Attendance at Dodger Stadium continues to plunge
The Dodgers are coming! The Dodgers are coming!
Are you?
Well, you haven’t been, at least not in robust Dodgers-esque numbers. The Dodgers return home Friday, but no one is expecting a giddy sellout to await them.
Whether a boycott against the McCourts, fear of safety or simply uninspired with the team after last season’s sub-.500 effort, attendance is plummeting at Dodger Stadium.
Empty seats are everywhere, at every level. Even field level seats seem only dotted with fans. Some entire sections routinely sit empty.
Baseball’s 30 teams are down 635 fans per game thus far into the season (through Wednesday) or 2%, but the Dodgers are their big drag.
Through their first 18 home dates, Dodgers are down 7,268 fans per game, compared to last year -- the biggest drop in baseball.
And remember, baseball announces tickets sold, not actual attendance. It does not release no-show numbers, but they are significant at Dodger Stadium. Several games, the old ballpark hasn’t even looked half full.
Tickets sold for the Dodgers currently are down 16.5% over last season. And it’s noticeable.
"A little bit," he said. "I mean, you’d like to see the place full. Just for the guys’ standpoint.
"You just get kind of spoiled here, seeing the place full. From the guys’ standpoint, when you start playing really hard and guys are busting it, you want people to see it. I think the way we remedy that is to win."
The Dodgers are 9-9 at home this season, but Mattingly doesn’t think the smaller crowds have had an impact on the team’s play.
"I don’t think so, but it’s nice when there’s an energy," he said. "I don’t think we’re losing anything because of it. I want people to see us play, to see what these guys can do."
Normally, not a problem. The Dodgers traditionally are one of the top two or three teams in MLB attendance. Currently, they rank eighth with an average of 36,672 tickets sold per game. For the first time, they are on track to trail the Angels in attendance.
The McCourts once immodestly set a goal of 4 million in season attendance. This season, the Dodgers are not on pace to reach 3 million.
Most who leave comments here, say they’re not coming out as a protest to the McCourts’ ownership. Some -- many -- promise not to return until there is a new owner.
The loss of 7,268 fans per game has to hurt the McCourts financially. That’s a lot of parking not paid for, a lot of hot dogs left unsold, a lot of souvenirs left for sale.
And an embarrassing number of empty seats.
-- Steve Dilbeck
Photo: Dodger Stadium. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times
I don't live in California, but if I did, I would have been boycotting way before this season, due to both the McCourts and Ned Colletti. Putrid and a waste of our hard-earned money.
Posted by: FormerLifelongDodgerFan | 05/13/2011 at 12:38 PM
Count me among those staying away in protest. The McCourts lied to us and stole from us from the very beginning. Now we know. I have no use for either of them. I have been a Dodger fan my entire life, but I will not contribute one penny in any fashion until we have new owners. No games, no jersey's, no whatever. They have to go. Until they do, I will watch and root from a distance.
Posted by: pchcruzr | 05/13/2011 at 12:59 PM
If Bud Selig or any of his people are reading this, count me among the many who used to spend thousands of dollars per year at Dodger Stadium. If somehow Frank is allowed to keep the team, I can promise you without hesitation that I'll never be back.
Michael Cox, the fairweather fans you speak of outdraw your favorite team year after year, win or lose. How do I know this? Because no team in history has had greater attendance. Feast: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20070329&content_id=1865132&vkey=pr_la&fext=.jsp&c_id=la
Posted by: Frank McCourt | 05/13/2011 at 01:19 PM
O am a life long Dodgers fan and will not be attending any Dodger games while the McCourrts own them.
Posted by: VekikS | 05/13/2011 at 01:39 PM
My 4 seats will be empty tonight in PROTEST- And I wish I could get my money back from McCrap who is fielding this crappy team.
Posted by: CMM | 05/13/2011 at 01:41 PM
I am boycotting this season. It is really difficult, especially with the dang crazy specials McCourt has been putting out there in a desperate attempt to get fans back in to the seats, but a message needs to be sent. McCourt is no good for the Dodgers. Dodger fans will no longer support this type of ownership. Shame on you, Frank.
Posted by: Ani D | 05/13/2011 at 02:01 PM
I respect people that want to boycott McCourt, but at this point, I feel it's hurting the team more than it's hurting him. I mean, he's probably on his way out anyway, and I don't want Kershaw, Kemp, and Ethier to follow him out of town. Also, there is a point where this just gets TOO ideological. I mean, I'd like to protest baseball until SELIG'S gone, but I like the game more than I dislike him.
