Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
November 28, 2006
Ticket Giveaway

FishStripes discusses the paradox of the Marlins. A team with terrible attendance earns very high TV ratings. From TCPalm:

He is as much the face of the Florida Marlins as anyone in a uniform. Next to Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera, he's probably the team's most recognizable figure.

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He's a broadcaster.

"Don't get me wrong: It's flattering to have so many people know who you are," Tommy Hutton was saying late Monday afternoon

Baseball resisted radio and TV broadcasts of games for a long time, believing it would cut down on attendance. What they failed to realize is that TV and radio helped create a whole new set of fans. In Florida, people would rather watch than travel. (Given the number of commercials during the Devil Rays games, I assume they have a big audience, too.) The fan base is there. If a retractable roof stadium is the answer to the problem, why don't the Marlins just build one themselves? With their low team salary, revenue sharing, and a good TV contract the Marlins should be able to secure a loan to build a stadium. Then instead of looking for funding, they just get to pick the best site.

And until then, maybe they should slash ticket prices. You would think that there's some price point at which people are willing to sit through rain delays. And if enough of those people buy $5 beers and $4 hot dogs, you probably make up the difference. See what happens if you sell box seats for $5 a pop. Again, with the low payroll of the team, they likely can get away with that.


Posted by David Pinto at 08:36 AM | Stadiums | TrackBack (0)
Comments

That's why I've long wondered why movie exhibitors are loathe to have intermissions in long movies, even when they're showing old movies designed with intermissions in mind. It sounds like the perfect way to drum up snack bar sales, which is where the money is, anyway.

Posted by: Adam Villani at November 28, 2006 11:49 AM
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