David Samson said that in 2012 all the home games will be sold out. Do you REALLY think so? IMO, no.

if we are coming off of a winning season/playoffs I think we have a chance. I think every game will atleast be a near sell-out.

I honestly do think the location will make a huge difference. As has been discussed, we have decent TV ratings, so there is definitely interest in the team. Due to Landshark's location, NO ONE can walk to the game and there are very few people who can take public transit. When the new stadium comes up in Little Havana, at least hundreds of thousands of people will be within walking distance, and millions will be able to take public transportation.

 

Does this all add up to sellouts and a reinvigorated fan base? That remains to be seen, but I definitely think it bodes well.

 

EDIT: not to mention that the people who do drive to the game may not have to drive as far, or at the very least will be near an area that has "things to do". Landshark is more or less in the middle of nowhere and far away from everybody.

I honestly do think the location will make a huge difference. As has been discussed, we have decent TV ratings, so there is definitely interest in the team. Due to Landshark's location, NO ONE can walk to the game and there are very few people who can take public transit. When the new stadium comes up in Little Havana, at least hundreds of thousands of people will be within walking distance, and millions will be able to take public transportation.

 

Does this all add up to sellouts and a reinvigorated fan base? That remains to be seen, but I definitely think it bodes well.

 

EDIT: not to mention that the people who do drive to the game may not have to drive as far, or at the very least will be near an area that has "things to do". Landshark is more or less in the middle of nowhere and far away from everybody.

 

 

Actually, I live in Broward County and the new park is so much further away than Land Shark Stadium.

?i hope its sold out. :thumbup :thumbup

I think so... even if we are coming of a miserable season. Remember people travel to see new ballparks. Also, its about tickets sold, not about how many people actually show up is what determines a sellout

i say we sell out around 40 games , friday and saturday games for sure and most sunday games . and when popular teams come in monday - thrsday those would probably get sold out .

 

i believe in the new park we will never average under 22k again unless we are the absolute worst team in baseball but other then that i think will have one of the best fanbase of the south .

 

 

miami is the most populated area out of the whole metro so i know that will help some and the miami heat have sold more than 90 percent of thier ticket sales like the last seven years and i know for a fact more people in miami relate to baseball then basketball especially the older crowd like people over thirty and up .

 

i predict we average like 33,000+ our first year

I honestly do think the location will make a huge difference. As has been discussed, we have decent TV ratings, so there is definitely interest in the team. Due to Landshark's location, NO ONE can walk to the game and there are very few people who can take public transit. When the new stadium comes up in Little Havana, at least hundreds of thousands of people will be within walking distance, and millions will be able to take public transportation.

 

Does this all add up to sellouts and a reinvigorated fan base? That remains to be seen, but I definitely think it bodes well.

 

EDIT: not to mention that the people who do drive to the game may not have to drive as far, or at the very least will be near an area that has "things to do". Landshark is more or less in the middle of nowhere and far away from everybody.

 

 

Actually, I live in Broward County and the new park is so much further away than Land Shark Stadium.

 

I live in West Palm Beach, im disabled and im still going to 10games this year. So when the new stadium opens, I'll be going to 20 lol, yes further, but more comfortable and worth going!

I honestly do think the location will make a huge difference. As has been discussed, we have decent TV ratings, so there is definitely interest in the team. Due to Landshark's location, NO ONE can walk to the game and there are very few people who can take public transit. When the new stadium comes up in Little Havana, at least hundreds of thousands of people will be within walking distance, and millions will be able to take public transportation.

 

Does this all add up to sellouts and a reinvigorated fan base? That remains to be seen, but I definitely think it bodes well.

 

EDIT: not to mention that the people who do drive to the game may not have to drive as far, or at the very least will be near an area that has "things to do". Landshark is more or less in the middle of nowhere and far away from everybody.

 

 

Actually, I live in Broward County and the new park is so much further away than Land Shark Stadium.

 

I think he meant that as a general statement to the general population of South Florida. I think it's a given that Broward and Palm Beach residents are gunna have a tougher time going but more people will have access to the new stadium than the current one. The area around LandShark is nowhere near as populated as the area around the new stadium.

Seriously doubt it

I honestly do think the location will make a huge difference. As has been discussed, we have decent TV ratings, so there is definitely interest in the team. Due to Landshark's location, NO ONE can walk to the game and there are very few people who can take public transit. When the new stadium comes up in Little Havana, at least hundreds of thousands of people will be within walking distance, and millions will be able to take public transportation.

