The Lake County Fielders held the first of their two home openers yesterday. This one, the northern version, was held at Carthage College in Kenosha, WI. The schools 450 seat ballpark has been augmented with 300 bleacher seats, bringing the total seating to 750. According to an article in the Kenosha News, an announced crowd of 2,044 cheered the Fielders as they downed the visiting Gary-Southshore RailCats 5-3.
This turn-out puts the heat on the folks back in Lake County to top it, when the Fielders finally have their true home opener next month in Zion, IL.
CONGRATS to the Fielders and GOOD LUCK!
Fielders Host 1st "Home" Game
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J.J. Smith
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Maybe a thousand
I saw pictures of the crowd and read a description from someone who was there, and the actual number was probably in the 800 to 1000 range. Remember, this is a Rich Ehrenreich organization, so don't expect anything resembling the truth. They have stonewalled people requesting refunds, so who knows what they are actually counting. If they can average 500 in actual attendance the rest of the way at Carthage, I think they will be doing well.
They should be able to get over a thousand at least in the first week when/if they get the temporary field in order. After that, ??? If they price the concessions the same way they do at Alexian Field, they are going to have problems. I think it was $5.75 for a Miller Lite and $3.75 for a hot dog the last time I was there. People largely come to these games for the experience the stadium has to offer, so this doesn't look promising for Zion. I think there is a good chance this could be a one and out proposition.
They should be able to get over a thousand at least in the first week when/if they get the temporary field in order. After that, ??? If they price the concessions the same way they do at Alexian Field, they are going to have problems. I think it was $5.75 for a Miller Lite and $3.75 for a hot dog the last time I was there. People largely come to these games for the experience the stadium has to offer, so this doesn't look promising for Zion. I think there is a good chance this could be a one and out proposition.
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J.J. Smith
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Ken, Steelheads fan
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[quote=""J.J. Smith""]I saw pictures of the crowd and read a description from someone who was there, and the actual number was probably in the 800 to 1000 range. Remember, this is a Rich Ehrenreich organization, so don't expect anything resembling the truth. They have stonewalled people requesting refunds, so who knows what they are actually counting. If they can average 500 in actual attendance the rest of the way at Carthage, I think they will be doing well.
They should be able to get over a thousand at least in the first week when/if they get the temporary field in order. After that, ??? If they price the concessions the same way they do at Alexian Field, they are going to have problems. I think it was $5.75 for a Miller Lite and $3.75 for a hot dog the last time I was there. People largely come to these games for the experience the stadium has to offer, so this doesn't look promising for Zion. I think there is a good chance this could be a one and out proposition.[/quote]
Attendance is almost always announced everywhere as paid attendance, not butts in seats. The Fielders aren't announcing their attendance any differently than the rest of the sports world.
They should be able to get over a thousand at least in the first week when/if they get the temporary field in order. After that, ??? If they price the concessions the same way they do at Alexian Field, they are going to have problems. I think it was $5.75 for a Miller Lite and $3.75 for a hot dog the last time I was there. People largely come to these games for the experience the stadium has to offer, so this doesn't look promising for Zion. I think there is a good chance this could be a one and out proposition.[/quote]
Attendance is almost always announced everywhere as paid attendance, not butts in seats. The Fielders aren't announcing their attendance any differently than the rest of the sports world.
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J.J. Smith
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[quote=""Ken, Steelheads fan""]Attendance is almost always announced everywhere as paid attendance, not butts in seats. The Fielders aren't announcing their attendance any differently than the rest of the sports world.[/quote]
I understand that, Ken, but here's what Lake County is putting out on their own web page:
June 12, 2010
Kenosha, WI - The Lake County Fielders lost the second game of their home series 6-0 to the Gary SouthShore RailCats after a 5-3 win yesterday. The Fielders had only three hits and gave up three critical errors Saturday night in front of a crowd of 1,275 at Carthage College.
I understand that Carthage, as it's set up right now, can seat about 1,275 as an absolute upper limit, so they may just report something around that number from here on out to keep things within the realm of believability. They announced 2,000 for the home opener, which would be like the Cubs announcing a crowd of 65,000 at Wrigley Field. Makes one wonder what's going on.
