Dodger Stadium attendance: Are this season's true numbers even more alarming?

The Dodgers announced a crowd of 42,299 Thursday night, and it only took me two innings to stop laughing.

Seriously, a Comedy Central gig is waiting for these guys. Charity functions would beg for them to guess jelly beans in a jar.

The New York Mets were in town, and Dodger Stadium appeared half full. There must have been 15 completely empty sections. And most of those where fans did sit looked almost half empty.

Thanks to the McCourts ongoing divorce, more court documents have been uncovered by The Times’ Bill Shaikin showing the difference between the paid attendance and actual turnstile attendance the last four years has been about 20%.

That in itself is a lot of people choosing not to use some pretty expensive tickets. Yet I maintain the amount of no-shows has dramatically increased this season. It is simply my personal observation.

When I first wrote about this back in May, Dodgers spokesman Josh Rawitch said the amount of no-shows this season was consistent with previous years.

Interestingly, when Shaikin approached Rawitch for The Times' current story, the Dodgers spokesman refused to comment. Me, I’m reading something into that.

Yet if the no-shows were running at 20% again this season, then Thursday’s actual crowd would have been about 34,000. I don’t think so. I estimated 30% in May, and that would have put Thursday’s crowd at a more realistic 29,600.

The unanswered question, of course, is if the number of no-shows are up this season -- why? Is it the economy, a reaction to the McCourts living large, an uninspiring team, a continued erosion to the Angels, the Mayan calendar?

Every fan who doesn’t show makes for a lot of parking fees lost, hot dogs and beer and souvenirs not purchased.

That’s a lot of lost revenue. That’s a lot of jelly beans.

-- Steve Dilbeck

Comments

[JEFF SIERRA]

We used to get some pretty good bargains on ebay but those days are gone. Ticket agencies have bought up a good chunk of the tickets and are reselling them on ebay for outrageous prices. $300 for 4 tickets in the pavilion...give me a break. There is minimal demand especially for over inflated tickets and an underachieving team. If tickets were priced closer to the face value some of those seats might have people sitting in them. And we really arent interested in giving our money to the McCourts. We eat at Philippes before the game and bring in our own peanuts. The only thing we leave at Dodger Stadium is empty peanut shells and urine. Try to make money off of that Frank/Jamie.

[Grandpa]

Why is attendance down? Simple. The Dodgers are awful. They should allow you to enter the stadium to buy a hotdog, then you just turn around and go home.

[Daisy]

There are way more televised Dodger games than in years past. Every home game on KCAL and Prime Ticket has Vin Scully the entire game. You don't get Vinny at the ballpark for 9 innings. Shaikin's article is correct that the Angels have stolen some of the Dodgers thunder, ticket agencies buying up strips of seats, and like me, the fans are disgruntled with the $15 parking fee. If my season seats go unused, I consider I saved on parking and concessions and gas. Although my tickets are used by someone most of the time, it's not that great of a loss to me when I can watch with Vinny without the long drive and parking traffic. He won't be broadcasting much longer, maybe fans just prefer him than the stadium.

[Tom]

Sell the team Frank McCheap.

[bob cuomo]

Shaikin's story was great, as is your post, Steve. Yeah, this Dodger attendance business is one of my pet peeves. As you said, no way were there 42,299 people there last night...there were a lot of empty sections. And no way were there 45,151 at Wednesday night's game against the Giants. I really feel sorry for Vinny, who has to announce the attendance "figure" during the telecasts. It's so obvious that the number is false.

[kobecantdoitwithoutabig]

yo johnwaller, came across something by accident that u'd love its at http://sportscomplainer.com get me back bye

[blueeyedgal]

--Not wanting our money to go to the McCourts' lawyers instead of the team

--Lack of moves this off-season to bolster starting rotation caused lack of confidence, and there haven't been enough good stretches to alter initial pessimism

--Not wanting our money to go to the McCourts' lawyers instead of the team

--Bad economy, many fans saving and/or looking for work

--Not wanting our money to go to the McCourts' lawyers instead of the team

--Bought LCD TVs last year due to digital/analog switchover and playoffs possibilities, giving one more reason to watch from home

--Not wanting our money to go to the McCourts' lawyers instead of the team

--Stadium now blasts us with too many commercials between innings, noise and video game sound effects during innings instead of Nancy Bea

--Not wanting our money to go to the McCourts' lawyers instead of the team

--Probably Vin Scully's last season -- let's watch the games with Vin!

--Not wanting our money to go to the McCourts' lawyers instead of the team

--Last year raised our hopes and expectations, but some of our rising young studs have come down to earth (Martin, Bills, Kemp, even Broxton somewhat)

--Not wanting our money to go to the McCourts' lawyers instead of the team
--High cost of going to a game

--Not wanting our money to go to the McCourts' lawyers instead of the team

--Nasty crowds finding every way they can to yell "____ sucks" instead of cheering for the Dodgers, egged on by the sound guys almost every inning with three-beat prompts

--Not wanting our money to go to the McCourts' lawyers instead of the team

--Furcal or Ethier or Manny on the DL making most game's outcomes less certain
--Not wanting our money to go to the McCourts' lawyers instead of the team

Any questions?

-- 21-game ticket package, 2004-2009; games attended this year: 0

[grumpy3b]

Jeff Sierra: Excellent point about the whole Stub Hub (eBay owns Stub Hub) thing. Pretty much gone are the days of reasonable ticket prices. When tickets were affordable, I had no problem dropping the other $50 on food/goodies at a game. But it is just irksome to spend $15 on parking $50+ for a ticket, and not a great ticket either, then need another C-note for food and such if I take someone with me...but for a game I not only have to drive 4-6hrs but spend over $200 to see a single game from marginal seats at best.

In the mean time, "The Face" is swimming in the "Pool House" all the while owning two estates right on the pacific ocean where I understand there is a pretty nice pool in the back yard of those estates...wonder why they don't get ANY cash from me, ever. I even have to pay to see them on TV and still I don't get every game because of insane MLB.TV blackout regs even though I am w/o any OTA station within 60-miles and no local carrier period. Oh, well, I know of other options which are cheaper.

[Zen]

Mayanny Ramirez's calendar is to blame, with so many nap days, phantom injury days, personal holidays, and DL stints.

[waldo binney]

Getting a rear end into a seat is not the problem.
The 'problem' is: Parking, Food, Etc.. And, the existence of the rowdy latinos.
Face it. Dodger Dogs suck, and they are overpriced and over.hyped. It's an all meat Farmer John freaking weiner, folks.

[gabe]

My first year as a season holder and most of the time I would rather sell the tickets then go. It seems as if the McCourts are not wanting a winning team. Before the divorce Jaime was more interested in her ball park mall then a world series. I regret helping them out financially and not getting anything in return. PLEASE sell the team to Mark Cubin.

[East Nyboer]

blueeyedgal nails it. they need to blow up this team because it's obvious they aren't going to do what it takes to make a contender out of what are some very good pieces.

make ethier and kershaw untouchable and trade everyone else. fans would much rather watch young players grow than to watch this current commitment to nothingness.