 

Does this all add up to sellouts and a reinvigorated fan base? That remains to be seen, but I definitely think it bodes well.

 

EDIT: not to mention that the people who do drive to the game may not have to drive as far, or at the very least will be near an area that has "things to do". Landshark is more or less in the middle of nowhere and far away from everybody.

 

 

Actually, I live in Broward County and the new park is so much further away than Land Shark Stadium.

 

 

I live in North Broward ( Coral Springs ). The distance from my house to Dolphin stadium is 29 miles and 33 minutes. From my house to the Ornage Bowl is 42 miles and 49 minutes. The difference 13 miles and 16 minutes is really not that much. When you consider you will get a brand new stadium, no rain-outs or rain delays, air conditioned when it is 95 degrees outside in July, August, Sept., better concessions, better sight lines, and more comfortable seating, it really is a no brainer. Miami is more densely populated than Ft. Lauderdale/Broward, so you will have a better chance of drawing bigger crowds. You will also be 1.5 miles away from downtown, so you will get a lot of people who "walk up" to the stadium on game day. For me it would have been nice to have the stadium at the Popamo Park casino, but after trying to get a new stadium built for so many years this was the teams only option that the county and city would approve and it still almost got voted down. We should feel fortunate we are getting a new stadium. Dolphin stadium is not a good place at all to watch a baseball game. Those who are serious baseball fans understand why.

I honestly do think the location will make a huge difference. As has been discussed, we have decent TV ratings, so there is definitely interest in the team. Due to Landshark's location, NO ONE can walk to the game and there are very few people who can take public transit. When the new stadium comes up in Little Havana, at least hundreds of thousands of people will be within walking distance, and millions will be able to take public transportation.

 

Does this all add up to sellouts and a reinvigorated fan base? That remains to be seen, but I definitely think it bodes well.

 

EDIT: not to mention that the people who do drive to the game may not have to drive as far, or at the very least will be near an area that has "things to do". Landshark is more or less in the middle of nowhere and far away from everybody.

 

 

Actually, I live in Broward County and the new park is so much further away than Land Shark Stadium.

 

 

I live in North Broward ( Coral Springs ). The distance from my house to Dolphin stadium is 29 miles and 33 minutes. From my house to the Ornage Bowl is 42 miles and 49 minutes. The difference 13 miles and 16 minutes is really not that much. When you consider you will get a brand new stadium, no rain-outs or rain delays, air conditioned when it is 95 degrees outside in July, August, Sept., better concessions, better sight lines, and more comfortable seating, it really is a no brainer. Miami is more densely populated than Ft. Lauderdale/Broward, so you will have a better chance of drawing bigger crowds. You will also be 1.5 miles away from downtown, so you will get a lot of people who "walk up" to the stadium on game day. For me it would have been nice to have the stadium at the Popamo Park casino, but after trying to get a new stadium built for so many years this was the teams only option that the county and city would approve and it still almost got voted down. We should feel fortunate we are getting a new stadium. Dolphin stadium is not a good place at all to watch a baseball game. Those who are serious baseball fans understand why.

 

I'm glad you see things that way. It seems way too many people have a closed mind about traveling a hell of a distance to catch a game. I have been doing it for the Marlins and Dolphins all the time and it's fun to take a trip. But the fun stops when you have no idea whether it's gunna rain and you don't know whether to leave the house and risk a long drive to the stadium. Also, I think it's important for people to realize that the best thing the team could have done (besides building the stadium in downtown) was build the stadium in its current location. I had a rough time believing that a stadium in Broward would fix the attendance woes. It seemed like an easy formula to me: Put the stadium where there are SHITLOADS of people.

If I could I'd wager a thousand bucks on No.

Yeah, can't see that happening. Will it be better the first year? Oh, I'd expect so. But soldout? No way.

I honestly do think the location will make a huge difference. As has been discussed, we have decent TV ratings, so there is definitely interest in the team. Due to Landshark's location, NO ONE can walk to the game and there are very few people who can take public transit. When the new stadium comes up in Little Havana, at least hundreds of thousands of people will be within walking distance, and millions will be able to take public transportation.

 

Does this all add up to sellouts and a reinvigorated fan base? That remains to be seen, but I definitely think it bodes well.

 

EDIT: not to mention that the people who do drive to the game may not have to drive as far, or at the very least will be near an area that has "things to do". Landshark is more or less in the middle of nowhere and far away from everybody.

