Lake County Attendance

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Ken, Steelheads fan
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Post by Ken, Steelheads fan » Fri Jul 30, 2010 1:31 am

...and yet the majors and the minors everywhere announce paid attendance. It's paid attendance that's reported in the media, the tickets sold. Of course, if you want to take a physical count like Baseballkid3 of the souls present then you will come up with something closer to a turnstile count. These counts are two entirely different things.

If tickets sold represent revenue brought-in by the team, then how can you say that information is worthless?!? Tickets sold is one of the indicators of the financial health of the team.

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Post by J.J. Smith » Fri Jul 30, 2010 2:16 am

[quote=""Ken, Steelheads fan""]...and yet the majors and the minors everywhere announce paid attendance. It's paid attendance that's reported in the media, the tickets sold. Of course, if you want to take a physical count like Baseballkid3 of the souls present then you will come up with something closer to a turnstile count. These counts are two entirely different things.

If tickets sold represent revenue brought-in by the team, then how can you say that information is worthless?!? Tickets sold is one of the indicators of the financial health of the team.[/quote]

I think we've had this conversation before, Ken. I understand the concept, OK? If I trusted the source of the information, I would agree that it's valuable information. I don't. I think they are just making up numbers to make themselves look good. But you're free to trust the accounting department of Rich Ehrenreich if you wish.

What I really wanted to know was what the true capacity of the park is and the actual number of customers that have been showing up.

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Post by BaseballKid3 » Fri Jul 30, 2010 2:38 am

The one thing everyone has to realize is that the "paid" number is essentially a made up number by the Lake County people because there were refunds given and essentially every 2010 season ticket holder will get FREE season tickets for 2011. Who is to say that a lot of those people will not ask for refunds after they go through the end of this season and the winter being told more fish stories?

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Final Thought

Post by BaseballKid3 » Fri Jul 30, 2010 2:47 am

Add this into the mix, the Fielders have outsourced all of their concessions which means only 25-35% of the money taken in goes to them. With a likely average of 1,000 people in the park per game that 30% of concession money equaling less than $5,000 each night which doesn't pay any bills other than the electric most likely.

It will be sugar coated, excuses will be made, stories will be told and once the new stadium is built it will bring excitment and fun to the area for a short time. Then as with Schaumburg it will slowly die a painful death until hopefully a sale goes through and something can be salvaged from the shipwreck.

I have already requested a refund of my money paid for season tickets. I will drive to Madison, Schaumburg or even Kane County for baseball next season. Will I go to the new stadium, of course, but only once or twice. I am guessing the people that we are just getting to know on the staff will all change as will the make up of the players and coaching staff. Time will tell but knowing Mr. E's track record it won't be much fun or very truthful.

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Post by Ken, Steelheads fan » Fri Jul 30, 2010 4:48 am

[quote=""BaseballKid3""]
...
It will be sugar coated, excuses will be made, stories will be told and once the new stadium is built it will bring excitment and fun to the area for a short time. Then as with Schaumburg it will slowly die a painful death until hopefully a sale goes through and something can be salvaged from the shipwreck.
...
[/quote]

When did Schaumburg die a painful death?!? Just last night (Wednesday), the Schaumburg Flyers drew a paid attendance of 4,008. That's during the middle of the week. Last season the Flyers averaged 4,200 fans. That was when Rich Ehrenreich was still owner/president. At what point did this death occur? I've been following this Ehrenreich/Flyers saga for five years now...and now add the Fielders to the saga. I want to understand, but many of the comments (like the quote above) don't seem to match actual outcomes.
Last edited by Ken, Steelheads fan on Fri Jul 30, 2010 6:01 am, edited 5 times in total.

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Post by BaseballKid3 » Fri Jul 30, 2010 2:00 pm

What I meant by dying a slow death was that was the fact that the ballpark is slowly falling apart.
By the way he is still the owner of the team since as far as I know the sale still has not gone through.

I have become friends with a couple of the front office staff (paid staffers) at Lake County. They said that a couple of people on staff have already left.
There are a few that are owed thousands of dollars in commision that they haven't seen a penny of at all yet this season.

Welcome to Indy Baseball kids!

That's my .02 cents

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Post by wasteland » Fri Jul 30, 2010 5:49 pm

[quote=""J.J. Smith""]I think we've had this conversation before, Ken. I understand the concept, OK? If I trusted the source of the information, I would agree that it's valuable information. I don't. I think they are just making up numbers to make themselves look good. But you're free to trust the accounting department of Rich Ehrenreich if you wish.

What I really wanted to know was what the true capacity of the park is and the actual number of customers that have been showing up.[/quote]

I wouldn't call some guy siting in the stands a good source either.

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Post by wasteland » Fri Jul 30, 2010 5:52 pm

[quote=""BaseballKid3""]What I meant by dying a slow death was that was the fact that the ballpark is slowly falling apart.[/quote]

When did this conversation switch to the cubs?

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Post by Ken, Steelheads fan » Fri Jul 30, 2010 7:45 pm

My first thoughts exactly. When someone says Chicago area ballpark falling apart, then I immediately think of Wrigley Field.

[quote=""BaseballKid3""]What I meant by dying a slow death was that was the fact that the ballpark is slowly falling apart.
...
[/quote]

Hmmmm. Alexian Field is dying a slow death because it is slowly falling apart?!? Is it normal wear and tear or are concrete chunks falling on fans like at Wrigley? Can you provide any links with supportive evidence? The guy who is buying the Flyers stated that he thought Alexian was the most beautiful ballpark in the Northern League. Prospective new owner sees bright future for Schaumburg Flyers. What about pics? Can you provide any pics? I want to learn about the slow painful death of Alexian Field because all the pics taken by fans (and I've seen dozens of shots) show a beautiful ballpark. I want to understand.

Also, you made it a point to mention how the Fielders outsource their concessions thus most of that money won't go to them. Well, ALL the Northern League teams outsource their concessions. Honestly, I can't think of a major/minor/independent league team that does their own in-house concessions. If they do, then they must be a tiny operation and almost completely off the map. Maybe a short-season rookie league?!?

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Post by preeths » Fri Jul 30, 2010 8:03 pm

Off the top of my head, I think the Augusta GreenJackets, the South Atlantic League affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, run their own concessions.

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