks they deserve it.

 

There is a way to get more fans to the stadium. Have the Marlins really tried to do that? Does that really work in their favor at this time?

agree with the opinion piece 100%

I don't think we actually disagree with anything. All the reasons you stated on why attendance is important I agree with. My point is, why isn't TV ratings the issue? We do well in TV ratings...isn't that a judge of team support too?

 

In the end teams have a bottom line. That as you know consists of everything from attendance to sales of caps and jerseys to TV deals, etc. Notice how MLB only lets us see and debate certain numbers? We are give the numbers that consist of nothing more than counting each other in the stands but NOTHING is released with how much we spend.

 

What is released is what works for MLB. What fans get all antsy about is exactly what MLB tells us to. Let's debate TV ratings. DO we know what they are? How we compare? I don't. The debate is attendance because how best to make the comsumer feel sorry for the team, the sport than to blame ourselves. I do not mean to compare but it's like the beaten spouse or child that thinks they deserve it.

 

There is a way to get more fans to the stadium. Have the Marlins really tried to do that? Does that really work in their favor at this time?

 

There's a good reason why TV ratings are made as widely available. Those who hold that information hold power, whether to further their aims to profit or maintaining an undisturbed environment for their studies (think of the former fans of a show who begin to watch the final episodes of shows rumored to be cancelled). Those that hold onto records of attendance gain little to no leverage from suppressing that information. And as has been reported, what information we are entitled to is not absolutly accurate or offer much if any insight. Teams also record which seats are sold, how many are sold and how many used, and broken down by zip code and gender (through credit card information) if available, and hold onto that information for solely their own use.

I find it weird to blame the local media, cause I don't know if it's just me, but the South Florida affiliates were all over the Marlins. I remember the no-no being the lead story on NBC6. Maybe I'm remembering it wrong.

I find it weird to blame the local media, cause I don't know if it's just me, but the South Florida affiliates were all over the Marlins. I remember the no-no being the lead story on NBC6. Maybe I'm remembering it wrong.

 

Of course a no hitter is going to be the lead off story, one night does not change everything. Where was NBC 6 before the no hitter? Where was the local media coverage in April and May? Non-existant, and the little coverage we did get was just bashing the team and making fun of attendance.