 

 

Actually, I live in Broward County and the new park is so much further away than Land Shark Stadium.

 

 

I live in North Broward ( Coral Springs ). The distance from my house to Dolphin stadium is 29 miles and 33 minutes. From my house to the Ornage Bowl is 42 miles and 49 minutes. The difference 13 miles and 16 minutes is really not that much. When you consider you will get a brand new stadium, no rain-outs or rain delays, air conditioned when it is 95 degrees outside in July, August, Sept., better concessions, better sight lines, and more comfortable seating, it really is a no brainer. Miami is more densely populated than Ft. Lauderdale/Broward, so you will have a better chance of drawing bigger crowds. You will also be 1.5 miles away from downtown, so you will get a lot of people who "walk up" to the stadium on game day. For me it would have been nice to have the stadium at the Popamo Park casino, but after trying to get a new stadium built for so many years this was the teams only option that the county and city would approve and it still almost got voted down. We should feel fortunate we are getting a new stadium. Dolphin stadium is not a good place at all to watch a baseball game. Those who are serious baseball fans understand why.

 

 

Two things:

 

1. Serious baseball fans shouldn't care what facility they are watching a game in. If you really love the game you are going to games now...in LandShark Stadium. The turnout for the game Lincecum pitched was not very good considering it was your only chance to see him pitch this year, and he is one of the best young arms in the game today. The weekend series against the Rays (no weather problems that weekend either), had terrible attendance. The Rays are a good draw this year, and the turnout in Miami was terrible. I went to a couple of the Brewers games last week (granted the weather was horrible) and nobody was there for a nice series against a first place team.

 

2. I question how many serious baseball fans we have in this market. I know, I have heard all the same stories about TV ratings that you have heard. But for me, a true measure of your market's interests is at the gates. South Florida will not sell out 40 baseball games a year. We didn't fill the stadium for 8 Dolphins home games last year.

 

As a side note, I'd like to see the Marlins schedule their Saturday games earlier once the new stadium is built. It would be nice to have a game start at about 3 pm, so you can either get to Miami early and do something for lunch before the game, or when the game ends head out to the beach for a night time activity. It also enables families to "make a day of it" so to speak when the ballgame is in the middle of the afternoon. I've done games this way up in Chicago and Cincinnati and it makes for a good weekend day with the family or your buddies.

I honestly do think the location will make a huge difference. As has been discussed, we have decent TV ratings, so there is definitely interest in the team. Due to Landshark's location, NO ONE can walk to the game and there are very few people who can take public transit. When the new stadium comes up in Little Havana, at least hundreds of thousands of people will be within walking distance, and millions will be able to take public transportation.

 

Does this all add up to sellouts and a reinvigorated fan base? That remains to be seen, but I definitely think it bodes well.

 

EDIT: not to mention that the people who do drive to the game may not have to drive as far, or at the very least will be near an area that has "things to do". Landshark is more or less in the middle of nowhere and far away from everybody.

 

 

Actually, I live in Broward County and the new park is so much further away than Land Shark Stadium.

 

 

I live in North Broward ( Coral Springs ). The distance from my house to Dolphin stadium is 29 miles and 33 minutes. From my house to the Ornage Bowl is 42 miles and 49 minutes. The difference 13 miles and 16 minutes is really not that much. When you consider you will get a brand new stadium, no rain-outs or rain delays, air conditioned when it is 95 degrees outside in July, August, Sept., better concessions, better sight lines, and more comfortable seating, it really is a no brainer. Miami is more densely populated than Ft. Lauderdale/Broward, so you will have a better chance of drawing bigger crowds. You will also be 1.5 miles away from downtown, so you will get a lot of people who "walk up" to the stadium on game day. For me it would have been nice to have the stadium at the Popamo Park casino, but after trying to get a new stadium built for so many years this was the teams only option that the county and city would approve and it still almost got voted down. We should feel fortunate we are getting a new stadium. Dolphin stadium is not a good place at all to watch a baseball game. Those who are serious baseball fans understand why.

 

 

Two things:

 

1. Serious baseball fans shouldn't care what facility they are watching a game in. If you really love the game you are going to games now...in LandShark Stadium. The turnout for the game Lincecum pitched was not very good considering it was your only chance to see him pitch this year, and he is one of the best young arms in the game today. The weekend series against the Rays (no weather problems that weekend either), had terrible attendance. The Rays are a good draw this year, and the turnout in Miami was terrible. I went to a couple of the Brewers games last week (granted the weather was horrible) and nobody was there for a nice series against a first place team.