I remember a time when pro sports teams used to report two figures, paid attendance and total in the house. That was quite awhile ago, maybe as far back as the Jack Brickhouse era.
I don't think anyone who follows Indy sports really puts much stock in these reported numbers. I've talked to people who used to go to games in Kenosha when they had the Mammoths playing at Simmons Field, and they said the place was next to deserted on most nights. But if you look at the attendance figures, they reported something like a 750 average for the whole season. Now 750 is really poor, but sounds a lot better than 120. Same thing with Oakland Co. this year and last year. Just made up numbers to make it look like it's not as dead as it really is. But in the end, imaginary customers don't pay the bills, or buy the beers.
I'm going to try to drive up there and check it out for myself this week.
I understand that, Ken, but here's what Lake County is putting out on their own web page:
June 12, 2010
Kenosha, WI - The Lake County Fielders lost the second game of their home series 6-0 to the Gary SouthShore RailCats after a 5-3 win yesterday. The Fielders had only three hits and gave up three critical errors Saturday night in front of a crowd of 1,275 at Carthage College.
I understand that Carthage, as it's set up right now, can seat about 1,275 as an absolute upper limit, so they may just report something around that number from here on out to keep things within the realm of believability. They announced 2,000 for the home opener, which would be like the Cubs announcing a crowd of 65,000 at Wrigley Field. Makes one wonder what's going on.
I remember a time when pro sports teams used to report two figures, paid attendance and total in the house. That was quite awhile ago, maybe as far back as the Jack Brickhouse era.
I don't think anyone who follows Indy sports really puts much stock in these reported numbers. I've talked to people who used to go to games in Kenosha when they had the Mammoths playing at Simmons Field, and they said the place was next to deserted on most nights. But if you look at the attendance figures, they reported something like a 750 average for the whole season. Now 750 is really poor, but sounds a lot better than 120. Same thing with Oakland Co. this year and last year. Just made up numbers to make it look like it's not as dead as it really is. But in the end, imaginary customers don't pay the bills, or buy the beers.
I'm going to try to drive up there and check it out for myself this week.
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Ken, Steelheads fan
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I also remember a time when teams announced two figures, paid attencance and total in the house. Nowadays it's paid attendance only for public consumption. That's generally a consistent practice across the board whether it's the majors or the minors. As I said before, the Fielders aren't doing anything any differently than the rest of the pack. Also, their press release reads like so many press releases written so many times before by so many other teams.
i was at the cruiser game last night and the reported attendance was inflated 10 fold which is a LOT of no shows . now if this is the case regarding no shows which it may be to a certain degree that cant say much for youre product can it ? imo the nl n fl have some owners that need to be shown the door for the good of the loops for they run these clubs as a business in a deplorable fashion
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J.J. Smith
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Ken,
It's one thing to throw out some inflated "attendance" figure for public consumption, it's another to state outright that the game was "played in front of a crowd of 1,275" when the actual number was one forth that size. That's an outright lie, and is consistent with the way this organization has handled things from the start. I expect better from a club in an established league that promotes itself as the premier independent circuit.
It's one thing to throw out some inflated "attendance" figure for public consumption, it's another to state outright that the game was "played in front of a crowd of 1,275" when the actual number was one forth that size. That's an outright lie, and is consistent with the way this organization has handled things from the start. I expect better from a club in an established league that promotes itself as the premier independent circuit.
Last edited by J.J. Smith on Tue Jun 15, 2010 1:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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J.J. Smith
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[quote=""ca""]i imo the nl n fl have some owners that need to be shown the door for the good of the loops for they run these clubs as a business in a deplorable fashion[/quote]
Absolutely agree. A few bad owners really bring the quality of the whole product down. The Northern League would be smart to get rid of Ehrenreich, and the FL should definitely launch this Oakland Co. clown.
Absolutely agree. A few bad owners really bring the quality of the whole product down. The Northern League would be smart to get rid of Ehrenreich, and the FL should definitely launch this Oakland Co. clown.
