MLB in Portland

[redseat]

Homelessness, the public schools and heroin overdose. I guess you can't work on that while building a new stadium.

Those are all good options! A new stadium might bring in more money which would help all of those... But it would take away space to build more places to house the homeless

 

[Battlelyon]

Seeing as they had a FREE game yesterday and STILL couldn’t sell out makes it abundantly clear that they have no future in Oakland.

To be fair, I think that is more the fault of ownership than the fan base, but that is immaterial at this point.

Its like that pretty much everywhere

The attendance number that MLB should worry about

As Yahoo’s Jeff Passan pointed out Monday, attendance is down across the league about 10 percent so far. Dips in average attendance are troubling, but they don’t tell the bigger story, the one that should concern every front office across the league. That is the drop in the minimum attendance, the worst number that each team posts every season.

Why is this important, and potentially a larger sign of endemic issues in the game? Because the lowest draw of the season essentially represents a game with zero walk-up crowd, meaning the number of tickets sold — the paid attendance number that each team reports — is essentially equal to a team’s full season ticket holder base. If that number is down, you can reasonably assume season ticket sales are down as well.

 

[calsnowskier]

I mean... That's an NFL football stadium. Their attendance in that game was more than most MLB stadiums can fit.

They had 46k in attendance for their free game.

The Giants AVERAGE 45.5k per game. While populating many an orphanage with all the first borns they collect as payment.

 

[richig07]

They had 46k in attendance for their free game.

The Giants AVERAGE 45.5k per game. While populating many an orphanage with all the first borns they collect as payment.

Why are you telling me about the Giants average attendance?

How is that relevant or a counter to what I said?

 

[calsnowskier]

Why are you telling me about the Giants average attendance?

How is that relevant or a counter to what I said?

Because the size of the park has nothing to do with anything.

They were giving away FREE tickets and could hardly do better than the Giants do on an average game while charging out the ass. And these two parks can be seen from each other.

 

[richig07]

Because the size of the park has nothing to do with anything.

They were giving away FREE tickets and could hardly do better than the Giants do on an average game while charging out the ass. And these two parks can be seen from each other.

But...

I never insinuated that the A's did anywhere near as well as the Giants in attendance. Who are consistently around the top teams in baseball with attendance.

My point was that that number in attendance would have sold out nearly every ball park in baseball.

That they were playing in a multi-use stadium which seats 63,000+ which MAYBE only a select few teams could consistently sell out. Which makes saying "they could not fill the stadium" a misleading statement. They filled enough to sell out every other park in the game, sans Dodgers, Yankees and Coors.

I am not arguing that the A's are good with attendance. It's clearly a reason why they are looking into moving. I am saying that they're probably not the only team whom would fail to fill a 63,000 capacity stadium on a free ticket day. Especially when you consider their poor track record the past few years. The cheap seats that did not get filled are only a few bucks anyway. IMO, it should be a shock.

 

[wazzu31]

Those are all good options! A new stadium might bring in more money which would help all of those... But it would take away space to build more places to house the homeless

I think that is political talk though. There is space for both and as you said, the revenue generated just from all the construction workers building the stadium brings in money. I'd love Portland to get a team though, might make the Mariners ownership actually give a shit about winning.

 

[wazzu31]

thought NASCAR was on the right track a few years back about a super speedway over your way…not sure why they did not choose the PNW for such a venture.

I know they had one set for Bremerton but the Eco Nazi's put a stop to it, maybe there was one on the east side but Pullman or any real eastern Washington city outside of Spokane would be horrible for any real team.

 

[calsnowskier]

But...

I never insinuated that the A's did anywhere near as well as the Giants in attendance. Who are consistently around the top teams in baseball with attendance.

My point was that that number in attendance would have sold out nearly every ball park in baseball.

That they were playing in a multi-use stadium which seats 63,000+ which MAYBE only a select few teams could consistently sell out. Which makes saying "they could not fill the stadium" a misleading statement. They filled enough to sell out every other park in the game, sans Dodgers, Yankees and Coors.

I am not arguing that the A's are good with attendance. It's clearly a reason why they are looking into moving. I am saying that they're probably not the only team whom would fail to fill a 63,000 capacity stadium on a free ticket day. Especially when you consider their poor track record the past few years. The cheap seats that did not get filled are only a few bucks anyway. IMO, it should be a shock.

