May 25, 2004
Enough to Go Around
I notice that the Dodgers (42,055 average at home) are first in the NL in home attendance and the Angels (40,538 average at home) are 2nd in AL. It looks to me that the Angels haven't taken fans from the Dodgers, but tapped a whole new vein of fans. And in an area that highly populated, there's plenty of fans to go around. I wonder what the TV ratings of the Dodgers and Angels are like this year? Has anyone heard?
Update: Jon from Dodger Thoughts links in the comments to this article in the LA Times, showing how TV viewing of baseball is also up this year.
Posted by David Pinto at
10:19 AM
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Saw it in today's LA Times, as a matter of fact. Don't have it in front of me (and I won't register for their awful site), but as I recall Angels are up 42%, Dodgers up 17% (the Dodgers starting from a higher base).
The meat of the article actually is worth reading - talks about baseball TV ratings across the board. Here's the link:
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-penner25may25,1,1974133.column?coll=la-headlines-sports
"The Angels' ratings on Fox Sports Net are up 78% over last year.
"The Dodgers' ratings on Fox Sports Net 2 are up 17%.
"On Fox Sports Net, baseball's average rating of 3.9 this season is higher than the 2003-04 regular-season ratings for the NBA (2.5) and NHL (1.1) combined."
Wow. Sounds like a Washington DC team might not hurt Baltimore after all.
I have to say that going to games at the Big A are a totally different experience now than they used to be before 2002. There are a ton more fans, many wearing red, and they're a lot more enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the game. The stadium used to be full of out-of-towners or transplants cheering for the visiting team, businessmen entertaining clients, and people just showing up for the sake of something to do. Now it's full of people eager to see the Angels for the sake of seeing the Angels.
Hmmmm....can we get another team here in Atlanta then? Maybe one in the American League. With fans who actually care about the team and show up for playoff games.
I'd say most LA/OC area fans are supporters of both teams; given the fact that both are competitive at the same time (which is fairly rare), it's no surprise that they're both doing great business. It's not really as though the teams have to compete for fans, as I can count on one hand the number of times they've had concurrent home dates, and their TV broadcasts never completely conflict outside of intradivisional games.
Amazing it only took 2 h 30 m for a DC baseball reference to be posted!
Yeah, it's not like Chicago where people are strictly Cubs or White Sox people, or New York where you're either a Mets fan or a Yankee fan. There are some people who don't like the other team for some reason, but I'll cheer for the Angels any time they're not playing the Dodgers, who will always be my #1 team.
I don't understand my sister, another Dodger fan, who was actually cheering for the Giants in the 2002 World Series. I think she just hates the Angels because she felt the Disneyfication of the team was cheap, but she still doesn't like 'em with Moreno and I was always able to separate the stupid Disney crap from the baseball. The "excitement rocks" in the outfield are still stupid, but the Rally Monkey rules--- mostly because he came from real people and not the Disney marketers. And it's not like the Dodger ownership hasn't given usenough reason to doubt them over recent years.
I agree with Adam. Going to games before 2002 at Angel Stadium (or whatever you want to call it) was pretty ho-hum. When the Red Sox were in town, the crowd was largely for the Red Sox (including myself). However, 2002 was the first time in many years that the Angels fans ever started booing the Red Sox fans. It's now a heckuva lot more fun to go to a game there than before - even if you root for the opposing teams like I do when Texas and Boston are in town. Recent improvements, such as the new scoreboard in LF, make it more enjoyable - especially from my right field seats (which are honestly one of the best seats in the house as you actually are pointing towards home plate!). And, yes, living 15 minutes away from the ballpark is also one big incentive to go to Angels games. Dodger Stadium is about an hour and a half away - ouch.
Sure TV ratings and attendance are great but does anybody have any figures on revenue from merchandise sold throughout the major leagues? That is an important stat when talking of a team's success and wealth. Not to mention it can really clarify how an owner differentiates between winning and money.