Paul Daugherty Calls Out Reds Fans for Poor Attendance

[Señor Rojo]

Paul Daugherty of the Cincinnati Enquirer called out Cincinnati for the lack of attendance at Reds games this season:

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/daughert...ing-line-62-2/

I think he makes so good points. When people ask me what kind of sports town Cincinnati is, I really don't have a straight answer. I say it's usually the team that is doing the best, so I agree with Daugherty that it's a Big Event Town. If the Reds were in first place and playing the Cardinals on a weekend, GABP would be nearly sold out (thanks in large part to Cards fans buying tickets). However, playing the Brewers on a weekday doesn't do much for Reds fans to come down for the ballgame.

So what's the deal? Fair weather fans? Poor baseball market? Let the theories fly!

[RedLegsToday]

Not enough offense. They've taken out steriods and ruined the game!

[mlh1981]

I don't know what it is anymore. I mean, I could sit here and say that the ecomony/day of the week/stadium location/weather/school being in session, etc are factors, but for several franchises, they fill the park regardless of those things.

People in the comment section of that site raised many good points, but it sounds like excuses (in some cases). People in Milwaukee, a comparable sized market, have jobs and school as well, but they fill up the park.

[brm7675]

Well if you look around MLB as a whole, attendance is down. I think some of the answers can be laid at the feet of the economy. People are having to really pick and chose now where and how much to spend. I live over in Indy and use to go to about 6-7 games a year, now this year it was just going to be 2 until we got the HOF membership which gave us 4 free tix so we will be coming over 2 more times. But with gas being either at or over $4 a gallon and the price of drinks and such at the game it can be a bit pricey. I also think Reds fans are also a bit jaded, they are still to a degree living in the past.

[brm7675]

Originally Posted by mlh1981

I don't know what it is anymore. I mean, I could sit here and say that the ecomony/day of the week/stadium location/weather/school being in session, etc are factors, but for several franchises, they fill the park regardless of those things.

People in the comment section of that site raised many good points, but it sounds like excuses (in some cases). People in Milwaukee, a comparable sized market, have jobs and school as well, but they fill up the park.

going to a Brewers game is an event, it's totally different and the weather doesn't play any roll.

[mlh1981]

Originally Posted by brm7675

Well if you look around MLB as a whole, attendance is down. I think some of the answers can be laid at the feet of the economy. People are having to really pick and chose now where and how much to spend. I live over in Indy and use to go to about 6-7 games a year, now this year it was just going to be 2 until we got the HOF membership which gave us 4 free tix so we will be coming over 2 more times. But with gas being either at or over $4 a gallon and the price of drinks and such at the game it can be a bit pricey. I also think Reds fans are also a bit jaded, they are still to a degree living in the past.

I think you pretty much nailed it. I would imagine many casual fans, who might otherwise go, want to be shown first that last year was not a fluke.

[Jefferson24]

Originally Posted by brm7675

Well if you look around MLB as a whole, attendance is down. I think some of the answers can be laid at the feet of the economy. People are having to really pick and chose now where and how much to spend. I live over in Indy and use to go to about 6-7 games a year, now this year it was just going to be 2 until we got the HOF membership which gave us 4 free tix so we will be coming over 2 more times. But with gas being either at or over $4 a gallon and the price of drinks and such at the game it can be a bit pricey. I also think Reds fans are also a bit jaded, they are still to a degree living in the past.

Its the ecomomy.

My wife and I are going down to one vehicle. Almost everybody's hurting. I used to make the trip to Cincy once or twice a year and catch two or three games. I haven't been in two years now, cant afford the gas, hotel and time away from work.

[brm7675]

Originally Posted by mlh1981

I think you pretty much nailed it. I would imagine many casual fans, who might otherwise go, want to be shown first that last year was not a fluke.

to me there are 3 kind of fans..

1. Hard Core, they will go and support no matter what
2. Sport Fan, they will go if the team is doing well
3. CAsual fan, they will only go if the team is the best and winning alot, otherwise they spend their funds other places.

The Reds are only getting a small percentage of the Sport Fan and not many casual fans on a repeat basis, until that happens attendance will remain where it is...

[lonewolf371]

It sucks. If I lived in Cincy itself or the Cincy area I'd probably hit up at least a game or two every week. Right now I have no job and little money and I've made it to a couple of games so far and will make it to a couple more later. Sometimes it takes time to build a fan base; you get ten years of losing and a lot of people will forget about baseball.

[Grouse]

I was watching the reds game Tue. and seen the poor attendance. I spun it off to being because it was the day after Memorial day. Then in between innings I fliped over to the Cards, Giants game on ESPN, and Busch was packed to the gills, with people on there feet in the 5th inning. Its hard for me to say, but Card fans blow us out of the water. As long as they show up and we don't, we can never ***** about there payroll.

[Eric from NC]

It seems to me this years attendance is basically in line with a small market club. For the most part, weekend attendance is good, Mon-Wed is sometimes shakey. With living in NC, I noticed the Braves have the same issues despite having a much bigger Metro pop. I do think the unbalanced schedule is an issue. There are a lot of games against teams like Pitt and Houston that don't generate much buzz and don't have any fans go see the team on the road.

[lonewolf371]

Originally Posted by Eric from NC

It seems to me this years attendance is basically in line with a small market club. For the most part, weekend attendance is good, Mon-Wed is sometimes shakey. With living in NC, I noticed the Braves have the same issues despite having a much bigger Metro pop. I do think the unbalanced schedule is an issue. There are a lot of games against teams like Pitt and Houston that don't generate much buzz and don't have any fans go see the team on the road.

Those are the games that hurt the most, but other markets like St. Louis and Milwaukee still pack the park for those teams.

[Mutaman]

From the outside looking in: Cincinnati is a just a bad sports town. What's worse is the constant excuses people here make to explain the miserable attendence.

Its pretty hard to ask the Reds to compete financially with St Louis and Milwaukee when fans don't bother to show up.

[5TimeWSChamps]

I live in Columbus now, If I lived in Cincy still I'd go to almost every game I'd bet. It's easy to park at Newport or Covington for $3, walk the bridge, pick up a $8 ticket, have a hot dog, get out for under $15 per game

[Mutaman]

Originally Posted by Jefferson24

Its the ecomomy.

My wife and I are going down to one vehicle. Almost everybody's hurting. I used to make the trip to Cincy once or twice a year and catch two or three games. I haven't been in two years now, cant afford the gas, hotel and time away from work.

The economy's pretty bad in Wisconsin too.