Quote:
Originally Posted by TribeFanInNC
Yeah, I decided not to go down the attendance route because I think it is a little bogus. Yes, clearly teams sell more tickets now than before. However, I think it is more corporate now with less 'fans' at the game. Sure, the people who use corporate seats might be fans. But I think they are there because they can be, not because they want to be. If there was a true attendance demand, ratings would be higher too.
Not totally bogus. But not exactly telling either.
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Ratings aren't down, though. Sure, the nationally televised games have been down (having as much to do with awful broadcasters and matchups as anything else), but those make up a tiny percentage of the overall television pie. It's the local viewership on the regional networks that matter, and those have been doing just fine over the last couple of decades -- strong enough that whole stations have formed based on local baseball anchoring their schedules. YES was just the first of these; now almost every team has their own station or has become the major programming point for a regional sports station. Even those poor Cleveland Indians own their own station.