Crane hopeful of fans in stands
Astros owner Jim Crane expects that fans will be able to attend games at Minute Maid Park when the delayed 2020 season commences, and he said the team will remain aggressive in player acquisition despite losing tens of millions of dollars during the COVID-19-related sports shutdown.
Crane, during a Wednesday conference call with reporters, said the Astros will consult with Gov. Greg Abbott and with city and county health department officials before the season begins in late July. He emphasized, however, the importance to the team’s bottom line for fans to attend games, if only in limited numbers.
“That’s the plan. … The intent at some point is to get the fans into the ballpark,” Crane said.
Abbott has said stadiums and arenas in Texas can be filled to 50 percent of capacity, which for Minute Maid Park would be in the 20,000 range. The governor also indicated to college athletic directors recently that he did not expect attendance caps to be raised beyond that point.
COVID-19 cases are surging in Harris County, and Crane alluded to the uncertain nature of things in discussing the prospect of fans returning to the ballpark this season.
“We won’t really know until opening day,” Crane said. “We definitely will be talking to the governor, the mayor here and the county judge. We have some time.”
While Crane was optimistic about fan attendance, the Astros offered a more cautious approach in an email sent to ticket holders Wednesday afternoon.
“At this time, it is uncertain if fans will be allowed to attend games this season,” the email said. “As we learn more about the 2020 regular season including the potential availability of tickets, we will share that information with you.”
Crane agreed with estimates that the 30 MLB teams have lost about $3 billion because of the sports shutdown and said the Astros’ losses “will be significant. Tens of millions.”
“The only thing we have to do to counter that is to get some people into the building and sell some tickets and some merchandise and some cold beer or whatever they let us have,” he said.
While the Astros face losses in reduced game day receipts and broadcast
rights fees, they also have saved more than $100 million in unpaid salaries for players and banked millions of dollars in ticket revenue before beginning refunds for April and May games that were not played.
The Astros have offered refunds or credit toward next season for games in March, April and May that were postponed but have not addressed postponed games in June.
Crane said local revenues — corporate sponsorships, local TV and radio rights fees, gate receipts, concessions and merchandise — account for more than half of the Astros’ revenue stream. Those numbers, he said “are going to be way, way down” this season.
Despite those losses, however, Crane said the Astros will continue to be in a strong financial position for next season.
“I would like to say we’re going to be in a strong position to put a good team on the field after this year,” he said. “I can say that we are in a position to be aggressive whatever the market looks like.
“Hopefully next year, because our team has done well over the last few years financially, I would like to say we’re going to be in a strong position to put a good team on the field after this year,” Crane said. “We think we have a really good team this year, and we think we have a chance … if we get to the playoffs that we can win another championship.
“(General manager James Click) is working on what will be available next year and whose contracts are up here, and I can say that we’re in a position to be aggressive, whatever the market looks like.”