 

2. I question how many serious baseball fans we have in this market. I know, I have heard all the same stories about TV ratings that you have heard. But for me, a true measure of your market's interests is at the gates. South Florida will not sell out 40 baseball games a year. We didn't fill the stadium for 8 Dolphins home games last year.

 

As a side note, I'd like to see the Marlins schedule their Saturday games earlier once the new stadium is built. It would be nice to have a game start at about 3 pm, so you can either get to Miami early and do something for lunch before the game, or when the game ends head out to the beach for a night time activity. It also enables families to "make a day of it" so to speak when the ballgame is in the middle of the afternoon. I've done games this way up in Chicago and Cincinnati and it makes for a good weekend day with the family or your buddies.

Three things:

 

1) You point out a game with a good draw in Lince, but did you forget or ignore that the game started 1 hour and 39 minutes late after the previous game started 1 hour 24 minutes later after the previous game that started 1 hour late due to horrible weather (and it rained throughout all of that game). And then you point out the Brewer series, more bad weather. Then you point out the Rays series saying we didn't sell out a "good draw". They aren't. They're not a good draw at all, not even at their own home (unless they are playing the Red Sox or Yankees). Now, I'm not arguing that we have good attendance, I'm arguing that you're argument is no good.

 

2)We won't sell out 40 games? How many teams sell out 40 games?! The New York Mets have sold out... Hmm... 2 games this year. 2. Well, that's really expensive. The Yankees have sold out... ZERO... Now, to be fair, they do have higher capacity than we will, but still, they don't have any serious baseball fans? That said, you acknowledge that the ratings say we actually have a large group of people who watch the games, but even after giving examples of entire series with terrible weather say that because those people don't go to these games with hours of delays they aren't "serious fans"?

 

3) Eh, not a fan. Not everyone has Saturday off, it's nice that the games are at a time that most people can actually go to. Sunday games are the day games, specially timed so that families can make a day of it. It's like this just about everywhere.

I honestly do think the location will make a huge difference. As has been discussed, we have decent TV ratings, so there is definitely interest in the team. Due to Landshark's location, NO ONE can walk to the game and there are very few people who can take public transit. When the new stadium comes up in Little Havana, at least hundreds of thousands of people will be within walking distance, and millions will be able to take public transportation.

 

Does this all add up to sellouts and a reinvigorated fan base? That remains to be seen, but I definitely think it bodes well.

 

EDIT: not to mention that the people who do drive to the game may not have to drive as far, or at the very least will be near an area that has "things to do". Landshark is more or less in the middle of nowhere and far away from everybody.

 

 

Actually, I live in Broward County and the new park is so much further away than Land Shark Stadium.

 

 

I live in North Broward ( Coral Springs ). The distance from my house to Dolphin stadium is 29 miles and 33 minutes. From my house to the Ornage Bowl is 42 miles and 49 minutes. The difference 13 miles and 16 minutes is really not that much. When you consider you will get a brand new stadium, no rain-outs or rain delays, air conditioned when it is 95 degrees outside in July, August, Sept., better concessions, better sight lines, and more comfortable seating, it really is a no brainer. Miami is more densely populated than Ft. Lauderdale/Broward, so you will have a better chance of drawing bigger crowds. You will also be 1.5 miles away from downtown, so you will get a lot of people who "walk up" to the stadium on game day. For me it would have been nice to have the stadium at the Popamo Park casino, but after trying to get a new stadium built for so many years this was the teams only option that the county and city would approve and it still almost got voted down. We should feel fortunate we are getting a new stadium. Dolphin stadium is not a good place at all to watch a baseball game. Those who are serious baseball fans understand why.

 

 

Two things:

 

1. Serious baseball fans shouldn't care what facility they are watching a game in. If you really love the game you are going to games now...in LandShark Stadium. The turnout for the game Lincecum pitched was not very good considering it was your only chance to see him pitch this year, and he is one of the best young arms in the game today. The weekend series against the Rays (no weather problems that weekend either), had terrible attendance. The Rays are a good draw this year, and the turnout in Miami was terrible. I went to a couple of the Brewers games last week (granted the weather was horrible) and nobody was there for a nice series against a first place team.

