Reds Attendance Down 20.4% Through First Ten Home Games
 The Reds are averaging 19,170 fans through ten home games, down 20.4% through the same number of games last season, according to Tony Jackson of the CINCINNATI POST, who noted since an opening day sellout (41,913) against the Cubs, the Reds "have yet to break 20,000." Through ten games last year, the Reds were averaging 24,091. Reds COO John Allen said, "I think a part of it is a lack of fan confidence in this team. Six of the first nine games were against teams that traditionally draw well. But the one weekend series we had at home was with Montreal. ... April is traditionally a slow month just because the kids are still in school. I don't think the weather has really been a factor. I'm not ready to panic, but we're watching it pretty closely" (CINCINNATI POST, 4/24). Also in Cincinnati, John Fay notes the Giants and Barry Bonds visit the Reds this weekend. But Allen said of ticket sales, "Our projections aren't good." The Reds are expecting only 22,000-23,000 for each of the three games. Tuesday's crowd of 14,518 was the smallest since the team traded for Ken Griffey Jr. in '00. Yesterday, the "crowd was even smaller" as paid attendance was 13,004, the smallest crowd since '98. Meanwhile, "adding to financial concerns is the fact" that the Reds have payments due on their new ballpark. Allen: "We've already put $20 million into Great American Ball Park. We've got another $10 million that's due in April. ... We're paying for the grass in the new ballpark. We're paying for the scoreboard. We'll put $40-$50 million in that ballpark before we move in. That's not taxpayer money; that's Cincinnati Reds money. That money has to come from somewhere" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 4/25). MLB figures show that the Reds had revenues of $88M in '00 and $84M last season. MLB Exec VP/Labor Relations Rob Manfred said of the '01 numbers, "They turned a very small profit, essentially (broke) even. Interest expense puts them in a loss position on their bottom line" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 4/25).
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