The Reds drew 2.4 million fans to Great American Ball Park last year, but that figure "will very likely drop this year," according to Steve Watkins of CINCINNATI BUSINESS COURIER. The team "might be expecting attendance to decline a little more" than 1% this year. Two things are "posing challenges to the Reds in matching last year's ticket sales: the All-Star Game and the team." The Reds "tied season ticket sales last year" to the ASG that was played in Cincinnati in July. Reds Senior Dir of Ticket Sales & Service Mark Schueler said the team's ticket sales so far are "on par" with other recent MLB teams the year after hosting the ASG. Watkins noted four of the previous six ASG hosts "suffered attendance declines the following years." In fact, Reds attendance last season "slid about 57,000," or 2% despite the ASG boost. This was in part "because the team played so poorly and traded stars" like Ps Johnny Cueto and Mike Leake during the season. The offseason continued the high turnover rate when 3B Todd Frazier and P Aroldis Chapman "were both dealt away." The "rebuilding team will feature plenty of young players, many of whom are not well known, making it a tougher sell for fans." The Reds have also "added a membership aspect to their season ticket packages," which allows fans to "customize perks such as autographs, photo opportunities, private luncheons with players, scoreboard messages and other perks" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 2/29).
