CBP open in full, but where are the fans?
Come to the game. Buy tickets wherever you please. Tailgate. Bring the family. Bring a group. All seats are open. Concession stands, too.
Those have become the essential rules at Citizens Bank Park, give or take line of fine print, in recent days. Yet with that, these were the attendance figures for three good games against the NL East champion Atlanta Braves this week: 13,125, 13,552 and 14,261.
Were Subaru Park fully open, those would be considered lousy crowds for the Union’s MLS matches.
So how can a pretty good (not great) team in baseball’s No. 1 monopoly market regularly leaves 30,000 tickets unsold for significant division games? Some theories:
• Baseball has an entertainment problem, with too many strikeouts, not enough scoring, close-to-four-hour games and a latter-day reliance on a defensive shift that runs counter to the spirit of the game.
• It’s risky to break loyal customers’ buying habits in any business. Terrorized by germ phobia last season, baseball went along with a plan to keep ticket-buyers away from ballparks and replace them with insulting cardboard cutouts. The fans learned that there were other things to do, including plenty that didn’t require dropping half-a-grand for a family to watch David Hale pitch.
• The loosening of attendance rules was gradual and fuzzy. Plenty of people truly remain uncertain if they are allowed to go to games or if they will be treated like hazardous waste should they dare cross Packer Ave.
• The press, including the electronic and cyber variety, has not been permitted to fully tell the stories of the players, most of them good and informative, the kind that strengthens the bond with the fans.
• Hector Neris is the closer. Beyond that, there are the usual challenges. Most schools are still open. There is construction on just about every road leading to the stadium complex. Inflation. A club that hasn’t been to the postseason in 10 years. So … panic?
Not yet.
The Yankees are in this weekend, and attendance will spike. The division is tight, and maybe the Phils will be in the race. School will be out soon. The word will spread that the ballpark has reopened.
Soccer is not replacing baseball on the list of popular pro sports in Philadelphia. But there have been enough reasons lately to scare the Phillies straight.