The White Sox’ “problems at the ticket booth are not being helped by a lack of winning baseball at U.S. Cellular Field this season,” according to Bruce Levine of ESPN CHICAGO. After about a quarter of the season, the White Sox are “on pace to draw 1.62 million fans, which would be the fewest since 1999 when they drew 1.349 million.” The team last season “barely surpassed 2-million mark in attendance,” making it the “third straight year that figure dropped.” A source said that the “major problem for the marketing department … is the lack of interest shown by the southwest and northwest suburban fan base.” The central city fan “typically shows up at the ballpark.” The White Sox have drawn “more than 2 million fans every season since 2005.” As part of the organization’s agreement with the Illinois Sports Authority, which operates the ballpark, the White Sox “do not start paying any rent until they draw 1.6 million in attendance.” After they reach that number, the rent “goes up incrementally for every 100,000 that show up” (ESPNCHICAGO.com, 5/23).