Posted by: Scott from Marina Del Rey | 05/13/2011 at 02:03 PM
I wish I could go to the stadium without my money going to the McCourts.
I hate leaving the real Dodgers in the lurch -- dem bums, and all the support staff and Nancy and Vin and those we care about. I want to go. It's not stadium security keeping me away, nor even the rowdy atmosphere that dampened my enjoyment in '09, the last year I had a season package. I did not renew or attend a game in 2010, and won't in 2011.
Please, please, Frank McCourt, understand: WE DO NOT WANT YOU. We will not come back until you are gone. We want OUR Dodgers, but not with your greedy, tax-evading, gouge-the-fans mits on them.
Posted by: Blueeyedgal | 05/13/2011 at 02:23 PM
Michael J. Cox -- you are wrong. Dodgers fans have come to the park through thick and thin; usually the second highest attendance in the majors, despite no championships in 20+ years.
It has nothing to do with how the Dodgers are playing now. I'd be there to cheer for them anyway. Maybe not as MANY games as a winning year, but 20 at least.
I am staying away because the owners have been siphoning money off for themselves and their lawyers, and are not supporting the team. They've wrecked our franchise. They've jacked up the price of attending games tremendously. I will not set foot in Dodger stadium again until my money is going to support the team, not the McCourts, their mansions, and their divorce lawyers.
As soon as the McCourts are removed from ownership, Dodger stadium will be packed.
Posted by: Blueeyedgal | 05/13/2011 at 02:26 PM
I am boycotting until McCourt leaves.
Naaaa...I hope he stays. Go Halos!
Posted by: tothedome | 05/13/2011 at 02:27 PM
I FULLY support the McCourt protest and it obviously is gaining a lot of momentum, but don't forget that Ned Colletti is to blame, too. His AWFUL personnel decisions have rendered this team boring, stale, uninspired and downright unwatchable.
Posted by: FormerLifelongDodgerFan | 05/13/2011 at 02:29 PM
I went to two games against the Cards earlier in the year because I had friends in town from STL (of course they caught crap all game from three low lifes behind us), but I won't be back again until there is new ownership and a continued clean up of the stadium issues. I want to see the Dodgers win and I want to have an enjoyable time at the park and not have to deal with someone that is only there to get their drunk on.
Posted by: West Coast Ram | 05/13/2011 at 02:30 PM
Remember McCrook forces his players to "Donate" part of their salary to the Dodger Dream Foundation when they sign a new contract? Who are the beneficiaries of this foundation? Seems like the only McCrook & his crony Howard Sunkin benefits from it. Is this foundation real after McCrook took over?
Posted by: steve | 05/13/2011 at 02:31 PM
The fan boycott will not end until Mccourt leaves L.A.
Posted by: California Sun | 05/13/2011 at 02:32 PM
Michael Cox is also not noticing that all the Dodgers-Padres games in San Diego are sold out because of the massive numbers of Dodgers fans filling the stadium. We can go to those without worrying about the McCourts.
Hopefully we'll be relieved of our misery before then, but save the dates, folks:
July 1-3: Dodgers @ Anaheim
Aug 1-3: Dodgers @ San Diego
Sep 23-26: Dodgers @ San Diego: This is basically our end-of-season games since the Dodgers finish the year on the road.
Posted by: Blueeyedgal | 05/13/2011 at 02:34 PM
It's time for Frank McCourt to sell our Dodgers to someone who cares about
baseball in Los Angeles. The commissioner is doing the right thing and I hope
we can soon have an owner who wants to give the fans of Los Angeles the kind
of commitment we get from the Buss's. SELL THE TEAM!!
Posted by: Mike Polito | 05/13/2011 at 02:43 PM
The fan boycott will absolutely help force Mc Court to leave. Think about it they are losing ( aprox) $400K a game in revenues from attendence. Times 10 = $4M. With the Titanic going down...there is NO WAY Mc Court will survive finacially with the boycott. Fans give yourself a hand... continue to BOYCOTT.
Posted by: Badlands | 05/13/2011 at 03:09 PM
dear michael j cox: you miss the point entirely. No Dodger fan would dream of not supporting their team through thick and thin. this is a general boycott of the current ownership with hopes of forcing a change. until then, many of us will not go and pay money to help these poor owners continue on in their current capacity. If the team is below .500, or (as is much more often the case) battling for a playoff spot, we love our Dodgers. But for now, no visitations, no TV, no radio. Nada.
Posted by: true blue | 05/13/2011 at 03:25 PM
Ok, so we got bin Laden; now can we send Seal Team Six to get the McCrooks?
