Printer-friendly

May 27, 2004

Breaking Balls

The High Cost of Low Expectations

by Derek Zumsteg

Many teams have built new stadiums only to see their teams fail and their attendance drop.

Check this out, though:

Safeco Field opened in the middle of the season in 1999, and for four full seasons, the Mariners have been able to draw at least 25,000 fans no matter the opponent, weather, or the fortunes of the team. The Mariners invested in a team that would draw fans and build a base of interested consumers even before their new park opened, and by fielding competitive teams (which is another story) they've managed to keep the fans coming. The stadium holds just over 47,000 fans, which means capacity has been the limiting factor, and not population. The M's have tried to sidestep this by sticking metal bleachers that wouldn't pass muster at a high school field into the cool center field beer garden, just to squeeze in a couple hundred more paying customers.

Partly as a result of their attendance, the Mariners have been one of baseball's most profitable franchises since they got their new park.

Here's an even better way to look at this. Compare the Mariners' unstoppable 2001 team that won 116 games to the 2002 and 2003 editions. Neither of these latter two teams got into the playoffs; the 2002 squad was 93-69 in Lou Piniella's last season in Seattle, but finished behind both Oakland and Anaheim, while Bob Melvin's first Mariners team stayed in the race until almost the end of the season with their 93-69 mark.