The Braves are in first place. Why is the ballpark half-empty?
Turner Field was sold out on Opening Day. Where'd they all go? (AJC photo by Phil Skinner)
The first-place team in the National League East has played this week before home gatherings — couldn’t call them “crowds” — of 18,842 and 18,430. On the season, the Braves have attracted 30,361 paying customers per home date, which puts Atlanta 14th among 30 big-league teams in attendance and eighth in the 16-team National League.
Last season saw the Braves finish third in their division; average home attendance was 29,304. This means that a season that began with the arrival of Jason Heyward and has seen this club hold first place since Memorial Day has resulted in an average bump of 1,057 at the gate.
This is, not to be too fine a point on it, pretty sad. But not altogether unusual. We live in Atlanta, and this has long been a strange market for sports. Stan Kasten, once the president of three professional teams, used to say that a spike in one of our team’s performance wouldn’t result in an immediate surge at the box office: “It takes us a year longer than it does other cities.”
Indeed, if we return to a famous September midweek game from the worst-to-first climb of 1991 — the date was Sept. 11; the Braves led the Dodgers by a game and Kent Mercker, Mark Wohlers and Alejandro Pena worked a three-way no-hitter in a 1-0 win over San Diego at the old stadium — we’ll note that the crowd that night was 20,477.
Come 1993, you could scarcely find a ticket. The Braves averaged 47,960 in that season, up from 26,422 in 1991. And the club averaged over 40,000 the first three seasons (1997-1999) in Turner Field. But attendance dropped to an average of 32,142 in 2002 and has since held fairly steady. Which is likewise strange, given that the Braves’ performance on the field — they won division titles from 2003 through 2005 but missed the playoffs from 2006 onward — hasn’t made much of a difference.
And it hasn’t again this year. (Though we should stipulate that the Braves are assured of big crowds for the season-ending series against Philly, a three-game set that includes Bobby Cox Night.) Here we round up the usual explanations. See which, if any, you think applies:
• Money’s tight. Can’t argue there. But the market cratered in September 2008, and Braves’ attendance dropped only by roughly 2,000 from 2008 through 2009.
• Traffic’s bad. Can’t argue there, either. MARTA trains don’t run directly to the stadium, which has never made a lick of sense. (The late Skip Caray made this issue his personal hobbyhorse.) But traffic was bad in 1993, when the Braves came close to selling out every game.
Loading ...• It’s hot. Again, no disagreement. But this is Atlanta. We’ve had heat before.
• School’s in session. Regarding Braves attendance, this has always been a major consideration. And schools did start earlier than ever — in the first week of August for some local districts — this year.
• This is a city of transients. This is the age-old argument as to why Atlanta isn’t a hardy sports town like, say, New York or Chicago or Boston. Because, goes the line of reasoning, we didn’t grow up rooting for the Braves because we were living elsewhere back then. And there’s some merit to this. But the Braves benefited hugely from their days on TBS in the nascent years of cable and became something of a national team. So it isn’t as if nobody who moves here is aware Atlanta has a baseball team.
• Following the Braves has become a sofa-based sport. All of the above bullet points have weight, but this is the line of reasoning I’ve come to favor. People grew up watching the Braves on TV via TBS. In the early ’90s, those folks got so excited they were driven to go to the games themselves, but they got out of the habit early this century and haven’t yet found an urge to go back. This doesn’t mean they don’t watch and don’t care; it means only that they do it from the comfort of their own homes.
We at AJC.com can tell you from our various online measures that there remains a massive audience for this team, but apparently it’s an audience that doesn’t feel compelled to head out to the ballyard as a matter of course. That’s great for us and our metrics — thanks, folks! — but it doesn’t look so good when the game’s on and the camera pans the stands and finds … almost nobody.
But here’s a relatively cheery note: It isn’t just the Braves. Of the six teams that lead divisions, the Braves rank third in average attendance. So take heart: We may not be Philadelphia and Boston, where every game’s sold out, but we’re not San Diego. Or Cincinnati. Or Texas. We’ve got them beat.
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814 comments Add your comment
E.Lo
September 1st, 2010
8:50 am
First!
E.Lo
September 1st, 2010
8:52 am
The crowds have been good until school started. If you notice the crowds are huge during the weekend, when kids aren’t in school.
BUFORD T
September 1st, 2010
8:52 am
I wonder if anyone can tell me what the book Is that everyone in the dugout is looking at
Lowcountry Bulldawg
September 1st, 2010
8:53 am
It is all about money now. We can sit and watch the game on Peachtree South and not spend a dime. The traffic imo is not that bad. If you know what your doing, getting in and out it is pretty smooth. Its just dollars are tight now for your average family of four.