Posted by: Duke | 05/13/2011 at 03:33 PM
Boycott, schmoycott! I learned a long time ago that mature people do not cut off their noses to spite their faces.
I just ordered FIFTY season tickets in the loge section. My family and I will be at as many games as our schedules permit, and we will be taking a bunch of kids from neighborhood schools with us, so they can enjoy baseball, too.
Posted by: Arthur Marx | 05/13/2011 at 03:37 PM
Lakers: Top market = Top payroll=Top talent
Dodgers: Top market = Average payroll=Below average talent?????
Everything McCourt says is just an attempt to try and squeeze every penny he can out of the Dodgers for his own benefit.
No true Dodger fan should be seen at Dodger stadium until McCourt is gone otherwise you are continuing to support mediocrity and lies!
Posted by: Harry Balzich | 05/13/2011 at 03:42 PM
Its not so much all that. The stadium is too big for todays market. Build
a new one about 40k, put the premium on the tickets like S F , Cleveland
a few yrs ago et al. The Giants are near a sellout every game, but if you
know you can walk up any game thats the problema. Takes awhile to
figure it !!!
Posted by: cover2 | 05/13/2011 at 03:59 PM
I promised to boycott Dodger games until McCourt is gone. Seems like the only thing he understands is money so maybe now he's beginning to understand. Looks like I'm not the only one. I can't wait to go back to cheer my team
Posted by: pretzel | 05/13/2011 at 04:05 PM
Thank you Arthur Marx. Now I can go get my haircut.
See Soboroff, I told you there's a sucker born every minute!!
Posted by: Frank McCourt | 05/13/2011 at 04:15 PM
If you screw them over, they won't come.
Posted by: Jon Finch | 05/13/2011 at 04:31 PM
Arthur Marx: If the rest of us were as short-sighted as you, McCourt would still be using hundred dollar bills as toilet paper. What was it that inspired you to suddenly buy "50 season tickets in the loge section". Did you just win the lottery? Are you inspired by the on field results? Did Soboroff hold a gun to your head? Perhaps you are Soboroff sticking up for your boy again...
Regardless, there are many ways to help the neighborhood kids "enjoy baseball". Supporting this dirtbag should be at the bottom of your list.
Posted by: Jamies driver | 05/13/2011 at 04:33 PM
I don't think 7 thousand or so less fans will effect the team. 20,000 maybe. I think the team's effort will not be any less regardless of how many fans are in the stands. I think it hurts the team more financially than anything else and will effect them in the future.
Posted by: OldBrooklynFan | 05/13/2011 at 04:50 PM
C'mon Buck! Buy the team. It's only 6.7 miles from center court!
Posted by: Johnny Hardball | 05/13/2011 at 05:31 PM
Based on the comments by long-time, hardcore Dodger FANS right here in this forum it sounds like a McCourt BOYCOTT is definitely behind the plummeting attendance figures.
Posted by: Verballistic | 05/13/2011 at 05:56 PM
Everyone's comments are right on (except for that dope M. Cox) . We still love our Dodgers but we've had enough of the drama and poor ownership miscues our boys in blue and the fans have been put through. Bud, finish the job. We support MLB and what is in the best interests of baseball and this storied and once great franchise.
Posted by: muydogged | 05/13/2011 at 07:04 PM
I live in the Central Valley where many Dodger fans live. $40 dollar seats, $15 dollar parking, $10 beer, $35 dollar baseball caps and lack of security after the game? Everything is too expensive. In this economy who has the money to go but once every couple of months? Not everyone works in Hollywood and the movie industry.
Posted by: Barry | 05/13/2011 at 07:29 PM
Until there are new owners no games for me. However, I am a True Blue Fan and would love to go hang out with Tommy Lasorda and watch a game. On TV. Hey Mr. Lasorda, how about I come over with a nice big pan of home cooked lasagna for you and Jo? We can eat peanuts and listen to Vin and pretend it's 30 years ago and Garvey is at bat. Makes me cry just thinking about it.
BTW I am for the Garvey-Burkle group as the new owners. I just did my grocery run at Ralphs :-)
Posted by: Tina | 05/13/2011 at 07:30 PM
Dodger stadium is a ripoff, nobody thinks about who owns them while your at the game. It's just way too much money. The only people who can afford the tickets now are gangsters who would normally be at a Raiders game. Dodger Stadium is like a microcosm of L.A. It's gotten a lot more expensive while the quality has gone down. I grew up here, it's not such a great a place.
At least the smog levels have gone down since I was a little kid.
Posted by: Donut | 05/13/2011 at 07:45 PM
Hey Alyssa, I am sure your bags are hot, whether the Dodgers are losing or winning, duh.
