Cleveland Indians: With Their Recent Success, Will They Be Able To Draw Fans?

The Cleveland Indians have been riding the wave recently when it comes to on field success.

They are fresh off of a World Series appearance, which was their first since 1997. They also made a splash by signing the biggest free agent bat on the market in Edwin Encarnacion. It seems as if the Indians are in a position to make another run, and they are showing how serious they are about it. One problem that has arisen over the years is fan attendance.

Sellouts and A Winning Culture

At one point in time, the Indians were a top draw in Major League Baseball. From June 12th, 1995 to April 4th, 2001, the Tribe sold out 455 straight games. Those were the days when they had such stars as Jim Thome, Omar Vizquel, Manny Ramirez and Albert Belle. They competed year after year and were perennial top dogs in the American League. The stands were always full at Jacobs Field.

In 2001, they were 4th in the league in average attendance with 39,694 fans per game. In 2002, they dropped to 12th, averaging 32,307 fans per game. By 2003, they had fallen to 24th and were averaging just 21,358 fans per contest. The attendance in 2003 was just 53.8% of what it was in 2001. The drop-off was big and it has never recovered. Since then, the Indians have hovered in the last third of Major League Baseball teams in attendance. That may be contributed to their lack of wins.

An Era of Mediocrity

After Jim Thome left in 2002, the Tribe had trouble finding a true superstar. Their stars for the better part of the next decade were CC Sabathia, Travis Hafner, Casey Blake, and Grady Sizemore. None of those guys were the caliber of Thome, Ramirez, or Vizquel. The team wasn’t winning, making the playoffs only once from 2002-2012. The combination of losing and lack of stars didn’t help with their attendance at all.

What once was one of the most packed ballparks in the league, was now not even half full most games. The upper level, which used to be a happening area, was empty and most concession stands didn’t even bother opening. Tribe fans weren’t showing up because there wasn’t anything to get excited about, until recently.

Winning Starts Again, But Will Fans Come?

Indians fans started coming out in bigger numbers late in the 2016 season and during the postseason. Can they keep up the packed stands in 2017? The answer is, probably not. The Indians, besides their 455 game sellout streak, have never really been a top draw. For a twenty year span through most of the 70s and 80s, the Tribe was only getting under 13,000 fans per game. Their season ticket holder base is lower than most ball clubs, as well. With a smaller base number, of course the team will struggle with filling the rest of the seats. It’s not like their tickets are expensive. In fact, they have the 22nd highest average cost of ticket in Major League Baseball. The average Indians ticket was $25.61 in 2016. The MLB average in 2016 was $31.00.

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Another factor that does not help the Tribe’s cause is the number of baseball teams in the area. In Northeast Ohio alone, a baseball fan can see the Akron Rubberducks, Lake County Captains and Mahoning Valley Scrappers play (all of which are Indians affiliates). Along with those teams, there are also the Pittsburgh Pirates over the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. PNC Park is one of the most beautiful parks to see a game. No disrespect to Progressive Field, which is a great place to catch a game, but it is hard to compete with a top ranking venue so close.

The Indians may have some big stars like Francisco Lindor and Corey Kluber, but there is no saying that will make a difference. Sure the city is excited with the recent success of its teams, but the wave could crash with a slow start by the Indians. It did help to have the hometown darling Cleveland Cavaliers out at Progressive Field during the World Series, but overall there are too many factors and too much history to point to an attendance spike.

Don’t Expect A Spike In Attendance

With the history of the Indians drawing poorly, the amount of baseball to support in Northeast Ohio, and the lack of a season ticket holder base, it is hard to envision the attendance going up in Cleveland. While we may be in for a surprise, it is highly unlikely. The team went to the ALCS in 2007 and still couldn’t get out of the bottom half of league attendance that year, or even the next. What should make this year any different?

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While the Indians have many passionate fans throughout Ohio, attendance has been bad for almost 15 years. It will not just spike because of one year of success. It didn’t before, and there are too many factors to change it so fast. Hopefully the Indians can continue their success and become of the most crowded parks again. In the meantime, they need to keep the success going on the field and hope the 2019 All Star Game will help their cause.