MitchC
September 1st, 2010
8:53 am
Mark, I dont live in Atlanta. I’m in Lancaster, Pa, but I’ve been a Braves fan for thirty years. (I hate the Phillies, by the way). Before this, I lived in NY area 29 years, and I hate the Mets as well.
My theory is all the things you mentioned, but the economy is the big one. From listening to TV reports, we know that people are being tight with their money. I haven;t been to a game since the Braves were at Citizens in 2008. (Circumstances, more so than money is the reason. I usually go once a year to Citizens, and I have the extra inning package to watch every night).
Also, they say that Atlanta fans can be apathetic. Look at the Hawks. As good as they’ve been the last couple of years, they dont draw either.
I have a feeling crowds may increase a bit during September, and on the weekends. Also, as you said, the last weekend should be sold out or close.
Besides that, there are a lot of factors in this country of why people dont go to games. Main reason: It’s very expensive, especially for a family of four or five.
Mark Bradley
September 1st, 2010
8:54 am
Kudos, E.Lo.
the dude
September 1st, 2010
8:56 am
Bradley – some might say the park is half full
Rimfire
September 1st, 2010
8:57 am
Don’t start that BS about fans not caring.
Braves fans do care.
It’s the economy, STUPID!
Mark Bradley
September 1st, 2010
8:57 am
Some might, the dude.
StottsEra
September 1st, 2010
8:57 am
1) cause its expensive
2) the stadium’s a hassle to get to
BUFORD T
September 1st, 2010
8:57 am
I think that everybody dances around the issue of security. Many people who dont live or work inside the perimeter dont feel safe with families especially night games.
Brave in Tampa
September 1st, 2010
8:57 am
It’s also “half-full”. The very same discussion is going on here in Tampa about what may be the most exciting team on baseball (and would love to have the Braves attendance numbers). The same reasons are given, except for “it’s hot” since the Rays play indoors. Some folks are still paying the bills (or not) that they ran up in 1993 at the old ballpark, so maybe that’s slowing the fun in 2010.
Mark Bradley
September 1st, 2010
8:59 am
Actually, when you’ve got 18,000 in the place, it’s not half-full. It’s more than half-empty.
BUFORD T
September 1st, 2010
8:59 am
safety security why bother
blazerdawg
September 1st, 2010
9:00 am
The Braves are averaging 31,000 a night and are outdrawing all other division leaders except the Yankees and the Twins, who are in the first year of their new ballpark.
This week’s low attendance is due to school starting, the economy, and the ballpark location.
Weekend games from here on out will be packed, and weekday games will pick-up as folks become settled into the fall routine and the playoffs near.
The ATL fan bashing gets old.
Coach k
September 1st, 2010
9:01 am
Well being unemployed its an expense I cant do much. Went Sat with my daughte,r and as cheap as I could go still cost me 76. 00. there are alot of people hurting. Why don’t they have some fan appreciation days and off all seats for 10 they will fill that stadium
Just A Grunt
September 1st, 2010
9:01 am
Attending a sporting event is a luxury few can afford nowadays. I saw the effects a while back at NASCAR races. A week before the race at Bristol there were tickets to be had and this a race where tickets are bought years in advance and handed down in estates.
Who wants to go watch a bunch of overpaid athletes, many who make more in one year then most of us will make in our lifetimes. Besides just the ticket costs there are all the associated costs like food, drink, and parking.
No, there isn’t much reason to go cheer on a bunch of millionaires, and it provides no escape from our day to day efforts to survive in this lousy economy. That money is better saved for the day when you no longer have a job and might allow you to keep a roof over your head for one more month.
ATL is TigerTown
September 1st, 2010
9:03 am
Please. Baseball is boring. It’s in the same category as golf, bowling or watching paint dry. The season is too long, the players are a bunch of whiney, overpaid, children and many of them, Chipper Jones for instance, have the morals of a stray cat and a hangnail puts him on the DL. Plus, it’s football season. Most people don’t give a rat’s patooty about baseball, especially this time of year. War Eagle!!
Joe
September 1st, 2010
9:04 am
How about adding in the voting poll: All the above.
It’s to expensive (one beer is normal to almost a 12 pack at the store) $15 bucks to park, interstate traffic stinks, a school night, rude people, baggers when leaving the game, non stop advertising thrown at you followed by the 30 minute wait getting out of the parking lot. After a day at work this isn’t the way I like to relax.
