"Fan loyalty"

by Steve Slowinski on Oct 27, 2008 2:22 PM EDT

I just typed up these numbers in response to one of my friends (who happens to be a Phillie's fan) making a comment about how the Rays' fans are bandwagoners. I know I shouldn't get annoyed after hearing this all year, but I can't help but still get annoyed. Anyway, I found some interesting things...

	Tampa Bay			Philly

	Record	Atten./game		Record	Atten./game
2008	97-65	22,370		92-70	42,254
2007	66-96	17,131		89-73	38,374
2006	61-101	16,901		85-77	33,356
2005	67-95	14,095		88-74	32,905
2004	70-91	15,936		86-76	40,125
2003	63-99	13,070		86-77	27,901
2002	55-106	13,157		80-81	20,231
2001	62-100	16,029		86-76	22,001
2000	69-92	18,121		65-97	19,911
1999	69-93	19,294		77-85	22,535
1998	63-99	30,942		75-87	21,182


	Population:	2,700,000		Population:	5,800,000

			Attendance/game Adjusted by Regional Population (%)

		Rays		Phillies
	2008	0.829		0.729
	2007	0.634		0.662
	2006	0.626		0.575
	2005	0.522		0.567
	2004	0.590		0.692
	2003	0.484		0.481
	2002	0.487		0.349
	2001	0.594		0.379
	2000	0.671		0.343
	1999	0.715		0.389
	1998	1.146		0.365

To find this last metric, I simply divided each year's attend/game numbers by the metropolitan area population for each city and then multiplied by 100. Obviously it's not a perfect metric, but it's kinda interesting at the same time.

Also, I just find it really funny that while Philly fans are uber loyal, they also didn't draw that many fans when they stunk. Their turnaround from a 65-97 record in 2000 to a 86-76 record in 2001 is comparable to our turnaround this year, but their attendance increased much less between those two years than our's did this year. But anyway, I think this pretty much proves that "fan loyalty" (as presented by the media and opposing fans) is not tied to attendance figures, but to length of a team's existence.

This post was written by a member of the DRaysBay community and does not necessarily express the views or opinions of DRaysBay staff.

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Comments

To clarify, the "Population" figure is the size of each city's metropolitan area.

"I never threw an illegal pitch. The trouble is, once in a while I toss one that ain't never been seen by this generation." - Satchel Paige

by Steve Slowinski on Oct 27, 2008 2:24 PM EDT reply actions

This is always the story

Since, we don’t have a “rich tradition” we are all BW. It’s all BS, and the Phils are a perfect example.

by rglass44 on Oct 27, 2008 3:04 PM EDT reply actions

Can we show this to people who say a new stadium won't help attendance?

After 2004 their attendance shot up without any improvement in record.

People underestimate how much the trop’s terrible baseball atmosphere hurts our attendance. Same thing goes for the Marlins

by Sveet on Oct 27, 2008 3:18 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah..just compare the WS game at the Trop vs Citizens Bank

Not even close in terms of atmosphere. And it isn’t because our fans suck. It is just that the Trop sucks.

by matthan on Oct 27, 2008 3:22 PM EDT up reply actions

I think that’s a fair point… I don’t know if any of you guys were ever to the Vet, but there were times you were literally dodging pieces of concrete that were falling from the roof above you… not to mention the plumbing in the building was horrid… by the time it closed, when you walked through the concourse, it didn’t smell too pleasant during the hot summer days…

"When you get that nice celebration coming into the dugout and you're getting your ass hammered by guys - there's no better feeling than to have that done." - Matt Stairs 10/13/08

Gold... Pure Gold...

by foos05 on Oct 27, 2008 3:24 PM EDT up reply actions

Marlins have the worst of all worlds.

by RATW on Oct 27, 2008 3:29 PM EDT up reply actions

The Trop might be fine for hardcore Rays fans

I am one. I am going to go to games no matter their record or where they play, but there aren’t a lot of us.

My wife loves spring training games. She loves sitting outside and the whole experience of enjoying baseball. She doesn’t like going to games at the Trop. We followed the Rays to chicago this year. I had never been to Wrigley so we went there. Then caught the weekend Rays-Sox series at US Cellular. She loved it and I was telling here that the Cell isn’t even considered one of mlb’s top stadiums. If she liked going we would probably end up going to double the amount of games we attend now. I think this is true for a lot of people. If we can get the fringe fans and fan’s spouses to enjoy going consistently it will increase attendance dramatically

by Sveet on Oct 27, 2008 4:04 PM EDT up reply actions

Definitely worth a REC!

This is so true. People in Boston like to pretend the 60s never happened, when they had lousy teams and often couldn’t get 10,000 fans into the park for a game. I can remember growing up with the Yankees on TV. After the 78/80 world series runs, the teams really fell apart in the 80s. Granted, it’s NY and they still got a good turn out. But they were nowhere near sellout most of the time.

The whole band wagon thing is so stupid. Why is anyone a fan of a team? I grew up liking the Steelers when I was like 9 years old. Why? Because I saw them on TV winning superbowls. Why else? Should I have been a Giants or Bills fan automatically because I lived in upstate NY? Most everyone is a band wagon fan to some degree. How many people in NY would be Yankees fans from day 1 if it wasn’t for 26 championships, 80% of which they never saw?

I became a Rays fan around 1999 after spending most of my vacations in central FL and on the Gulf coast. I also became a Bucs fan at the same time, for the same reason. I just loved the area, so I started to follow the area’s teams.

by RayFanNY on Oct 29, 2008 11:41 PM EDT reply actions

I'm also working on a couple various studies that follow up on this data.

I’m using some stats tests to determine just how significantly the Rays’ attendance changed within the later half of the semester. I should have it up within a day or so.

"I never threw an illegal pitch. The trouble is, once in a while I toss one that ain't never been seen by this generation." - Satchel Paige

by Steve Slowinski on Oct 30, 2008 12:49 AM EDT reply actions