Great Depression’s Impact on Baseball Finances

In January, the New York Times looked back at how the Depression affected attendance in Major League Baseball.  While attendance did drop, baseball handled the economic pains of the time better than most industries.  It seems like a similar thing is true today.

A few weeks later, Dave Rouleau at The Biz of Baseball wrote up a good report emphasizing that looked at different opinions on how national economic health affected attendance, but then concluded that baseball had shielded its financial health to a pretty good degree by emphasizing revenue streams other than ticket sales.

I’m not sure how much stock I put in the various historical comparisons to ticket sales during economic downturns.  There are so many different factors in play – significance of sports in American’s lives, population (it’s a lot easier to get 40,000 people out of 3 million to do something than it is to get 40,000 out of 250,000), increased emphasis on season tickets and people’s desire to hold onto seniority, other leisure activity options available, etc., that I’m not sure any of the studies referenced in the linked articles are really worth that much.  Still, they are interesting and worth checking out.

Red Sox Sellout Streak Continues

Despite some earlier troubles (relatively speaking) the Red Sox seemed to be having in selling tickets, it appears their consecutive sellout streak will make it all the way through season.  There was some doubt about Wednesday’s day/night doubleheader since it included a midweek day game and weather had not been great.  But the Red Sox sold out both games and the odds are very good that, at the end of the season, the streak will be up to 549 games.

Ticket Sales Down in the Bay Area

Both the Giants and A’s are hurting for fans this year, albeit for different reasons.  The Giants have been bad for a couple of years and have yet to find a way to replace the draw that was Barry Bonds.  The A’s have been working hard to abandon Oakland and have alienated fans in the process.

The Giants drew 3.2 million fans in 2007, 2.9 million last year and will almost certainly draw less this year.  Already this season they have had their three smallest crowds since the new stadium opened.

Oakland’s attendance has gone down every year since 2003.  Last year’s attendance of 1.7 million was their lowest since 1999.

The Recession Has Hit the Red Sox

The Boston Globe has a great article on parts of the current economic state of the Red Sox, who have been one of, if not the most successful teams in recent years.

Ticket sales are down.  The Red Sox are currently riding a 469 consecutive game sellout streak that could end this month.  There are still seats available for most April home games and for about 30 games this season.  Sales of the premium hospitality suites are also down this year.

Sponsorships also took a hit.  The Red Sox lost a six and seven figure deals with PC Connection and Nikon respectively.  Local sponsors Filene’s Basement and Cambridge Eye Center also pulled out, while DHL and Bano America scaled down their deals.

The slump has also affected neighborhood businesses.  The secondary ticket market has taken a huge hit.  Local broker, Ace Tickets, reports about a 40% drop in ticket prices for Opening Day (the Red Sox held ticket prices steady this year).  The Howard Johnson Inn, which sits across the street from Fenway, usually sells out for Opening Day, but is only about 60% filled this year.

I think that the worst news for the Red Sox is actually the fact that their television ratings dropped 20% from 2007 to 2008, and the pregame show on NESN dropped by 33%.  That tells me that in addition to the economy, which should turn around, the Red Sox are facing a decline in passion among the fan base.  Watching TV is free so the declining ratings can’t be blamed on the economy.  The Red Sox had a good team last year – they made it to within a game of the World Series and they were the defending champions.

The Red Sox have been the best run team in baseball in the past few years on and off the field.   And even as that has been the case, fan interest waned significantly last year and seems to be down even more this year.

All that said, the Red Sox are still in much better financial shape than most teams and their ticket sales still dwarf most teams.  It’s far from panic time in Boston, but you can be sure the team is aware of the current trends and is at least a little worried.

MLB President DuPuy Sees Rosy Attendance Outlook

Bob DuPuy, President of Major League Baseball, puts as positive a spin as possible on 2009 attendance.  He notes that he expects attendance will be down about 1,000,000 people this year based on current numbers, but he’s optimistic that people will decide that baseball is a good value and will head out to their local stadiums, particularly as the season (and the weather) heats up.

Rays Spring Training Attendance Skyrockets

In a year where Spring Training attendance in Florida is down 20%, the Tampa Bay Rays are up 30%.    The Rays had the benefit of a near perfect storm of factors playing in their favor.  First, their previous record of 79,000 was pretty low.  Second, they are a local team so their fan base does not have to travel very far.  Third, they moved into a much nicer Spring Training facility this year after relocating from St. Petersberg to Port Charlotte.  Fourth, by moving to Port Charlotte, they moved closer to fans who aren’t within easy driving distance of Tampa; many in St. Pete likely wait until the regular season.  And fifth, the Rays are coming off the best season in franchise history, a year that saw them go to the World Series.

Redbirds President Blames Cardinals, Not Economy for Poor Ticket Sales

The Cardinals are developing a tradition in which they play a late preseason game in the home stadium of their AAA affiliate, the Memphis Redbirds.  This year, ticket sales are far behind previous years.  Is it the economy?  Redbirds President Dave Chase says it’s the Cardinals:

“The Cardinals had a pretty quiet winter, not too involved,” Chase said. “One of the things we have noticed is when the Cardinals are aggressive in the off-season, building a roster and signing free agents and with trades, that spills over into excitement for the Cardinals’ fans.

“This year it’s been so quiet. That same energy’s not there.”

Brewers Ticket Sales Still Going Strong

The Brewers, who were already doing well selling tickets this year, have continued that trend. They have sold about 1.75 million tickets for the 2009 season, which is 10% better than at the same point last year.

MLB Expecting Drop in Ticket Sales This Year

According to the Sports Business Journal, MLB expects overall attendance to be about 75 million this season, the lowest in four years and down 6% from the MLB record 79.5 million in 2007.

In the same article, MLB President Bob DuPuy reports that spring training attendance has been about the same as last year and that WBC attendance went up.

Cardinals Cutting Payroll, Blame Decrease in Ticket Sales and Sponsorships

The Cardinals will open the season with a roster making about $93.2 million, down about $8.5 million from last season.  Cardinals Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. says the team is “tightening our belts” in the “challenging economic environment.”

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This is the first season in the new Busch Stadium’s 4-year history that 3 million seats won’t be sold before Opening Day.  Things aren’t that dire in St. Louis – they’ve already sold 2.7 million tickets.

In addition to a decline in ticket sales, DeWitt reports that “sponsorship categories like automotive and financial are not as strong as they were before. We’re seeing some slippage.”

Back to ticket sales, the Cardinals have had a 92-93% renewal rate among season ticket holders, but they’re struggling to fill the all-inclusive and premium-seating areas that usually are bought by corporations and civic groups.  I think that season ticket renewals would have been even lower if the Cardinals weren’t hosting the All Star Game this year.