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Mariners' attendance is down, but more Portland fans watch

By JOHN HUNT
The Oregonian
Sunday, April 24, 2005

SEATTLE -- Fans in Seattle might be staying away from Safeco Field, but those in Portland are watching the Mariners in greater numbers.

After the 99-loss season of 2004, the Mariners have played to smaller home crowds, but the television viewership remains strong.

Entering this weekend's games, the Mariners' average home attendance was 29,882 -- down 15 percent from 35,296, the average crowds in the first eight games of 2004. The first eight home games of the 2003 season drew an average of 34,659 fans.

On FSN, the average rating for Mariners games is 7.5 -- down 18 percent from a 9.2 at this point last year. Including over-the-air broadcasts, Mariners viewership is even with last year, or slightly up.

It should be noted that in five of the eight Seattle broadcasts on FSN, the starting time was between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., compared with two early starts during the same period last year.

But that didn't turn off viewers in Portland, where the ratings have risen 17 percent, from 2.9 to 3.3.

Still, just as Thursday night's crowd of 22,428 was relatively high for an all-time low (in Safeco Field's nearly six seasons), television ratings in Seattle still are high.

The Mariners' average rating on FSN ranks second in the majors, behind the Boston Red Sox and ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals.

At the stadium, the Mariners have about 2,000 fewer season ticket holders than a year ago.

"People are taking a wait-and-see attitude to the team," said team spokeswoman Rebecca Hale, who added that the Mariners still expect to make their attendance projection of 2.5 million if the team remains competitive.

That's very interesting to hear.

If this keeps up, I don't know what will happen.

To say that the Mariners' attendance is down is to state a FACT. To say that Mariners fans are "staying away from Safeco", or to call last week's record low of 22,000 "sparse" is to state an OPINION. The two are not the same. Most teams would kill to average "only" 29,000 a game, which ought to be more than enough for any team to survive unless there expenses are very poorly managed. The Mariners are coming off a 63-99 year, so what do people expect? I am so sick of people complaining that this team or that team is "only drawing 25,000 a game" or some such nonsense - Good grief, that comes out to an attendance of over 2,000,000 for the year!

Come on, John, report the facts, but leave out the editorializing - You're better than that.

Other facts:

14 out of 30 teams had attendance of 2.5 million or better last year. Most of those teams were much, much better than the Mariners.

In addition to the diminished expectations that the M's are facing at the beginning of the season for the first time since Safeco Field opened, they are also competing against the Sonics who made the playoffs for the first time in forever, and also U2 was in town over the weekend.

The M's will do great at the gate this year.

funny, the blazers attendances #'s were down this year, and (some) people acted like it was the sign of the coming apocolypse, or that the team should move. Attendance #'s just go down when a team stinks one year.

Maybe our viewership is up because we've come to accept that we're being screwed out of a team anytime soon.

quote:

also U2 was in town over the weekend.
The M's will do great at the gate this year.

U2 ! Please, have you heard their latest effort? Mariners will do just fine. Although a winning team is always a big help.

quote:

Originally posted by Merrittk92:
U2 ! Please, have you heard their latest effort?

I love it... of course, I'm spinning Jet and the Black Crowes at work so what do I know?