More on the O's "Prime Game" Pricing...

As I posted earlier on the blog, the Baltimore Orioles now have instituted “prime games” in which teams that draw fans will be more expensive than regular priced games. This year, the selected games are against the Red Sox, Yankees and Orioles’ Opening Day.

A fellow blogger from the My Baseball Bias website posted an excellent follow-up to what I wrote. It’s worth a read and I appreciate him doing so:

Link: http://mybaseballbias.com/?p=96

On a few of the Orioles’ forums out there, some fans welcome charging Boston and New York fans for the experience in Baltimore, while some are upset because in turn, Oriole fans will be charged more and there are quite a few people with families along with college students, those on a fixed income who may or may not be able to afford the price of tickets.

Do I have a problem with this? Not so much. This is an issue of supply versus demand and the Orioles are a business, and any business has the right to charge whatever they please if they can get the revenue. In addition, if you have ever been at Camden Yards during a Boston or New York series, the fans from their respective teams take over and a good majority travel to see their teams and help the Baltimore economy.

In fact, a lot of businesses cater to those crowds. In most of the games against the Yankees and Red Sox, O’s fans are outnumbered – in some cases 3 to 1 or 4 to 1. This discourages a lot of fans from coming to the park, where in some cases they are subject to abuse from the opposing teams’ fans.

However, for a lot O’s fans out there, season ticket holders generally do not have pay the prime ticket prices if they buy the tickets from the team’s office rather via the internet.

Considering the Yankees and Red Sox were the only two teams where “prime games” pricing was used, what it does say about the state of O’s fans at Camden Yards?

We are not showing up and it reflects in the attendance.

According to Baseball Bias from the research done, the fans have stayed away from Camden Yards – in droves.

- In 1997, the Orioles season total for attendance was 3,711,132
- In 2001, the Orioles season total for attendance was 3,094,841
- In 2006, the Orioles season total for attendance was 2,153,250
- In 2006, the Orioles drew almost 20,000 less fans a game than they did in 1997.

There are quite a few reasons the fans are not coming out to Camden Yards, but the whole argument begins with the product on the field.

Our fans will come back and support a superior product, when that happens. We don't have that right now, nor has it been seen in almost a decade.

Peter Angelos can blame the Washington Nationals in the drop of attendance; however Oriole attendance has been dropping since then. While there might be a small drop, due the lack of interest, anger at Peter Angelos, and the traffic situation between the two cities, both cities have more then enough people to support them.

However, when you are the laughing stock of baseball and you’ve managed to alienate your fanbase in two cities, then you have apathy.

I don’t put the onus on Peter Angelos, but on the team and it’s performance. The team has to pay better, plain and simple. With the exception of Tejada, Mora, Roberts & the rise of Markakis, the Orioles do not have a real star and I think Ripken retiring had a small role, but not nearly as large as 9 losing seasons.

However, since Peter Angelos is captain of the ship, he’ll get the blame.

Peter may not have spent the money needed to compete for a few years, but in the end, it’s the product of the field that counts. Oriole fans no doubt care for their team, but why spend your hard earned money if the entity you give to doesn't put out a competitive product.

In my mind, Camden Yards is a great baseball experience. To be honest, the Orioles will only have the fans come back, if and when we are ready to compete with the big boys. We have spent some money to build what looks like will be a respectable team on paper, now the O’s have translate it into W’s.

Link to a previous post on the Red Sox/Yankee fan attendance issue: The Explosion and Annoyance of Yankee and Red Sox fans at Oriole Park at Camden Yards