 

2. I question how many serious baseball fans we have in this market. I know, I have heard all the same stories about TV ratings that you have heard. But for me, a true measure of your market's interests is at the gates. South Florida will not sell out 40 baseball games a year. We didn't fill the stadium for 8 Dolphins home games last year.

 

As a side note, I'd like to see the Marlins schedule their Saturday games earlier once the new stadium is built. It would be nice to have a game start at about 3 pm, so you can either get to Miami early and do something for lunch before the game, or when the game ends head out to the beach for a night time activity. It also enables families to "make a day of it" so to speak when the ballgame is in the middle of the afternoon. I've done games this way up in Chicago and Cincinnati and it makes for a good weekend day with the family or your buddies.

Three things:

 

1) You point out a game with a good draw in Lince, but did you forget or ignore that the game started 1 hour and 39 minutes late after the previous game started 1 hour 24 minutes later after the previous game that started 1 hour late due to horrible weather (and it rained throughout all of that game). And then you point out the Brewer series, more bad weather. Then you point out the Rays series saying we didn't sell out a "good draw". They aren't. They're not a good draw at all, not even at their own home (unless they are playing the Red Sox or Yankees). Now, I'm not arguing that we have good attendance, I'm arguing that you're argument is no good.

 

2)We won't sell out 40 games? How many teams sell out 40 games?! The New York Mets have sold out... Hmm... 2 games this year. 2. Well, that's really expensive. The Yankees have sold out... ZERO... Now, to be fair, they do have higher capacity than we will, but still, they don't have any serious baseball fans? That said, you acknowledge that the ratings say we actually have a large group of people who watch the games, but even after giving examples of entire series with terrible weather say that because those people don't go to these games with hours of delays they aren't "serious fans"?

 

3) Eh, not a fan. Not everyone has Saturday off, it's nice that the games are at a time that most people can actually go to. Sunday games are the day games, specially timed so that families can make a day of it. It's like this just about everywhere.

 

 

LOL! Calm down buddy. One of the earlier posts said that the Marlins would sell out every game. That is an absurd statement. My comment about the 40 games was only meant to dispute the claim made that all games would sell out. it wasn't meant as a jab at the fans for failling to fill a stadium at a 50% rate.

 

Explain to me how the Rays aren't an attractive game when they come into town? Forget about whether or not they draw in their own stadium, (which they do by the way averaging 23K a game, and 29K for weekend games this season). That is as interesting a team as you'll find this year. Great athletes throughout the roster, not to mention they are reigning AL Champs.

 

Look, I live in south florida and the last thing I want is for this community to be painted as a bad baseball town. It would be embarrassing. But at some point you have to stop making lame excuses like "it looks like it was going to rain" or "the team was dismantled" and start facing the fact that maybe a lot of people have a priority list that has things listed above the baseball line.

 

This thread claimed astronomical attendance numbers in a new park, and I disagree. That was my point.

What people for the most part are not factoring is the impact on attendance that a) up until now disenfranchised fans to the south who now will be able to attend in big numbers (for as long as the current ownership has been here marketing study after marketing study has indicated the greatest area for fan development was south and west of Flagler) and b, corporate skybox, boxseat and packages of general admission seats of which there currently virtually zero.

 

I don't know if people understand the impact for example Prudential and John Hancock, and a handful of others have an attendance in Boston. They gobble up so many seats every year that they create compression when it comes to remaining seats and forces people to "buy now" rather than the way it used to be at Fenway before this started which was you could walkup and buy tickets for any game any day of the season. When Ted Williams hit his last homerun in his last at bat at Fenway there were maybe 3,000 people there to see it. Of course a million people claim they saw it but in truth well into the late eighties and early nineties attendance was not great there.

 

Why do you see so many Phillies or Cubs fans at Marlins games regardless of the weather or other things that might impact attendance? Because it's their only chance to see their team play and they bought the tickets three months before to make sure they got what they wanted and regardless of the weather they are stuck with those tickets (or turn them in for a Marlins/Nationals game) and the money they spent to procure them. Joe and Mary Marlins fan look out the window, see the rain and windstorm outside and decide maybe they'll attend next week but the Cubbies and Phillies fans are locked in.

 

I don't know if every game will have every seat filled but they'll have close to if not paper sell-outs every game at least for the first year. You may even see paper sell-outs of weekend games next season and 2011 as more people buy whatever qualifies them for a chance at getting preferred seating in the new park.

