The Indians are currently on an 11-game win streak and sit atop the AL Central, and the team is projecting at least "four crowds of 30,000 or more for next week's seven-game homestand against the Tigers and Yankees," according to Zack Meisel of the Cleveland PLAIN DEALER. The team sold "nearly 3,000 tickets on Monday alone for the club's July 4 tilt with the Tigers." The Indians have "drawn better" for their recent weekend games. In a three-game set against the White Sox from June 17-19, the club "attracted more than 84,000 to the ballpark." This is an improvement considering the team ranks "last in the majors in attendance." They have "averaged 16,656 fans per game for 35 home affairs" and have not "finished better than 28th in the league" since '11. On the other "end of the spectrum," Indians games are averaging a 5.3 local rating on SportsTime Ohio this season. That marks an increase of 31% "over last year through 75 games." Monday's game between the Indians and Braves drew a 9.52 rating, the "highest for a non-simulcast game on STO" since July 9, 2014. The broadcasts had "averaged a 7.1 rating" over the club's first 10 wins in the current streak. Indians TV ratings for the month of June are up about 74% over the ratings from June '15 (CLEVELAND.com, 6/28).
SUMMER STRUGGLE: In Chicago, Danny Ecker noted the White Sox are "preparing for another slow second half of the season for ticket sales." In a memo to the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, the team said that it "expects to sell 423,466 tickets between June 1 and the end of the season." That is about "15,000 fewer tickets than it sold during the same period last season, when it finished with a paid attendance of 1.76 million, the fifth-lowest per-game average" in MLB. This season the White Sox expect to finish with a "season ticket sales total of 1.8 million." Paid attendance through the first 37 home games is down by 4% to 20,723 per game, "good for fourth-lowest in baseball" (CHICAGOBUSINESS.com, 6/28).
