Padres ticket sales are up, and Machado jerseys are selling at a brisk, but not record paceGETTY IMAGES
Fans at Padres Spring Training have created a "frenzied crowd" since the team added 3B Manny Machado in free agency, but the scenes still look like a "sea of tranquility compared to the pandemonium" at Phillies camp since the signing of RF Bryce Harper, according to Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY. The Phillies sold 340,000 tickets in the first week after Harper’s signing, and his jersey "set an all-time record for sales in the first 24 hours." Padres ticket sales are up, and Machado jerseys are "selling at a brisk, but not record pace." The Padres are not divulging specific sales numbers, but execs will "privately concede that Machado’s signing has generated only a fraction of the Phillies’ ticket sales." Padres Exec Chair Ron Fowler said, “This was a baseball decision, not a business decision. We think the impact will be in future years, and the business side will catch up eventually." The Phillies early in the offseason "were debating which player to sign, but Harper’s popularity with their fans caused them to pivot from Machado." When asked whether Machado would have generated the same excitement in Philadelphia that Harper has, Phillies Managing Partner John Middleton said, "My instinct is no. ... The fans were turned off by Manny and turned on by Bryce" (USATODAY.com, 3/20).
