Indians are 1,100 ahead of last year's season-ticket total, and the club expects the tally to increase GETTY IMAGES
The Indians are up to 13,400 full-season ticket equivalents for this year, the franchise's "largest season-ticket base" since it has 15,000 FSEs in '08, according to Kevin Kleps of CRAIN'S CLEVELAND BUSINESS. The Indians are 1,100 "ahead of last year's season-ticket total, and the club expects the tally to continue to increase in the next month or two." Indians VP/Sales & Service Tim Salcer said that the team now has "more than 9,000 season-ticket accounts, which is up 258% in the last two years." Salcer added that the 20-game plans, with 6,300 such accounts, are "easily the Indians' most popular" (CRAINSCLEVELAND.com, 3/29). MLB.com's Jordan Bastian noted Indians Chair & CEO Paul Dolan "feels the importance" of this season. Dolan: "We've won five years in a row. You don't win forever. We are peaking as a team. ... With the talent we currently have together, this is the time to do it." The Indians last year "drew over 2 million fans for the first time" since '09, and Dolan "believes the combination of five consecutive winning seasons and the improvements to Progressive Field have driven those figures." He said, "The fans have responded. They're enjoying this team and I like to think they're enjoying the ballpark as well, with what we've done there." Dolan also said that he is "understanding of fans who were displeased with the franchise's decision to no longer feature the Chief Wahoo logo on the team's on-field uniforms." The logo will "still have a limited availability in retail, which will allow the team to maintain the rights to the mark." Dolan said, "We think we're in the right place. The world has changed. Society looks at things a little differently now, and we're about winning baseball games, not defending one view or another about symbols" (MLB.com, 3/28).
