It can be "challenging to sell tickets after your team experiences a disastrous season that prompts a massive rebuilding plan," and that is the situation the Brewers "find themselves in this winter," according to Tom Haudricourt of the MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL. Despite that position, the Brewers "have been relatively pleased that season-ticket sales" for '16 have "dropped only marginally at this point, a nod to their loyal fan base." Brewers COO Rick Schlesinger said, "Obviously, after a very disappointing 2015 season, we budgeted for a decline in season tickets and a lower renewal rate. It has been better than what we originally forecast. Right now, we're about 7% behind last year's pace, which isn't bad. With other teams in similar situations, you're looking at double-digit declines. So, we're satisfied that it's only a marginal decline. We've got a lot of selling season left." Haudricourt noted group sales will "heat up soon and individual ticket sales begin in February." Attendance at Miller Park "dropped to just over 2.5 million last season as ticket sales dried up after the miserable start." That is a "commendable figure for the smallest market in the majors, but it represented a drop of some 500,000 from the record attendance of 3.07 million" in '11. The Brewers are "more reliant on ticket income than teams in larger media markets." But Schlesinger said that early signs "are not nearly as grim as might be expected under the circumstances." Haudricourt noted the Brewers do not "announce their season-ticket base from year to year, but it was believed to have been between 13,000 and 15,000" in '15. The team "expects a normal turnout Jan. 31 for their 'Brewers On Deck' fan festival, which usually draws in excess of 10,000 fans" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 1/15).
