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Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Bondy: Mets surpass Knicks at doctoring attendance figures

Tom Riker’s Island of Lost Souls…

Congratulations to the Mets, who successfully have taken over the lead in New York for fabricating attendance figures.

...But now, the Mets have been adding pretend fans in tens of thousands, each and every night. At their last two games, announced attendances of 51,489 and 47,093 weren’t just exaggerations. They were dreamy fabrications.

I am not a stupid sportswriter. I know that these are supposed to be ticket sale numbers, not an exact turnstile count, and that there inevitably are some no-shows. But the Mets would require a 40% no-show rate to make this believable, and their crowd is working class. Very few Met fans are going to buy expensive tickets and then watch the game on television.

I was at these two games and personally witnessed entire, vast regions of the upper deck devoid of life. This is a stadium that seats 55,601. There were no more than 35,000 fans in the park on Monday, and no more than 25,000 on Tuesday.

I don’t quite understand why it is necessary to pretend that the Mets are drawing fans in droves to their lame-duck, decrepit stadium. Hopefully, when they move to Citi Field, there will be real bodies in the seats instead of air.

Repoz Posted: May 28, 2008 at 05:09 PM | 19 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: business, mets

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1. Shooty: Applying to be Fearless Leader

Posted: May 28, 2008 at 05:25 PM (#2796868)

I am not a stupid sportswriter.

Pass?

2. Hubie Brooks (Not Really) Posted: May 28, 2008 at 05:25 PM (#2796869)

I am not gonna to do it, but did he check if this was a 7 pack game? Many people bought the 7 packs games top get the Last game/Yankee game/Opening day. Is it that outrageous that they stayed home on a night where the weather was dicey?

Also quite a few people bought full seasons to sell on stubhub so they can get into Citi.

I did look it up. Monday was in a 7 pack. So a holiday and in a 7 pack, and a huge increase in full season tickets couldn't equal 51,489 tickets sold?

Bollocks

3. Doris from Rego Park Posted: May 28, 2008 at 06:10 PM (#2796937)

This is exactly the type of investigative journalism this nation (and this city) has been lacking over the past decade. Three cheers for Flip Bondy!!

4. JMM Posted: May 28, 2008 at 06:14 PM (#2796940)

So, not a stupid sportswriter, but a lazy one.

5. Clemenza Posted: May 28, 2008 at 06:21 PM (#2796951)

I have no idea what they do at Shea but a friend of mine manages the ticket office for an NBA team and they routinely inflate their attendance by thousands of tickets per game. The number of tickets sold he reports to his boss is rarely the same as the official number announced at the stadium or in the box scores.

6. GregQ Posted: May 28, 2008 at 06:47 PM (#2796978)

The SJ Sharks were masters at doctoring the attendance figures. They set an NHL record for sold out games- anytime a game was in danger of not being a sellout out one of the larger advertisers would buy the remainder so that it would be. I think the NHL no longer allows this but am not sure. As a friend used to say- There are a lot of empty seats disguised as fans tonight.

7. Justin 'The Cespedobear' T Posted: May 28, 2008 at 07:08 PM (#2797001)

Ha! Funny to see the Sharks mentioned here. That's who I always think of when these things are brought up. Not that attendance padding is rare, but it's who I think of from personal experience. I was a season ticket holder during that time, and it was always weird how three entire sections of the upper bowl were completely empty for a sellout. What a coincidence that everybody with tickets in those sections would not make it to the game.

8. Tim Wallach was my Hero Posted: May 28, 2008 at 07:19 PM (#2797012)

I don't think the SJ Sharks have the record for sold out games in the NHL.

For one thing, the Avalanche claims it has sold out every game since they moved from Quebec City back in 1995. (The worst thing that ever happened in my life... Yes, I live a pretty good life but do I ever miss les Nordiques!)

Montreal claims they sold out every game since 1946 (that could actually be true, because hockey in Montreal is like Baseball in Boston or football in Green Bay. One thing true - their sell out crowds ARE sell out crowds - there's hasn't been a sit available in the place for years).

Toronto claims it has sold out every game since 1933...

So I don't think the Sharks should even be part of that discussion...

9. Justin 'The Cespedobear' T Posted: May 28, 2008 at 08:58 PM (#2797137)

True, the distinction is incorrect and I did not correct it in my post. What the Sharks were attempting to achieve was 100 straight sellouts. Shortly after they hit the number, they stopped selling out. Another coincidence...

10. Boots Day Posted: May 28, 2008 at 09:04 PM (#2797145)

The Avalanche sellout streak ended in 2006. I like the way the Denver Post phrased it: "For the first time in nearly 11 years, the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night didn't announce a sellout for a home game."

11. SouthSideRyan Posted: May 29, 2008 at 01:30 AM (#2797558)

There are a lot of empty seats disguised as fans tonight.

Think you got that inside out.

12. Shock Posted: May 29, 2008 at 02:18 AM (#2797729)

I'm pretty sure that Minnesota has sold out every game since the NHL returned there.

This is kind of a pet peeve of mine. The word "attendance" means that people are actually there. It doesn't mean people who wanted to be there. You don't get credit for attendance in high school for meaning to be there but sleeping in. It's "attendance" not "intendance." Bah.

13. Phil Coorey. Posted: May 30, 2008 at 10:12 AM (#2799433)

kevin - that link hates me.

14. GregQ Posted: May 30, 2008 at 11:22 AM (#2799442)

There are a lot of empty seats disguised as fans tonight.

nope- He would always say it when attendance was announced as a sell out and yet the arena had entire sections empty.

15. Social media assassin (Templeusox) Posted: June 20, 2008 at 03:55 AM (#2826673)

Anyone have an idea about the average bump that the summer gives to MLB attendance? Right now, MLB is on pace to sell a little over 76 million tickets, unadjusted for any summer increase. Last year they sold a little more than 79 million. Should MLB be concerned that they won't be able to sell a record amount of tickets? I know gas is up, but this time last year gas had hit an all-time high too.

16. Chris Dial Posted: June 20, 2008 at 03:58 AM (#2826675)

Right now, MLB is on pace to sell a little over 76 million tickets, unadjusted for any summer increase. Last year they sold a little more than 79 million.

How many tickets were they "on pace for" at this point last year?

17. Social media assassin (Templeusox) Posted: June 20, 2008 at 04:06 AM (#2826678)

I don't know. I was just using the attendance data on ESPN, but there is no way of deciphering that.

18. Social media assassin (Templeusox) Posted: June 20, 2008 at 04:09 AM (#2826684)

I guess this answers my question:

Major League Baseball has established attendance records in each of the past four seasons, culminating in an all-time high of 79,503,175 fans in the 2007 regular season. Entering this week, Major League Baseball was slightly ahead of last year's record-setting pace.

From 6/12/08

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Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Bondy: Mets surpass Knicks at doctoring attendance figures

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