Calling it a 63k seat stadium is intentionally misleading. That is it’s SOCCER capacity. It seats 56k for football and 47k for baseball (Mt Davis gets covered for baseball).

The fact that a team that plays in a park within visible distance can AVERAGE what they get on a huge marketing blitz game shows that their ceiling in the BA is that of a second rate team. And again, I blame that more on ownership than I do on the fan base. Moving to Portland (or Vegas or San Antonio or Charlotte or...) will not change the fact that the As ownership sucks.

 

[calsnowskier]

I think that is political talk though. There is space for both and as you said, the revenue generated just from all the construction workers building the stadium brings in money. I'd love Portland to get a team though, might make the Mariners ownership actually give a shit about winning.

This actually kinda makes me scared about all the talk of the As leaving. Will that make the Giants complacent? Or will they feel pressure from the Dubs, 9ers and Sharks (all decent to great organizations)?

 

[JohnU]

Its like that pretty much everywhere

The attendance number that MLB should worry about

As Yahoo’s Jeff Passan pointed out Monday, attendance is down across the league about 10 percent so far. Dips in average attendance are troubling, but they don’t tell the bigger story, the one that should concern every front office across the league. That is the drop in the minimum attendance, the worst number that each team posts every season.

Why is this important, and potentially a larger sign of endemic issues in the game? Because the lowest draw of the season essentially represents a game with zero walk-up crowd, meaning the number of tickets sold — the paid attendance number that each team reports — is essentially equal to a team’s full season ticket holder base. If that number is down, you can reasonably assume season ticket sales are down as well.

This is especially important because the core fan base is different from the people who go for Bobbleheads and the funky on-field antics of the Impersonators. But the core fans aren't going to the ballpark in a 20-knot wind with rain in the forecast.

 

[JohnU]

A's should have left Oakland in 1977, while they were still considered a product. They were a terrible draw even when they were the premiere team in baseball.

 

[wazzu31]

This actually kinda makes me scared about all the talk of the As leaving. Will that make the Giants complacent? Or will they feel pressure from the Dubs, 9ers and Sharks (all decent to great organizations)?

I don't really know that market, is there alot crossover fans? Portland and Vancouver, Washington are Mariners fans. Putting a team in Portland not only would take away fans from the Mariners but the Mariners also their own network that broadcasts in Portland. Cutting off that revenue stream would hopefully kick them in the ass about trying to win not just make a profit.

 

[calsnowskier]

Very little crossover. But the Giants own the media, so they pretty much own the territory. And the officially own the two biggest cities in the market. The As can’t touch SF or Silicon Valley. And that’s where all the money is.

 

[BigFin]

Portland doesn't strike me as a baseball city. How many seats will they have? For reference, Tropicana Field has the lowest capacity at ~31,000. Seven stadiums hold under 40,000.

 

[scoutyjones2]

Portland won't support an MLB team and the stadium is projected at 5 years out, if ever, and would be about 32K seat stadium.

and how can anyone say the Mariners aren't trying to win???

 

[molsaniceman]

Portland won't support an MLB team and the stadium is projected at 5 years out, if ever, and would be about 32K seat stadium.

and how can anyone say the Mariners aren't trying to win???

maybe jeter bought them also

 

[wazzu31]

Portland won't support an MLB team and the stadium is projected at 5 years out, if ever, and would be about 32K seat stadium.

and how can anyone say the Mariners aren't trying to win???

I think the Portland area could and would support baseball.

The Mariners aren't trying to win. They took Connie Mack's philosophy of turning a profit > a championship.

 

[BUDSFAULT]

There are number of cities in need for a baseball team.

Cincinnati
San Diego
Kansas City
Miami
Tampon bay
Philadelphia
Minneapolis

Etc

 

[Voltaire26]

MLB is afraid of Las Vegas on account of all the mean things @Peter Gozintite says about it.

If they let Las Vegas have a team, MLB may be obligated to let "Shoeless" Joe Jackson in the Hall of Fame. Would he go in as an Indian or White Sox? He was better as an Indian, but more success as a White Sox.

Shoeless Joe Jackson Stats | Baseball-Reference.com