Pirates Could See Attendance Slip With Poor On-Field Performance

The Pirates being 12 games out of first place in the NL Central, coupled with the Steelers' season getting ready to start, "could make fans less likely to spend their entertainment dollars" with the baseball team, according to Nubyjas Wilborn of the PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE. Pirates President Frank Coonelly said, "Fans have a right to spend their discretionary income in manners in which they feel that they're getting rewarded for it." He added, "Obviously this has not been good baseball over the last three-and-a-half weeks. It's been unacceptably substandard for that time. And so any fan that says, 'I'm not going to see the Pirates this weekend,' I get it." Wilborn notes the Pirates have also dealt with "two internal suspensions," both situations involving "altercations with fellow members of the team." However, "despite everything that has happened, Saturday's game against the Mets was a sellout, and attendance is up from last season" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 8/5).