The Bream Team
September 1st, 2010
9:04 am
Mark,
Check out the parking lot during games, the vehicles tags will note they are not from the metro area. The majority of Braves’ fans live outside the metro area. When you live far away in South Georgia, Tennessee, or elsewhere, it’s tough to go to a game and get home at a reasonable time. For that reason, most people go on the weekend or during the summer when school’s out. Very rarely, do my friends and I attend a game after the middle of August. I think the last time was 2000, though we’ve been to dozens earlier in the seasons.
Ken
September 1st, 2010
9:04 am
The surrounding area around Turner Field doesn’t help either. If there were some semblance of a restaurant/bar district within walking distance of the stadium…people might be more inclinded to go.
Also, the fact that I have to leave straight from work (Gwinnett) because of traffic doesn’t make it very convienant.
/Going to game tonight
George Bush
September 1st, 2010
9:04 am
It’s the economy you idiot.
MatthewH
September 1st, 2010
9:05 am
People always want to point to the school argument, but isn’t school in session in other cities where they are averaging 2-3 times what the Braves are getting? As mentioned before, Tampa is a division leader that has worse attendance than the Braves do-but their stadium stinks. Turner Field is a great place.
Space Monkey
September 1st, 2010
9:05 am
Isn’t the real issue that the Braves are a regional team. Folks from the Carolinas and Alabama can’t go to weekday games. I live in Charlotte. If I lived in Atlanta, I would attend games. But I can’t commute four hours each way more than once a year.
Let's Go Bravos!
September 1st, 2010
9:05 am
I think it is because of the location of Turner Field. The ball parks in New York, Chicago, and Philly are all within walking distance for thousands of people. Those people can just walk on down to the ballpark and walk on back to their apartments or houses. With Turner field, there isn’t too many people that can walk to ballpark except for the scalpers and panhandlers that live around the stadium. If they put a stadium in a better part of Atlanta, then I would bet attendance would go up.
robdawg08
September 1st, 2010
9:06 am
Fans aren’t millionaires like the players ALL are. Yet the ticket sales from us is what pays their salaries (among other revenues). Kind of ironic that the team,players,AJC complaining about “where are fans ?”
in a recession when we are the ones that enable the players and owners to be rich…
The Bream Team
September 1st, 2010
9:06 am
Not to mention, MLB has forced us to continue playing an unbalanced schedule that forces us to play the Marlins, Nats, and Mets for more than a 1/3 of our home games.
TCH
September 1st, 2010
9:07 am
it’s the economy stupid
rekingball
September 1st, 2010
9:07 am
Is there anything to do around the stadium, like restaurants or bars or shops, like there is some other cities like Chicago’s Wrigley Field, for instance?
BugKiller
September 1st, 2010
9:08 am
Bradley,
Couldn’t it also be that Kasten et al weren’t particularly smart in deciding on the AMOUNT of seats in the ballpark?
50,000 seats for a BASEBALL stadium? Only the new Yankee Stadium has more seats that was built after Turner Field.
Stadiums in Philly, Houston, St. Louis, Minneapolis, and New York (Mets) all have 45,000 or less.
50,000 seats for a stadium in a city of transplants is just STUPID.
If this stadium were 45,000 or 40,000 seats, then the 30,000 would look outstanding in comparison. 10,000 empty seats as opposed to 20,000 empty seats.
It’s about time that Turner Field receive a facelift anyway. Removing between 5,000 and 10,000 seats would be a good place to start.
BUFORD T
September 1st, 2010
9:08 am
Iwonder if the WNBA is why
Rob
September 1st, 2010
9:08 am
TV. Why fight the traffic, spend money I need to save when I can watch on TV. I don’t get the morons who say you have to go to a game to be a good fan or city. Screw that. Since I was a kid, nearly every braves game was on tv. That is how I grew up with them. I go to 1-2 games a year. That is enough. My house is much more convienent than all the trouble going down there.
dtanner
September 1st, 2010
9:09 am
when the braves won the world series in 1995, i was at work the following monday, and i got to thinking the braves just won the world series but i am back at work on monday, what good did it do me, and i realized that it meant nothing to me and that is the way i have looked at professional sports ever since
itssimple
September 1st, 2010
9:09 am
It’s simple, move the stadium about 10 miles north and you’ll have 35,000+ nightly
robdawg08
September 1st, 2010
9:10 am
I’m sure Chipper could survive off $10 million instead of $16 million so ticket prices could be cut in half ? Not just Chipper either. KK,Lowe,Hudson,McCann,etc.,etc.
Colin
September 1st, 2010
9:11 am
Ahem…traffic. MARTA is slow and horribly managed. If you drive, getting in and out of the parking lots can take 30 minutes each way, especially in the green lot. When the Braves do manage big crowds, there’s no notices that the parking lots are suddenly permit only until you get to the stadium which means parking in somebody’s back yard for $30. There’s so much they could do to improve things there.