What people for the most part are not factoring is the impact on attendance that a) up until now disenfranchised fans to the south who now will be able to attend in big numbers (for as long as the current ownership has been here marketing study after marketing study has indicated the greatest area for fan development was south and west of Flagler) and b, corporate skybox, boxseat and packages of general admission seats of which there currently virtually zero.

 

I don't know if people understand the impact for example Prudential and John Hancock, and a handful of others have an attendance in Boston. They gobble up so many seats every year that they create compression when it comes to remaining seats and forces people to "buy now" rather than the way it used to be at Fenway before this started which was you could walkup and buy tickets for any game any day of the season. When Ted Williams hit his last homerun in his last at bat at Fenway there were maybe 3,000 people there to see it. Of course a million people claim they saw it but in truth well into the late eighties and early nineties attendance was not great there.

 

Why do you see so many Phillies or Cubs fans at Marlins games regardless of the weather or other things that might impact attendance? Because it's their only chance to see their team play and they bought the tickets three months before to make sure they got what they wanted and regardless of the weather they are stuck with those tickets (or turn them in for a Marlins/Nationals game) and the money they spent to procure them. Joe and Mary Marlins fan look out the window, see the rain and windstorm outside and decide maybe they'll attend next week but the Cubbies and Phillies fans are locked in.

 

I don't know if every game will have every seat filled but they'll have close to if not paper sell-outs every game at least for the first year. You may even see paper sell-outs of weekend games next season and 2011 as more people buy whatever qualifies them for a chance at getting preferred seating in the new park.

 

 

 

That is a terrific point you make regarding large companies and their ability to carry the load for seat purchases. I hate to keep harping back on the Rays, but they really botched this early on in their existence. The original owner Vince Naimoli had a horrible relationship with the business community in the Tampa Bay area and it ultimately burned a lot of bridges that would have provided some revenue for the team in the form of seasons tickets. Fast forward to the year 2009 though, and companies discretionary dollar is not being spent in this manner. A lot can happen between now and 2012 so things can change fast, but speaking from experience in the business community in south florida, fringe benefits like baseball ticket are going away.

The thing is you don't want to be the guy who doesn't have a skybox when the World Series or the All-Star Game or the championships of the WBC is in town. It's a small fraternity to be sure but nonetheless people don't see it because for the most part the average person here isn't privy to it but Samson has been working the room so to speak in the right places for the last five years - Beacon Council, GMCVB etc. I think it pays off big time for them.

LOL! Calm down buddy. One of the earlier posts said that the Marlins would sell out every game. That is an absurd statement. My comment about the 40 games was only meant to dispute the claim made that all games would sell out. it wasn't meant as a jab at the fans for failling to fill a stadium at a 50% rate.

 

Explain to me how the Rays aren't an attractive game when they come into town? Forget about whether or not they draw in their own stadium, (which they do by the way averaging 23K a game, and 29K for weekend games this season). That is as interesting a team as you'll find this year. Great athletes throughout the roster, not to mention they are reigning AL Champs.

 

Look, I live in south florida and the last thing I want is for this community to be painted as a bad baseball town. It would be embarrassing. But at some point you have to stop making lame excuses like "it looks like it was going to rain" or "the team was dismantled" and start facing the fact that maybe a lot of people have a priority list that has things listed above the baseball line.

 

This thread claimed astronomical attendance numbers in a new park, and I disagree. That was my point.

 

Calm down? I'm perfectly calm. Also, this thread is nothing but disputing the fact that we'd sell out all the games, it's a ridiculous notion.

 

Also, the Rays just aren't a good draw. When they came in here they weren't even a .500 team, playing another below .500 team, and they have no outside fanbase to speak off. And yes, they have been drawing at home, but those numbers have started to dip. Do you know what the Marlins were drawing in 2004 at this point in the season? 23,645. But, just as it has started to happen with the Rays, that post-WS love starts to dissipate. There is a reason many teams sell tickets for the Marlins and Rays under a "value package". It's not because either of them are good draws.

 

And the weather isn't an excuse, it's a reason. Now, I happen to be the exception, I was there for 2 of the 4 games against the Giants, I was there last night and will be there the next two night as well. But I did end up getting rained on for both those games against the Giants. It not only discourages the casual fan, I had plenty the "true" fans tell me "Whey did you go to the game with this weather? I was thinking of going, but I wasn't going to get rained on for 2 hours."

