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10 Degrees: MLB's enormous attendance drop due to bad weather or something far worse for baseball?
Yahoo ^ | April 16, 2018 | Jeff Passan

Posted on 04/16/2018 11:33:44 AM PDT by C19fan

It’s just April. Because this is baseball, that is an entirely reasonable explanation for the problem. And so, too, is the weather, the nasty, Mother Nature-must-be-pissed-at-someone sort of frigid that canceled half a dozen more games Sunday afternoon and is threatening to set records for postponements.

And yet one look at the numbers across Major League Baseball shows a grim landscape. Not in home runs (which are down) or strikeouts (which are up) but attendance. Which isn’t just down – it is down precipitously, enough that one league official expressed concern that this isn’t simply a manifestation of the weather but something deeper and more troublesome for the game.

“I’m worried,” he said. “The tanking scares me.”

(Excerpt) Read more at sports.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Sports
KEYWORDS: baseball
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To: C19fan
Could it be that American consumer debt is at an all-time high? Americans are tapped out?

See New York Fed: Total Household Debt.

-PJ

41 posted on 04/16/2018 12:04:00 PM PDT by Political Junkie Too (The 1st Amendment gives the People the right to a free press, not CNN the right to the 1st question.)
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To: C19fan
They really need to make the season shorter. Even the old 154-game season is too long unless the schedule is filled with doubleheaders (I think teams used to routinely play 12+ doubleheaders per season up until the late 1950s).

There are simply too many dates on the baseball calendar and too many teams in the postseason. This pushes the start of the season into March and the end of the World Series to late October.

I also think almost every major sport has the same problem, for what it's worth.

42 posted on 04/16/2018 12:04:53 PM PDT by Alberta's Child ("I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's.")
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To: colorado tanker

The problem is that Miami has done this teardown thing several times, especially after winning a World Series.

Fans are just tired of it.


43 posted on 04/16/2018 12:05:44 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: C19fan

Baseball used to be on Free TV. Now you need a subscription to something to watch it.

That was stupid. Really stupid.


44 posted on 04/16/2018 12:05:50 PM PDT by RinaseaofDs
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To: Billthedrill
Yeah, and there's not much fun in sitting in the stands yelling "Yer mother was a fruit bat!" to a robot.

How about "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries!"

45 posted on 04/16/2018 12:06:05 PM PDT by BlueLancer (Come Hell or High Water - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQNUp9rgjNs&feature=youtu.be)
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To: C19fan
I think its the weather. It's always been a roll of the dice to play baseball in April in Denver, but I've not seen it this bad across the rest of the country. Darn globull warming.

That said, I have been concerned for a while about slow play. It should not take four hours to play a baseball game. There have been some rules changes, so we'll see what those do.

46 posted on 04/16/2018 12:06:05 PM PDT by colorado tanker
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To: Alberta's Child

I would almost consider splitting the League into two tiers, with Promotion/Relegation, like Soccer.

The worst teams get demoted to the second-tier, and the best teams in the second-tier get promoted to the Top League.


47 posted on 04/16/2018 12:07:18 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: Former Proud Canadian
End the abomination known as inter-league play.

I'm curious why you feel so strongly about inter-league play. Could you explain?

I'm a very casual viewer of baseball and somewhat ignorant of how the league works, so I'm just asking out of curiosity. (I'm not challenging your opinion or trying to rile anyone up, just curious why you dislike it).
48 posted on 04/16/2018 12:08:52 PM PDT by verum ago (Some people must truly be in love, for only love can be so blind.)
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To: dfwgator

This is exactly how I feel right now.


49 posted on 04/16/2018 12:09:13 PM PDT by rdl6989
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To: BlueLancer

yeah, and if you make another call like that, I will taunt you a second time....


50 posted on 04/16/2018 12:10:45 PM PDT by raygunfan
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To: colorado tanker

I have a cousin down there, usually drive down to catch a Reds game with him. Just this last weekend, looked up tickets for the day we both have open...

https://www.mlb.com/marlins/tickets/specials/mexican-heritage-celebration

Maybe next year.


