The A's beat the White Sox last night in front of 46,028 fans at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, with the team offering free admission to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the A’s "first game in Oakland," according to Susan Slusser of the S.F. CHRONICLE. It was the "first free game in major-league history" and the A’s "distributed 200,000 tickets for the game, but in recent weeks had determined through RSVPs that about 70,000 fans still planned to come." The Coliseum holds "roughly 66,000 max, and the A’s planned to distribute free tickets to an upcoming game to any ticket-holders who couldn’t get in" yesterday. That "didn’t come to pass," and the upper-section of stands known as Mount Davis "was not put into use, but the Coliseum was nearly full to its baseball capacity, which is 48,592." The team had "hoped to break its single-game attendance mark of 55,989, set June 26, 2004, for a game with the Giants" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 4/18). In San Jose, Jerry McDonald notes some sections of the Coliseum were "blocked off for season ticket holders ... but for the most part it was open seating." A's President Dave Kaval said, “We had a really robust operational plan, and I think our fans did a great job of following directions, making sure they got here early and that made the in-flow very smooth. People are having a great time here at the ballpark. It’s great to see that” (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 4/18). Kaval said about 20% of the crowd had "never seen a game" at the Coliseum before. He called that "fantastic," as the free game is "getting folks exposed to our product" ("White Sox-A's," NBC Sports California, 4/17).
NICE TO SEE: In S.F., Bruce Jenkins writes the free-admission crowd "didn’t quite meet the A’s expectations, but it was a richly satisfying night in perfect East Bay weather." About 30 minutes before game time, it "appeared that no more than 35,000 people actually would be on hand." But it was "jammed by game time, reasonably close to how a sellout crowd would look with the tarps on Mount Davis." It is a "success for A’s management." It "doesn’t really lead anywhere, but in the wake of this season’s early games -- already with three crowds under 8,000 -- it looked awfully good." The crowd had a "joyous spirit" as there "wasn’t a hint of trouble outside the stadium, where fans launched their tailgate parties hours before the gates opened" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 4/18). NBC Sports California's Bip Roberts said, "We got here early today and there were people all around the parking lot. There were lines all the way outside still waiting. The people were just full of energy and couldn't wait to get in" ("A's Pregame," NBC Sports California, 4/17). NBC Sports California's Glen Kuiper: "A terrific job by the Athletics organization. They pulled it off. I know they were worried about some things. They wanted to make sure everything went smoothly, and everything did go smoothly" ("A's Postgame," NBC Sports California, 4/17).
WHAT COMES NEXT? USA TODAY's Jorge Ortiz writes the "vibe at the antiquated stadium was considerably livelier than for a regular Tuesday night game, which would usually draw some 10,000." The parking lots "filled out early and fan enthusiasm abounded, but it was hard to tell how much carryover there would be for a team that ranks second-to-last in the majors in attendance and has drawn poorly for years." Some fans in attendance "expressed appreciation for the fan-friendly initiatives" launched by Kaval, including "last year’s removal of the tarps that used to cover the upper deck." Ortiz: "More than that, though, they’d like to see a winning team" (USA TODAY, 4/18).
THE MONEY QUESTION: NBC Sports Bay Area's Ray Ratto questioned the decision to let fans in free, saying, "Every lesson that they teach you in marketing is never give anything away that you want to sell later." He said of the game, "It gets you a lot of notoriety. But in the longer term, are you not basically cutting off your nose despite your face and reminding everybody of how easy it is to get tickets every other day of the year?" More Ratto: "What you're trying to do is get habit buyers. ... They rolled the dice here so that people would notice them. But the only thing that is going to win are interesting players who play winning baseball" ("The Happy Hour," NBC Sports Bay Area, 4/17).