 

When you are discouraging your LOYAL fanbase from going to games, something needs to be done.

I expect a few sellouts if they still have super Saturdays and of course on Opening day but i would love to see at least 15,000 per game

LOL! Calm down buddy. One of the earlier posts said that the Marlins would sell out every game. That is an absurd statement. My comment about the 40 games was only meant to dispute the claim made that all games would sell out. it wasn't meant as a jab at the fans for failling to fill a stadium at a 50% rate.

 

Explain to me how the Rays aren't an attractive game when they come into town? Forget about whether or not they draw in their own stadium, (which they do by the way averaging 23K a game, and 29K for weekend games this season). That is as interesting a team as you'll find this year. Great athletes throughout the roster, not to mention they are reigning AL Champs.

 

Look, I live in south florida and the last thing I want is for this community to be painted as a bad baseball town. It would be embarrassing. But at some point you have to stop making lame excuses like "it looks like it was going to rain" or "the team was dismantled" and start facing the fact that maybe a lot of people have a priority list that has things listed above the baseball line.

 

This thread claimed astronomical attendance numbers in a new park, and I disagree. That was my point.

 

Calm down? I'm perfectly calm. Also, this thread is nothing but disputing the fact that we'd sell out all the games, it's a ridiculous notion.

 

Also, the Rays just aren't a good draw. When they came in here they weren't even a .500 team, playing another below .500 team, and they have no outside fanbase to speak off. And yes, they have been drawing at home, but those numbers have started to dip. Do you know what the Marlins were drawing in 2004 at this point in the season? 23,645. But, just as it has started to happen with the Rays, that post-WS love starts to dissipate. There is a reason many teams sell tickets for the Marlins and Rays under a "value package". It's not because either of them are good draws.

 

And the weather isn't an excuse, it's a reason. Now, I happen to be the exception, I was there for 2 of the 4 games against the Giants, I was there last night and will be there the next two night as well. But I did end up getting rained on for both those games against the Giants. It not only discourages the casual fan, I had plenty the "true" fans tell me "Whey did you go to the game with this weather? I was thinking of going, but I wasn't going to get rained on for 2 hours."

 

When you are discouraging your LOYAL fanbase from going to games, something needs to be done.

 

 

Well I hope you are right because it would be nice to have respectable attendance in the new stadium.

 

I still disagree with you on the Rays thing. They came in at the end of May, which is very very early in the season, and were at .500 at the time. It isn't unfathomable to have good teams playing .500 ball two months in. They had the AL leader in batting average starting at SS (Bartlett), the MLB leader in RBI at the time playing 3B (Longoria), the AL leader in HR at the time starting at 1B (Pena, also a gold glove winner from last year), and the ML leader in SB in left field (Crawford). If you took that roster and stuck them in White Sox, Tigers, or Indians uniforms I don't think you'd be arguing my point.

LOL! Calm down buddy. One of the earlier posts said that the Marlins would sell out every game. That is an absurd statement. My comment about the 40 games was only meant to dispute the claim made that all games would sell out. it wasn't meant as a jab at the fans for failling to fill a stadium at a 50% rate.

 

Explain to me how the Rays aren't an attractive game when they come into town? Forget about whether or not they draw in their own stadium, (which they do by the way averaging 23K a game, and 29K for weekend games this season). That is as interesting a team as you'll find this year. Great athletes throughout the roster, not to mention they are reigning AL Champs.

 

Look, I live in south florida and the last thing I want is for this community to be painted as a bad baseball town. It would be embarrassing. But at some point you have to stop making lame excuses like "it looks like it was going to rain" or "the team was dismantled" and start facing the fact that maybe a lot of people have a priority list that has things listed above the baseball line.

 

This thread claimed astronomical attendance numbers in a new park, and I disagree. That was my point.

 

Calm down? I'm perfectly calm. Also, this thread is nothing but disputing the fact that we'd sell out all the games, it's a ridiculous notion.

 

Also, the Rays just aren't a good draw. When they came in here they weren't even a .500 team, playing another below .500 team, and they have no outside fanbase to speak off. And yes, they have been drawing at home, but those numbers have started to dip. Do you know what the Marlins were drawing in 2004 at this point in the season? 23,645. But, just as it has started to happen with the Rays, that post-WS love starts to dissipate. There is a reason many teams sell tickets for the Marlins and Rays under a "value package". It's not because either of them are good draws.