51 posted on 04/16/2018 12:11:02 PM PDT by ameribbean expat
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To: Former Proud Canadian
End the abomination known as inter-league play.

Yes, yes, yes.

52 posted on 04/16/2018 12:11:49 PM PDT by Skooz (Gabba Gabba we accept you we accept you one of us Gabba Gabba we accept you we accept you one of us)
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To: C19fan

I have been following the Texas Rangers games for about 5 years. I have noticed during that time at both home and away games the stadiums are more than half empty.

If they seem to be getting close to being play-off contenders, their home game attendance improves significantly.

Teams may be getting enough in TV royalties, because nearly every game is broadcasted.


53 posted on 04/16/2018 12:12:02 PM PDT by TomGuy
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To: Pappy Smear
They had an interesting discussion on the sports radio station here in NYC this morning.

One of the hosts pointed out that the combination of two things has led to a pending disaster in the MLB schedule this season:

1. A lot of early season rainouts.

2. Unbalanced schedules and inter-league play that limits the number of road trips to cities outside the division.

They used the Yankees-Tigers weekend series in Detroit as an example of how disruptive this will be. They got in the first game of the series on Friday night, then had a rainout on Saturday. They scheduled a day-night doubleheader on Sunday to make up the Saturday game, then had that rained out as well.

So the Yankees and Tigers have to make up TWO games in Detroit later this season ... but since they don't play in the same division the Yankees aren't scheduled to travel there again in 2018. So MLB will have to either schedule a doubleheader on an off day, or they will have to move the two games to New York in September and play them as Detroit "home" games.

54 posted on 04/16/2018 12:12:17 PM PDT by Alberta's Child ("I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's.")
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To: BOARn
One of my favorite parody "sports news stories" ...

LMAO.

55 posted on 04/16/2018 12:15:31 PM PDT by Alberta's Child ("I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's.")
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To: Former Proud Canadian
1. Call balls and strikes electronically. The technology exists, use it.

Umpires are part of Baseballs' story-line and tradition. Bitchin' about a bad call is part of the experience. Want electronics? Stay home and play video games.

2. End the abomination known as inter-league play.

Agree, but not a big deal IMHO.

The game needs to be shortened, and played during hours that young people can watch. No commercial breaks outside normal game stoppages.

Ticket prices for all but the best seats and boxes need to be reasonable as should the concessions.

I used to get Yankee tickets behind home plate for free. After parking and food for a family of 4, I was out over $200.00. Face value of the tickets was something like $300. per.

56 posted on 04/16/2018 12:15:45 PM PDT by NY.SS-Bar9 (Those that vote for a living outnumber those that work for one.)
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To: dfwgator
I think you've that idea before here on FR for other sports, and it's a good one for a number of reasons.

The problem is that MLB relies so much on TV revenue, which will take a huge hit if half the franchises in any given year basically become AAA+ teams.

57 posted on 04/16/2018 12:18:53 PM PDT by Alberta's Child ("I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's.")
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To: C19fan

I watched part of that game—cuddled up with my dog next to the wood stove. ;-)


58 posted on 04/16/2018 12:21:13 PM PDT by cgbg (Hidden behind the social justice warrior mask is corruption and sexual deviance.)
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To: C19fan

A near blizzard in KC last Saturday for the Angel game. Sunday’s game cancelled because it was too cold to play.

Gee, I wonder what could be causing low attendance?


59 posted on 04/16/2018 12:21:33 PM PDT by Pelham (California, a subsidiary of Mexico, Inc.)
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To: verum ago

The worst part of inter-league play is that it forces the schedules out of balance. This has implications for the playoffs because the wild card teams may simply be the two teams that played the easiest inter-league schedules.


60 posted on 04/16/2018 12:23:28 PM PDT by Alberta's Child ("I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's.")
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