I posted this chart in the open stats thread two weeks ago, but I wanted to make sure everyone saw it.

The x-axis holds the game number and the y-axis has the attendance total for that game. I chose to include the Orlando series. The encouraging aspects are pretty obvious. The Rays average attendance is inching closer to 22,000, I would suspect that with 20 home games remaining we may see that reach 24,000. Obviously that's not selling out every game but nearly 70% capacity is not bad for the first winning season in a team's history.

"Second-half season tickets" is a brilliant promotion. Not only does it give the consumer guaranteed seats at a reduced rate (as well as playoff priority) but for the team it assures a few extra seats are counted in paid attendance, whether or not those seats are physically filled -- not that the Rays have been giving anyone a reason to miss a game.

It's important not to discount the season tickets number heading into next season either. Deposits are all ready being accepted with an option for post-season priority.  In their inaugural season the Rays had roughly 20,000 season ticket holders, I'd be interested to see if they can come near that heading into 2009.