How to Fix MLB’s Current Attendance Epidemic
Everyone can agree that the best thing about MLB these days is that you can find a seat in any ballpark across the US and Canada. At the same time, however, the biggest problem is the fact that you can find a seat in any ballpark across the US and Canada.
Whether people are aware of it or not, the vast majority of major league teams are attracting subpar attendance and those that are “rebuilding” are facing even worse numbers by the day. So with that said, is MLB a fan of this climate? No, but there are some things they need to do to fix the situation that they have let go on for too long.
ATTENDANCE EPIDEMIC
Per Sports Illustrated, “eleven teams are currently below the 20,000 per game mark with The Miami Marlins at a whopping 10,000. 2018 is still recorded as the lowest number in this current decade.
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This past series with the Baltimore Orioles proved to continue this trend. Mark Viviano of WJZ, noted that attendance was 12,451 and was the fewest for an O’s Vs. Boston Red Sox game since September 1991. The fact of the matter is that competition keeps people in seats, keeps money flowing and allows fans to feel apart of the process.
There’s only so many times that an MLB team can promote having 5 and 10-year-olds run a base after a game when their home team got blown out by 20 runs. At the end of the day a ballpark may be used for a concert, yoga training, wine, and painting night or even the slightest movie and new and up musician. However, that ballpark is….still a ballpark and if your team starts winning then they’ll find those seats.
MAJOR LEAGUE TANKING
Tanking is one of the main reasons for the attendance being low and MLB does not like it. The 2016 Chicago Cubs and the 2017 Houston Astros are two of the few examples of teams during the analytical “money ball” era have laid the foundation of rebuilding. In turn, because these franchises have had two to three 100 loss seasons only to turn into a world series championship is one of the bright aspects of franchises going under for a while to be on top.
The issue is, realistically this does not go well with most of the fans going out. By the teams losing and acquiring subpar and below average players on their team, they then work towards getting high draft picks. Although this is frowned upon, major league teams base this move on what is called a “rebuild”.
For every fan that believes these franchises are working towards the goals of a championship, others in the fanbase will see that the teams have nothing to play for and they decide to not go. However, bottles of water are $10.00, a can of beer is $15.00 and a hot dog with extra sides come to a solid $20.00…for a team that is out of the playoff race by the beginning of May.
While GM’s, Owners, and players will often tell you to come out to the yard and support the team, the fact remains that they know they’re not going to win a world series this year. However, the prices for season tickets don’t reflect that.
Fans have found more mediums to enjoy their viewing than to put aside $50.00 just for food. The system is flawed in Major League Baseball. A system where teams do not try should not be the norm, but this is the system and apparently has built a pattern of things that work on paper.
HOW CAN MLB FIX THIS?
To be honest, MLB needs a salary cap and level the playing field. That is if they’re tired of teams throwing seasons. The Attendance is low because prices are high and the competition is low. In turn, not every team is created equal.
The Orioles payroll will never be as big as the Yankees, Dodgers, Cubs or even the Padres to name a few. So what the lower payroll teams do is basically rely on solid drafting and conditioning through their farm systems. Low-income teams lead to an inability to keep and or sign stars so they’ll never be able to compete in bigger markets.
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If they wish to have what they got now then hello to all the big money market franchises and goodbye to all those who have to tank a couple of seasons just to hope to get daylight.