 

And the weather isn't an excuse, it's a reason. Now, I happen to be the exception, I was there for 2 of the 4 games against the Giants, I was there last night and will be there the next two night as well. But I did end up getting rained on for both those games against the Giants. It not only discourages the casual fan, I had plenty the "true" fans tell me "Whey did you go to the game with this weather? I was thinking of going, but I wasn't going to get rained on for 2 hours."

 

When you are discouraging your LOYAL fanbase from going to games, something needs to be done.

 

 

Well I hope you are right because it would be nice to have respectable attendance in the new stadium.

 

I still disagree with you on the Rays thing. They came in at the end of May, which is very very early in the season, and were at .500 at the time. It isn't unfathomable to have good teams playing .500 ball two months in. They had the AL leader in batting average starting at SS (Bartlett), the MLB leader in RBI at the time playing 3B (Longoria), the AL leader in HR at the time starting at 1B (Pena, also a gold glove winner from last year), and the ML leader in SB in left field (Crawford). If you took that roster and stuck them in White Sox, Tigers, or Indians uniforms I don't think you'd be arguing my point.

No, they were under .500, making it a matchup between "two loser Florida teams". Our terrible showing in that effort is what made them a .500 team when they left. And yes, if I took that roster and put it in a large market, I wouldn't be arguing that point at all, because they'd be a large market team with a large external fanbase. They aren't.

LOL! Calm down buddy. One of the earlier posts said that the Marlins would sell out every game. That is an absurd statement. My comment about the 40 games was only meant to dispute the claim made that all games would sell out. it wasn't meant as a jab at the fans for failling to fill a stadium at a 50% rate.

 

Explain to me how the Rays aren't an attractive game when they come into town? Forget about whether or not they draw in their own stadium, (which they do by the way averaging 23K a game, and 29K for weekend games this season). That is as interesting a team as you'll find this year. Great athletes throughout the roster, not to mention they are reigning AL Champs.

 

Look, I live in south florida and the last thing I want is for this community to be painted as a bad baseball town. It would be embarrassing. But at some point you have to stop making lame excuses like "it looks like it was going to rain" or "the team was dismantled" and start facing the fact that maybe a lot of people have a priority list that has things listed above the baseball line.

 

This thread claimed astronomical attendance numbers in a new park, and I disagree. That was my point.

 

Calm down? I'm perfectly calm. Also, this thread is nothing but disputing the fact that we'd sell out all the games, it's a ridiculous notion.

 

Also, the Rays just aren't a good draw. When they came in here they weren't even a .500 team, playing another below .500 team, and they have no outside fanbase to speak off. And yes, they have been drawing at home, but those numbers have started to dip. Do you know what the Marlins were drawing in 2004 at this point in the season? 23,645. But, just as it has started to happen with the Rays, that post-WS love starts to dissipate. There is a reason many teams sell tickets for the Marlins and Rays under a "value package". It's not because either of them are good draws.

 

And the weather isn't an excuse, it's a reason. Now, I happen to be the exception, I was there for 2 of the 4 games against the Giants, I was there last night and will be there the next two night as well. But I did end up getting rained on for both those games against the Giants. It not only discourages the casual fan, I had plenty the "true" fans tell me "Whey did you go to the game with this weather? I was thinking of going, but I wasn't going to get rained on for 2 hours."

 

When you are discouraging your LOYAL fanbase from going to games, something needs to be done.

 

 

Well I hope you are right because it would be nice to have respectable attendance in the new stadium.

 

I still disagree with you on the Rays thing. They came in at the end of May, which is very very early in the season, and were at .500 at the time. It isn't unfathomable to have good teams playing .500 ball two months in. They had the AL leader in batting average starting at SS (Bartlett), the MLB leader in RBI at the time playing 3B (Longoria), the AL leader in HR at the time starting at 1B (Pena, also a gold glove winner from last year), and the ML leader in SB in left field (Crawford). If you took that roster and stuck them in White Sox, Tigers, or Indians uniforms I don't think you'd be arguing my point.

No, they were under .500, making it a matchup between "two loser Florida teams". Our terrible showing in that effort is what made them a .500 team when they left. And yes, if I took that roster and put it in a large market, I wouldn't be arguing that point at all, because they'd be a large market team with a large external fanbase. They aren't.

 

 

So you are saying the only good draws are large market teams with large external fan bases? That plays right into the stereo-type of the fans down here that you have been arguing against in our discussion.