AL East Attendance: 2001-2010; Apparently Baseball is Popular

Well done sir!

This looks really, really nice. Very clean and to the point, but still extremely appealing visually. I like!

P.S. More on stadiums coming Wednesday…

by Chris Spurlock on Jan 25, 2011 8:22 AM EST reply actions

Thanks Chris -- I have to give you credit for

pushing my visual style a bit.

See Data Differently: Beyond the Box Score | @justinbopp

by Justin Bopp on Jan 25, 2011 1:39 PM EST up reply actions

More excellent work by the man behind the curtain

Dave Gershman - Beyond the Box Score / SPANdemonium / Royals Prospects / Twitter: @Dave_Gershman

by Dave Gershman on Jan 25, 2011 8:36 AM EST reply actions

There's no curtain! I'm right here!

(and thanks, Gersh)

See Data Differently: Beyond the Box Score | @justinbopp

by Justin Bopp on Jan 25, 2011 1:42 PM EST up reply actions

Great Stuff, Justin

I’d ask when the NL east one was coming, but I don’t think I want to see that at the moment…

Beyond the Box Score

by Bill Petti on Jan 25, 2011 8:51 AM EST reply actions

When I first sketched out the idea, I said,

“easy.”

That was last week. Luckily, most of the foundation is there.

See Data Differently: Beyond the Box Score | @justinbopp

by Justin Bopp on Jan 25, 2011 1:43 PM EST up reply actions

the Ray's world series attendance

made me smile, in a sad way

To Infinity. And BEYOND!!!

by YunelTheLazyLatino on Jan 25, 2011 9:38 AM EST reply actions

Me too, though one of the takeaways from this that I hadn't

quite realized is that they’ve only recently become good. Sure, that’s obvious. But what wasn’t obvious was that since they’ve been good, their attendance puts them right in the thick of most MLB teams. That’s encouraging, I think.

See Data Differently: Beyond the Box Score | @justinbopp

by Justin Bopp on Jan 25, 2011 1:45 PM EST up reply actions

its such a shame

The organization has to be one of the top in baseball. I can only imagine what they could do with a $100 MM payroll

To Infinity. And BEYOND!!!

by YunelTheLazyLatino on Jan 25, 2011 3:06 PM EST up reply actions

Ooooh.

Love that visual style.

by danmerqury on Jan 25, 2011 1:01 PM EST reply actions

Oh man, this is gorgeous.

I love how the Red Sox total attendance chart shows how every year they’re trying to squeeze more and more seats into the place.

On Twitter: @baseballtwit

by adarowski on Jan 25, 2011 1:36 PM EST reply actions

thanks adam! You know your adulation is all I aim for.

To your point, you’re absolutely right. I hadn’t realized that Fenway is actually one of the 3-4 smallest (capacity) in the entire MLB. And they’ve been hitting 3M for the past couple years? Amazing.

See Data Differently: Beyond the Box Score | @justinbopp

by Justin Bopp on Jan 25, 2011 1:48 PM EST up reply actions

Noticed:

Baltimore had as many attendees in 2001 as the Red Sox did in 2010, but they’ve had less and less almost every year since. When do you think they’ll bottom out? Has the Nats’ proximity hurt them?

See Data Differently: Beyond the Box Score | @justinbopp

by Justin Bopp on Jan 25, 2011 2:00 PM EST reply actions

I think consistently sucking has hurt them...

Since 1998 they’ve only finished higher than 4th in the division once and never above .500. Ever since finishing 1st in 1997 their attendance has been on the decline—the Nationals didn’t show up until 2005.

Beyond the Box Score

by Bill Petti on Jan 25, 2011 2:42 PM EST up reply actions

Good point. But I can't be the only one to notice that

it went from gradual to sudden upon their arrival? Maybe I’m imagining it.

See Data Differently: Beyond the Box Score | @justinbopp

by Justin Bopp on Jan 25, 2011 2:55 PM EST up reply actions

Here's the % change in attendance since they finished 1st in 1997

1998: -1%
1999: -7%
2000: -4%
2001: -6%
2002: -13%
2003: -8%
2004: +12%
2005: -4%
2006: -18%
2007: +1%
2008: -10%
2009: -2%
2010: -10%

There’s a few ways to look at it. One is that after 2005 they experienced 3 out of 5 years with double-digit attendance drop offs so the Nats are the culprit. However, they experienced a weird bump in 2004, so the large drop over the next two years could simply be fans regressing to the norm in terms of how much to care about a last place team. Let’s also not forget that the economic crash in 2008 could help explain the further drop in spending by fans on a bad team (look at 2001 and 2002). In general, the trend was increasing fan exodus for basically six years before Nats showed. They may have been the nail in the coffin, but the trend was well established.

Beyond the Box Score

by Bill Petti on Jan 25, 2011 3:30 PM EST up reply actions

Fantastic points all.

See Data Differently: Beyond the Box Score | @justinbopp

by Justin Bopp on Jan 25, 2011 4:00 PM EST up reply actions

Bill's right

Although my local off-hand analysis indicates that the Nats proximity has probably hurt them. Lots of DC-area fans used to go to Baltimore just because it was all they had.

We don’t pack Nats park, but we do put more butts in the seats than the Orioles do. Incidentally, we’re the only team that draws more live than on television.

Blogger and Editor, Rational Pastime Blog. Twitter: @RationalPastime.

by J-Doug on Jan 25, 2011 2:54 PM EST up reply actions

When I lived in Northern Virginia

The Nats coming to town didn’t really cut into my trips to Camden Yards because it actually took me almost as long to make it to RFK as it did to Baltimore. And Camden Yards was a much nicer place to watch a ballgame, and I could see the Yankees a lot easier.

I actually had partial season tickets for the Nationals, but getting to the stadium was so tough that I ended up giving away most of them.

Of course I left after one season. So I don’t know if that would have continued to be my pattern – or if I was unique anyway.

by Dan Turkenkopf on Jan 25, 2011 4:15 PM EST up reply actions

J-Doug points out that I missed the 03 Yanks' WS appearance,

and he’s right. I’ll add it in later.

Interesting note (and why those are included in the first place): the ALE had 6 appearances in the WS over the past decade. That’s a concentration of power if you ask me.

See Data Differently: Beyond the Box Score | @justinbopp

by Justin Bopp on Jan 25, 2011 2:57 PM EST reply actions