Empty Seats

Nobody has a lock on the American League Central Division, so you would think the first-place Royals and third-place Indians would have packed their respective ballparks on Labor Day.  Instead, just over 23,000 fans showed up for the Indians vs. the second-place Tigers while just under 22,000 made it for the Royals-Rangers’ game.  What gives?

The Indians, who drew a franchise-record 3.5 million fans in 1999, have drawn a paltry 1.2 million so far this year; the Royals may hit 1.8 million, considerably off their record of 2.5 million in 1989.  And my White Sox?  Well, they nearly broke three million in 2006, but they’ll be lucky to reach half that figure this season.  Call it fan fatigue the byproduct of hypermarketing.

The White Sox All-In ad campaign from 2011 is a perfect example.  “Are You All In?” the commercial asked.  Fans were supposed to pack U.S. Cellular to become the tenth man.  That’s what every team wants and tries for.   The only problem is, it gets to cost a lot of money after a while.

When the Indians drew their 3.5 million, fans made sacrifices to be all-in for their team; Peter was robbed to pay Paul down at the ticket office.  Only the Indians couldn’t get out of the first round of the playoffs, losing to the Red Sox in five after taking the first two games.  The fans were all in, but it didn’t matter.

You can tease a fan base for only so long before they turn on you.  Suddenly, the bills matter, and future education costs for those little Indians’ fans can’t be ignored any longer.  That’s how 3.5 million turns into 1.2 or thereabouts.  This isn’t a problem for baseball alone.  The Buffalo Bills used to be an NFL powerhouse, but losing four straight Super Bowls is never a good thing.  Now, the team is up for sale, and fans are worried it might relocate to Toronto.

Professional sports have yet to realize fans can’t be all-in if they’re all out of cash.