Fighting the Crowds

I finally made my first 2011 trip to Citi Field this past Wednesday night for (shockingly) a very entertaining game and (even more shockingly) a Mets victory.  The Mets managed to pull a solid crowd, too - even though it was a meaningless game against St. Louis in the middle of the week - and, impressively, at times the often-silent stadium breathed signs of life.  But of all the surprising things I saw at the game, from clutch hitting from Carlos Beltran to a solid relief appearance by Jason Isringhausen, was how many fans left the game early.

After the Mets failed to score in the bottom of the ninth inning of a tie game, the New York fans headed for the exits in droves.  It was as if the fans were afraid of getting charged for the extra innings.  Maybe it shouldn't have been that surprising - after all, the Metropolitans are a struggling team that most fans are tired of watching, and the team had a 12:10 PM game the next afternoon.  It's possible that the diehard Mets fans that are still standing by the team through the trade deadline had to get home and rest before taking the day off to see the team play the next afternoon. 

But when the Cardinals failed to score in the top of the 10th and the St. Louis "faithful" headed for the parking lot, I was stunned.  As a Braves fan who has never lived in Atlanta, I know how precious seeing your team on the road is.  Depending on who you root for and where you live, you only get to see your team visit your town three to nine games per year (if at all), and of those you likely can't make it to every game.  So when you make it to the ballpark wearing your team's gear, you better stay for the entire game.  In this particular instance, the Cardinals ended up losing in the bottom of the 10th on an Angel Pagan walkoff homerun, but the Cards fans had no way of knowing that.  Instead, they decided to choose a few extra minutes of sleep over watching what could have been an exciting extra inning win for St. Louis, a team fighting through a pennant race.  When I see the Braves at Citi Field in a few weeks, you better believe I'll be there until the last pitch is thrown, regardless of the score - and especially if it's a close game like Wednesday night's was.

The crowd at Wednesday's Mets game was impressive; at least until the extra innings.

The early exits got me thinking about how teams could encourage fans to stay until the end of games.  Perhaps offer a promotion where fans that stay until the end of the game get a coupon for something - a free Subway sandwich, a free Dunkin' Donuts coffee, etc.  Or fans who stay until the end of the ballgame could receive a coupon for money off their next ticket(s) to a game.  It's a wonder that (to my knowledge) no teams are offering this.  Not only could teams generate more concessions sales by encouraging fans to stay at the games longer, but having larger crowds in key late game situations would generate more excitement for everyone (the players included).  It's time that teams start doing something to keep people in the seats, because it's obvious that fans aren't going to change any time soon.