Lake County Attendance

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Ken, Steelheads fan
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Post by Ken, Steelheads fan » Sat Aug 21, 2010 4:54 pm

[quote=""J.J. Smith""]The "attendance" figures they release are grossly exaggerated (to placate the sponsors who paid for something better and make it seem that everything is A-OK), the facility is third rate, and the actual attendance numbers are dropping. So my "WTF" conclusion is that this franchise is in trouble if it can't come up with a real stadium- real fast. Does anyone see that happening in the current economic environment? And I don't think people have a problem with "the Fielders"-they have a problem with the way ownership has run things.[/quote]

The link to the Facebook pic YOU provided to begin this thread doesn't seem to support your position. However, if this franchise is in trouble then the world will soon learn whether that is the case. The regular season is coming to a close.

[quote=""ca""]that over estimates the head count as the fl has its lc as well and the future of these clubs amongst others could hang in the balance[/quote]

It's being done practically everywhere in the major sports and minors.

ca
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some are really ...

Post by ca » Sat Aug 21, 2010 5:14 pm

doing the over stating in regards to attendance especially the bottom feeder of the fl

ca
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while i dont think the new pk ...

Post by ca » Mon Aug 23, 2010 12:33 pm

in lc should put them at the top of nol attendance being at the bottom especially in a new market cant be good either

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Post by Ken, Steelheads fan » Mon Aug 23, 2010 2:18 pm

[quote=""ca""]in lc should put them at the top of nol attendance being at the bottom especially in a new market cant be good either[/quote]

I dunno. Call me crazy, but last place in the Northern League isn't necessarily a bad place to be. Bill (nlfan) presented some figures ranking the Fielders' attendance 22nd out of all 56 independent baseball teams when compared to 2009 totals. That's better than 61% of all those teams. These attendance numbers don't include the Fielders games played at Carthage College, but still...

Also, call me just as crazy--but which is more important in the grand scheme of things? Attendance numbers that allow a franchise to be successful or attendance numbers for bragging rights?

ca
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maybe things arent ...

Post by ca » Tue Aug 24, 2010 2:14 am

all that bad in lc

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Post by J.J. Smith » Wed Aug 25, 2010 12:09 pm

The Fielders have painted themselves into a corner with their ticket pricing structure. The prices this year range form $0 to $5. They wholesale their group tickets at $2 to be sold at $5. They also had to make concessions to season ticket buyers and others (to mollify them for the lack of getting the stadium they were promised) that will impact revenue next year as well.

Since their actual ticket sales are probably half of what they are reporting, we're talking about a gate that could not possibly support a Northern League team. A couple million could be invested in the facility to make it a little better (plumbing would be nice, seeing as how this is the 21st century and all) but people are now conditioned to expect to be able to go to a game for $5 or less, and they are going to have a real hard time getting more than that unless they can come up with a real stadium. And even then, given the economy and the reality that things are not getting better (and may not get better-where are the jobs going to come from?) raising ticket prices to a sustainable level is going to be a tough sell.

Bottom line: they picked a rotten time to start this project.

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Post by Ken, Steelheads fan » Wed Aug 25, 2010 4:57 pm

[quote=""J.J. Smith""]The Fielders have painted themselves into a corner with their ticket pricing structure. The prices this year range form $0 to $5. They wholesale their group tickets at $2 to be sold at $5. They also had to make concessions to season ticket buyers and others (to mollify them for the lack of getting the stadium they were promised) that will impact revenue next year as well.

Since their actual ticket sales are probably half of what they are reporting, we're talking about a gate that could not possibly support a Northern League team. A couple million could be invested in the facility to make it a little better (plumbing would be nice, seeing as how this is the 21st century and all) but people are now conditioned to expect to be able to go to a game for $5 or less, and they are going to have a real hard time getting more than that unless they can come up with a real stadium. And even then, given the economy and the reality that things are not getting better (and may not get better-where are the jobs going to come from?) raising ticket prices to a sustainable level is going to be a tough sell.

Bottom line: they picked a rotten time to start this project.[/quote]
I agree with your bottom line. The economy is awful.

However, I don't agree with your thoughts on ticket pricing. It's not like Zion is a backwater community in the middle of nowhere. People in the Chicagoland area are accustomed to paying higher prices and appreciate value. You know this as well as me. Which is the better value, catching a game right there in Zion when ticket prices are increased to $10 or driving into the city to catch a Cubs game?

Also, I don't think completing the permanent ballpark will be a problem. The foundation and infrastructure are already in place. If you look at the drawing of the finished ballpark on the NL website, then you will see it's not really an expensive looking ballpark. It looks nice and something Zion can be proud of, but it doesn't look expensive to build (relatively speaking). The future ballpark reminds me of Rockford's ballpark (an inexpensive ballpark to build), except Zion will have a tower of luxury suites on the third base side.

ca
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ask kzo in the fl ...

Post by ca » Thu Aug 26, 2010 11:22 am

how tough it is to wean people off of cheap ticket prices yet lc still outdraws them by at least a 2 to 1 margin . now while a nol player makes more than an fl player building the temp pk in lc may be a blessing since they a least have a home (unlike a certain fl team doesnt again) for a new pk could put you in a real $$$ bind

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Post by Sam Hill » Sun Jan 27, 2013 4:03 pm

[quote=""Ken, Steelheads fan""]Sign of a troubled franchise?!? I don't think the evidence supports your opinion. The Fielders seem to have a good fan base and from the aerial photograph, it seems that this is a professionally run operation (with lights).[/quote]

Funny, in hindsight.
Old enough to remember when bashing the ABA was fun.

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Post by Ken, Steelheads fan » Wed Mar 06, 2013 4:22 pm

[quote=""Sam Hill""]Funny, in hindsight.[/quote]

Hindsight is always 20/20. :wink:

I miss the Fielders. I miss all the Chicago area teams making stops in Gary, for that matter. Following independent/minor league baseball without local opponents just hasn't been the same.

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