Only Nine MLB Teams Posting Attendance Increases Over Last Year

Selig Not Discouraged That Teams Spending Most Also Winning Most

Only nine MLB teams have posted attendance increases over last year through Sunday, and team officials indicated that it is "not going to get better before the season ticket, luxury box and corporate sponsor money is due," according to Peter Gammons of ESPN.com. The combined increase for the nine teams with attendance gains "comes to 11,881 fans per game," while another nine teams -- the Astros, Indians, D'Backs, Blue Jays, Padres, Nationals, Yankees, Tigers and Mets -- are "all down more than 4,000 fans per game." The attendance decline is "not simply a result of there being no pennant races," rather it is "about the economy." And "in this economy and given the drifting of second-tier free agents last winter, it won't be Christmas before we hear cries of collusion" (ESPN.com, 9/14).

SPEND TO WIN? In Minneapolis, Joe Christensen notes MLB teams "spending the most are winning the most this season," as "seven of the nine highest-paid teams would make the postseason" based on Sunday's standings. But MLB Commissioner Bud Selig "calls it an aberration." Selig: "Am I discouraged from a competitive balance or parity standpoint? No, not in the least. I believe that the competitive balance we've had the last four or five years is a more accurate reflection of where we are." But Twins President Dave St. Peter said, "I don't know that there's a small- or mid-market team out there that doesn't have a constant concern about baseball's economics" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 9/13).