Chase Field, Atlanta Braves vs. Arizona Diamondbacks, 6/10/10, top of the first
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Damn
the crowds for this whole series were downright pathetic. This was the best of the series I believe, and even it looks Florida-esque. Poor Diamondbacks.
As bad as the D-backs bullpen is, this team has to be brutal to follow.
It’s not excuse for the sub-20K attendances we’ve seen, but it makes some sense.
And I’m sure there’s a bit of the “transplant” problem in AZ like there is in ATL as well. mvhsbball would know better than I. Seems like there were plenty of Braves fans at these games.
I actually did a paper a year ago on why Phoenix teams tend to draw lower numbers than most large city teams do. It was probably the best paper I’ve ever done.
Basically, there’s 3 reasons:
1. Besides the DBacks in 2001, they’ve never really had a championship in Phoenix. The Suns were always close, but fell short. The Cardinals suck. And the Coyotes struggle to stick around. A championship obviously excites a city and Phoenix never really gets to experience that.
2. The majority of the middle and upper class live in suburbs of Phoenix (Scottsdale, Chandler, Glibert, Tempe, etc.) and anyone who’s ever been to the Phoenix area in the past 5 years knows how horrible rush hour traffic is. It’s bad in a most cities, but Phoenix has it down to an exact science. It takes at least an hour for 75% of the population to get to a DBacks/Suns game and even longer to get to a Cardinals/Coyotes game.
3. Downtown Phoenix isn’t too safe and there’s nothing to do for families. The whole reason the DBacks start at 6:40 is to get the crowds out by 10 o’clock. Despite a bunch of efforts by the city to clean up/promote the downtown area, it’s either a) big business or b) run-down auto shops and workshops. Not too appealing for families with kids.
So yeah, they definitely struggle to draw big crowds. They’re usually pretty decent on the holidays and weekends, but most teams besides the Marlins are.
you may need to revise number 1. Cardinals don’t suck anymore (well, maybe). Suns definelty don’t and probably get good crowds and the Coyotes just made a playoff run
I’m talking historically though. You’re right, the Suns never really have a problem drawing big numbers. The Cardinals were awful and no one went to the games until they built the new stadium. And the Coyotes almost got moved to Canada last year.
Damn
the crowds for this whole series were downright pathetic. This was the best of the series I believe, and even it looks Florida-esque. Poor Diamondbacks.
Jacob Peterson - June 10, 2010
The “attendance” today had like 7,000 kids included too.
Scott Coleman - June 11, 2010 via mobile
Oh yeah, i saw those kids. They were really annoying, even on TV! they were yelling and everything…poor you. That must have been awful.
MBL1 - June 11, 2010 via mobile
To be fair
As bad as the D-backs bullpen is, this team has to be brutal to follow.
It’s not excuse for the sub-20K attendances we’ve seen, but it makes some sense.
And I’m sure there’s a bit of the “transplant” problem in AZ like there is in ATL as well. mvhsbball would know better than I. Seems like there were plenty of Braves fans at these games.
get swoll yunel - June 11, 2010
funny you mention that
I actually did a paper a year ago on why Phoenix teams tend to draw lower numbers than most large city teams do. It was probably the best paper I’ve ever done.
Basically, there’s 3 reasons:
1. Besides the DBacks in 2001, they’ve never really had a championship in Phoenix. The Suns were always close, but fell short. The Cardinals suck. And the Coyotes struggle to stick around. A championship obviously excites a city and Phoenix never really gets to experience that.
2. The majority of the middle and upper class live in suburbs of Phoenix (Scottsdale, Chandler, Glibert, Tempe, etc.) and anyone who’s ever been to the Phoenix area in the past 5 years knows how horrible rush hour traffic is. It’s bad in a most cities, but Phoenix has it down to an exact science. It takes at least an hour for 75% of the population to get to a DBacks/Suns game and even longer to get to a Cardinals/Coyotes game.
3. Downtown Phoenix isn’t too safe and there’s nothing to do for families. The whole reason the DBacks start at 6:40 is to get the crowds out by 10 o’clock. Despite a bunch of efforts by the city to clean up/promote the downtown area, it’s either a) big business or b) run-down auto shops and workshops. Not too appealing for families with kids.
So yeah, they definitely struggle to draw big crowds. They’re usually pretty decent on the holidays and weekends, but most teams besides the Marlins are.
Scott Coleman - June 11, 2010
Haha
you may need to revise number 1. Cardinals don’t suck anymore (well, maybe). Suns definelty don’t and probably get good crowds and the Coyotes just made a playoff run
GoBravesNY - June 11, 2010
I’m talking historically though. You’re right, the Suns never really have a problem drawing big numbers. The Cardinals were awful and no one went to the games until they built the new stadium. And the Coyotes almost got moved to Canada last year.
Scott Coleman - June 11, 2010 via mobile
Interesting
get swoll yunel - June 11, 2010
Weird formatting… that was supposed to read “number 2”….#
get swoll yunel - June 11, 2010
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