American Association SUNDAY Insider Late Edition: Take me out with the crowd?

 Kevin Luckow

(non member IBWAA)

I was watching some of the games around the American Association Friday and Saturday night. There was great atmospheres throughout the league. Fans, excited to be celebrating the Fourth of July, enjoying the long weekend off from work, celebrating a little bit harder as we celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States of America. 

I can remember the days of the St. Paul Saints when I still had an American Association team to root for (are we ever going to see movement on a ballpark in Blaine, the ground breaking date of June 1 came and went with no fanfare or ceremony). There was something special about fireworks nights on the Fourth of July or right before or after depending on the schedule. Players had that extra motivation with more fans rooting them on to victory. 

It seemed to stick out this season watching games around the holiday. Why? Frankly, I think there is an issue with attendance throughout the league. Fans don't seem to be coming out to games anymore. I was in Duluth on Sunday for a Northwoods League game. Apparently the crowd of 703 was one of the better crowds they have had there this season. So it's not exclusively an American Association issue. But it got me to flash back and do a deeper dive.

The final season of the Duluth-Superior Dukes was in 2002. There was a pall over the season as the new ownership didn't keep it a very good secret that the Dukes were not long for Duluth, heading to Kansas City at a brand new Community America Ballparks near an outlet mall by the KC Speedway. Amazing how the area has developed since. In going back through the nlfan.com archives, I looked and saw that the average attendance for the Dukes in 2002 was 1,209 fans a game. 

So a team that drew more fans a game than Cleburne is currently drawing per game and would be approaching Sioux Falls was moved because in part lack of fans at the ballpark.

Winnipeg in the same season was drawing 6200 fans a game, as of July 4th the Goldeyes are drawing 2425 fewer fans a game this season. Lincoln drew 4852 and are now drawing 2958 a game. Fargo-Moorhead is down 800 fans a game. Speaking of Kansas City, their first year in KCK they averaged 4749 a game, now they are drawing 3000 fewer fans a game. The Goldeyes and Saltdogs currently are third and fourth in league attendance.  It used to be the magic number for a team to possibly break even was 3000 fans a game. Right now Kane County, Chicago and Winnipeg are above that number.

What's changed?

The very thing that the league has used to increase revenue and helped teams survive is the same thing that has resulted in fewer fans actually showing up at the ballpark. Unlike in 2002 where I'm using the comparison, American Association games are readily available for fans to watch their home team play for free at home. I raised this question on  This Week in the Association about this being a possible issue when the league starting their own streaming app. We both agreed that TV could be a platform for "talking fans into the park". A way to advertise upcoming games and promotions, but it hasn't materialized as much as I was hoping for. 

But with the streaming platform has come the sponsorship and endorsement deals that have provided supplemental income for teams. Teams can withstand fewer butts in the seats if the money spent in producing streaming broadcasts is dwarfed by money coming in from advertising. Walk into an American Association Press Box. They are Press Boxes in name only. There isn't press hanging out in there, it's become a production studio and game ops area. What we take for granted watching a game, is the army of people required to put a broadcast together. 

What can be done?

The common answer fans like to give when there is a push to get more fans at the ballpark is "go around to sponsors and give free tickets for them to hand out to customers". Rob Pannier and I had many disputes about that philosophy. John Kuhn was a great baseball promoter. Sioux Falls had their best attendance when he was in charge. He stopped the free tickets. He told me, when you give away tickets, you lose value of the tickets you're trying to sell. Why would a fan come to the ballpark and buy a ticket for the game, when they know they can go Billy Bob's Buffet and get free tickets? Plus what do your season ticket holders think when they give you a commitment to the entire season and they may have someone sitting with them that did nothing but crush a buffet to get their ticket for free?

In watching many broadcasts, one thing I noticed is that the ballpark experience needs to be pushed more. Show fans on the broadcasts all the neat things that go on at a ballgame. Whether is be footage from a pregame concert, tailgating, kids playing in the play area. Sell the experience, not just the game. Milwaukee has their own version of Top Golf next door to Franklin Field. You would never know by watching a Milkmen game on TV. Kane County has pregame concerts on weekends, you never see footage of it. 

During the game, promote future games and promotions. It was a staple of radio broadcasts but it seems to escape the streaming broadcasts. Put up a QR code so fans can order tickets for future games. I do see some teams run commercials showing footage of stuff going on at the park, but when you see the same commercial multiple times every game it loses its impact. It was a running joke among me and some colleagues about the Kansas City Monarchs running the same commercial all season filmed in March with Carter Woodiel wearing a puffy vest. It wasn't a good look come August. 

Why does it all matter?

I don't want to see baseball get to the point where it basically becomes a TV sport with empty seats being the norm. I could not stand to watch Major League Baseball in 2020, the quiet was depressing. And there have been so many games this season where it seems like there are just empty seats. It doesn't make for a good look on TV, and it sends a message to fans that going to games just doesn't matter. My first trip to Kane County was during the week and it was a nice crowd on a weeknight, but when I came back and it was a Saturday night with a packed park, there was nowhere better to be.

 

                                              Photo courtesy of Brandon Anderson.

Plus I don't want to see the day when Take me out to the Ballgame gets changed to Turn on the Ballgame. 


















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