Numbers Game: MLB Attendance Not Far Off '08 Figures

Selig Encouraged By Attendance So Far, But Too Early To Draw Definitive Conclusions

A STORMY FORECAST: The WASHINGTON POST's Thomas Boswell in an online chat said he believes the "economics of baseball will undergo a long-term shift over the next five years. It's going to be a huge story." Boswell said the opening of the new Yankee Stadium, then the need to "cut the most expensive tickets in half" within the first month of the season, "is proof of a true seismic shift" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 4/30). ESPN's Tim Kurkjian said with Yankee Stadium, fans are "so used to 98-100% capacity in that place, and to see empty seats in that place at a Yankees game on a beautiful afternoon, which I saw last week or so, that’s really unusual. … With the economy, we’re going to see attendance down for the whole year. I just hope it doesn’t get significantly worse" ("Mike & Mike in the Morning," ESPN2, 4/30).

POKING FUN: CBS' David Letterman asked, "Has anybody been out to the new Yankee Stadium yet? It’s a tremendous place, but they're having trouble getting people to come out there because the ticket prices are a little pricey. Well, they've dropped the prices. They are running this brand-new campaign so as soon as we are done here tonight let's storm the box office!” The show aired a Yankees “commercial” talking about how they have restructured their ticket prices. Voiceover: “The Yankees understand that times are tough. So we're slashing the prices of our most expensive seats from $2,500 to $1,250. So now a middle-class family of four can have a fun day at the ballpark for a reasonable $5,000. The New York Yankees. Food not included” (“Late Show,” CBS, 4/30).

Print This Article