Caleb
September 1st, 2010
9:12 am
I live an hour and 15 minutes away…tough on work nights…but I’ve got tickets for two remaining games, including this Thursday. I hate to see the crowds so low and wish I lived closer so I could be there more.
rekingball
September 1st, 2010
9:13 am
Didn’t FORD close their car plant and ship all the jobs to Mexico a couple of years ago?
virginia dog
September 1st, 2010
9:13 am
There is one reason the park is half full. Location , location , Location. The stadium is in a just awful part of town. Only a hardcore wants to park in a ghetto to see a ball game.
Seth
September 1st, 2010
9:13 am
If marta ran past the stadium like other transits do in other cities, it would make a huge difference. But the city wanted those parking $$.
Gas costs $$. People have less disposable income these days. And TF is nowhere near convienent with the traffic congestion this city has. Plus every game is on TV.
robdawg08
September 1st, 2010
9:13 am
Hey Mark, why doesn’t the U.S. economy affect pro sports athletes,actors,and singers ? If 90 % of America is getting less pay then the upper 10% should get less pay as well.
Lowcountry Bulldawg
September 1st, 2010
9:13 am
Bream has a point also. The home schedule is redundant. It needs more games with teams like the Cubs, Cardinals and Dodgers. Teams with national brands that would draw a larger crowd. I could care less to go watch the Braves play the Marlins and Nationals and in fact 18 home dates are against these two teams. That equates to 22% of the home dates. That is not in favor of the average fans to come out and watch these games.
The Bream Team
September 1st, 2010
9:14 am
Low Country…..Go dawgs
locdog59
September 1st, 2010
9:15 am
I can’t believe you asked this question! People are struggling to pay their house payments and buy groceries man. Dropping a couple hundred bills to take the family to see millionaires play baseball is way low on the priority list. When the market cratered in 2008 the effect on people’s available disposable income was not immediate. After 2 years of a slow economy people have trimmed their spending to the bone. This article comes off as clueless and insensitive.
mclOUTh
September 1st, 2010
9:15 am
I have been unemployed since March but have found a way to get to 5-6 games this year. I have been a fan since I was old enough to have interest and have found creative ways to make attending games doable. I am SHOCKED at how many people don’t realize you can bring food and drinks in to the stadium (just no alcohol). I took my boys on the 4th of July. We got 3 upper level seats behind home plate and the whole afternoon cost us less that $50. I have decided as a dad that making memories with my kids at the ballpark is better than letting them camp out on a couch and play video games. Wish the rest of our fan base felt that way.
Mark Bradley
September 1st, 2010
9:15 am
Chip Caray pointed this out to me a while ago: The Braves only have three home weekend series against NL East opponents — and one of those is the finale against Philly.
juice sourcer
September 1st, 2010
9:16 am
Not from ATL but been a Braves fan for ever and have a place hear now in Buckhead. A friend from Greenville called me the other day to get tickets to a game as he is coming here for business in Sept. Decent seats…4 tickets…$240 for a mid week game against the frigging Marlins….add in the horrible and over priced food and drinks and that night will be over $300 bones. It’s supply and demand…basic econ 101….and yes the traffic in and out is horrible….and the location of the stadium is terrible….
rekingball
September 1st, 2010
9:16 am
Maybe, they should not start the school year until after the baseball season is overwith (the regular season, anyways).
Keith
September 1st, 2010
9:16 am
Mark, you bring up a good point. I was fortunate enough to throw out the first pitch during the last game vs the Nats (day game). There might have been 14,000 if that….it was the lowest I’d seen in a while. Now it was a mid work week day game.
Personally, I have been to like 16+ games this year, the most ever…this is my 4th year in the ATL. I think I went to like 12 games last year (most until this year)….so by the end of this year, I’ll have attended close to 20 games.
I think most of it is that most people did not grow up here….and the economy….and the TV coverage…all of these could be factors. But you would still think that there would be more in the seats….
Maybe I’ll get to go tonight.
Navigator
September 1st, 2010
9:17 am
It’s no simple answer (as I’ve seen), but the perception is this team is treading water, having reached 17 wins over .500 in June, and 22 games over .500 in September. Good build on season, with changes coming next year, most don’t believe this team can win against good teams (see 4 game sweep at hands of Colorado). The trade situation leaves a lot of bad taste for most fans (no Crime Dog in this bunch). It’s the youth that everyone is excited about, not this washed out bunch of veterans BCox has around him. With a big win last night, most of friends were honed in on Cox using McClouth when he’s done nothing to deserve it, probably shouldn’t even be here. That’s the kind of thing that turns people off