Posted by: Donut | 05/13/2011 at 07:50 PM
I used to attend about 20 games a year but I have stopped going since 2009 when I realised the McCourts were running a ponzi scheme, taking our money and mortgaging our Dodgers' future for their own greed.
I wonder who still goes to the game nowadays and why they would still go. I would like to hear their perspectives.
I am still a die-hard Dodgers fan and I will be supporting them watching KCAL-9 only!
Posted by: Choirdog | 05/13/2011 at 08:15 PM
So, Las Vegas is looking for an MLB franchise:
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/aug/19/mayor-american-league-baseball-team-looking-las-ve/
though ostensibly it would be an AL team. Still, if folks in LA play their cards right, perhaps another city looking for a team will have their wish come true.
Posted by: rick jones | 05/13/2011 at 08:15 PM
Continue the boycott! Just say no to all the gimmicks they are trying to get you to go out to the stadium. It is working, the light is at the end of the tunnel, do not let up now!
Posted by: campc4 | 05/13/2011 at 08:15 PM
By the way, Frank McCourt insisted that the Dodgers have been successful under his reign - four playoff appearances in six years (no World Series appearances). This low standard for success gags me. Tell it to Jerry Buss and he will stroke out...
Posted by: Choirdog | 05/13/2011 at 08:19 PM
I call for a boycott demonstration at the Dodgers Stadium parking lot. Let me know if you're interested
Posted by: Choirdog | 05/13/2011 at 08:21 PM
It's clear from the comments, this is 100% McCourt-related. He thinks he is entitled to the team. I'll always love the franchise, but he's not entitled to my money.
Posted by: JNG | 05/13/2011 at 09:00 PM
It would be great if the decline in attendance could be solely attributed to this Parking Lot Attendant fiasco. But I wonder how many fans would be active participants in this "boycott" if their Doyers were 12 gms over .500 and in first place...
Posted by: sangroazul | 05/13/2011 at 09:14 PM
========
By the way, Frank McCourt insisted that the Dodgers have been successful under his reign - four playoff appearances in six years (no World Series appearances). This low standard for success gags me. Tell it to Jerry Buss and he will stroke out...
Posted by: Choirdog
========
I've read that tripe too and it infuriates me. I guarantee you this is NOT how the Steinbrenners gauge success and neither should the Dodgers.
However, having just said that, I have to say that I will consider 2011 a successful season if Frank McCourt is officially replaced as owner of the Dodgers. And I will continue to boycott until he is.
Posted by: K | 05/13/2011 at 09:20 PM
boring event , how can anyone sit through it?
Posted by: Hunkie Boy | 05/13/2011 at 09:30 PM
I support the boycott but why did it take this long for the fans to figure it out?
cause they read it?
this is OLD news people!
Posted by: Ben | 05/13/2011 at 09:53 PM
How can Selig sit back and not tighten the screws further on this piece of McCrap! Lets get back to a Dodgers that we deserve in Los Angeles and run this clown and his "woman" out of town!
Posted by: Jim Callahan | 05/13/2011 at 09:57 PM
it funny how the people of LA county hold the actions of the dodgers more accountable then the mayor,governor,police,firemen,city halls,now look at dodger stadium is ran by the biggest gang in Calif the police your all nuts.
Posted by: frankie4 | 05/13/2011 at 09:58 PM
I think Laker fans are being gouged too to be honest.
Posted by: George | 05/13/2011 at 10:00 PM
Hey Cox,
youre way wrong.
say what you will about the fans, 3 million was an automatic number in the past.
Posted by: bababooey | 05/13/2011 at 10:04 PM
Sure the ownership is embarrassing, but even after "Frank & Jamie and Soboroff too" hit the dust-bin, I think that fond memories of Dodger stadium are in the past for me. The excitement of getting a dodger dog now feels like being in the food court at Glendale Galleria doing Christmas shopping.
I once cared if Manny Mota got a pinch-hit, or if Tommy John's repaired arm would fall off. I just can't get that giddy about Matt Kemp or Juan Uribe. Yawn!
Posted by: Dan91006 | 05/13/2011 at 10:36 PM
The boycott might backfire on Los Angeles. How many years have we been without an NFL team? McCourt is interested in the land, not the team. If the Dodgers leave, he can hold on to the land and turn the stadium into apartments and a shopping center. Dodger fans may then have to support the Portland Dodgers or the Las Vegas Dodgers. MLB won't care, they will say we already have the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Posted by: Dwight Smith | 05/13/2011 at 10:37 PM