Although the D'Backs have spent nearly $120M to upgrade
their ballclub, the team "will fall far short of matching
its season ticket total from its inaugural season,"
according to Pedro Gomez of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC. Team
officials "are projecting" last year's MLB-high season-
ticket base of 36,000 will fall to around 26,000 this
season. Despite the 28% drop, the figure will still put the
D'Backs in the top four among all 30 teams in the league.
The drop-off "comes in the wake of" an average ticket price
increase of 12%, from $14.69 in '98 to $16.48 in '99.
D'Backs VP/Ticket Operations Diane Aguilar: "We're a little
bit disappointed, but when you look at the numbers across
the rest of baseball, we're where we want to be." In
comparison, the Devil Rays are "expected" to have a season-
ticket base of about 19,000 this season, down from 22,000
last year. The top ten season-ticket bases in MLB for the
'99 season: Rockies (32,500), Orioles (31,000), Braves
(28,000), D'Backs (26,000), Indians (26,000), Yankees
(25,500), Dodgers (25,000), Cubs (23,000), Red Sox (22,000)
and Cardinals (20,000) (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 1/14).
