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San Diego ranks 30th as baseball city
don bauder, so what you seem to be saying is that the "average" fan, those "Joe Six Packs" as you referred to them don't have the ability to understand the game of baseball well enough to appreciate a low scoring game? That's a pretty pompous attitude from my point of view.— June 3, 2015 4:31 p.m.
San Diego ranks 30th as baseball city
aardvark, So if I interpret you comment correctly, the prospect of a better performance by the Padres enticed you to attend more often. From another angle, let me ask you this, would the location of Petco keep you from going?— June 3, 2015 4:26 p.m.
San Diego ranks 30th as baseball city
don bauder, I don't know that I would describe San Diego's market, as we are discussing it in this context, a political boundary. The list I have seen that show San Diego as the 17th sized market are based on population of metropolitan areas that have teams, using Census Bureau figures for those defined metro area. It's just that in this case the San Diego metro happens to be San Diego county. I think it's more a geographical thing than anything else. San Diego county is bordered on one side by the Pacific Ocean and another side by an international border. That's a pretty unique situation. I'm sure that there are other metro areas that encompass but a single county. For example, I'm at my house in Tucson right know. And while Tucson is a component of the more extensive Tucson-Nogales, AZ Combined Statistical Area, unless something has changed recently, the whole of the Tucson, AZ Metropolitan Statistical Area is Pima County exclusively. In this case, Tucson doesn't have an MLB team and San Diego does.— June 3, 2015 4:21 p.m.
San Diego ranks 30th as baseball city
But then in 2011, the Padres were again horrible, yet average attendance increased from the prior year. Then there is 2006, when the Padres won the west and averaged almost 33k per game. Or how about 2008, when the Padres averaged 29969 while losing 99 games. With San Diego, it often appears that the performance of the team does not correlate with attendance. And I will still disagree with you, as I have in the past, the Petco's location has inhibited attendance.— June 3, 2015 4 p.m.
San Diego ranks 30th as baseball city
don bauder If there is a correlation between good teams and attendance, would it not also be fair to say that there is a correlation between bad teams and attendance?— June 3, 2015 12:45 p.m.
San Diego ranks 30th as baseball city
Yes, generally speaking, you are correct. With every team contributing their 31% of their net local revenue, and that money being divided up and equally distributed to every team, large market teams who have more revenue are subsidizing not just the "small market" teams, but in reality ANY team that generates less revenue. That means if you're the Yankees, with your $508 million in 2014, after deducting nearly $80 million in pilot bond fees for the new Yankee Stadium project, you are, in effect helping subsidize every other team, not just the small market team, although they get the most. There are exceptions, of course. The Cardinals are one that comes to mind. As is San Diego. Most publications list San Diego as around the 26th largest market, though based on 2010 census figures, San Diego was 17th largest market, and in 2014, the Padres ranked 20th in revenue, ahead of such larger markets as Phoenix, Miami and Houston. So in a certain sense, the Padres are also helping to subsidize not only some of the teams in markets smaller than San Diego, but some in larger ones as well.— June 3, 2015 12:42 p.m.
San Diego ranks 30th as baseball city
don bauder you have referred to that "novelty effect of Petco" before. So how do you explain this year's increase in attendance?— June 3, 2015 10:18 a.m.
San Diego ranks 30th as baseball city
aardvark MLB teams no longer share gate receipts. The 1997 CBA altered MLB’s system of sharing revenue sharing between clubs .Every team now pays in 31% of their net local revenue, and then that money is divided up and equally distributed to every team. On top of that, part of MLB’s central fund which is acquired through things like national broadcasts contracts is set aside to be allocated to teams based on their revenues.— June 3, 2015 10:13 a.m.
San Diego ranks 30th as baseball city
don bauder, Would you rather watch a good opera from a bad seat or a bad opera from a good seat? In some instances, even the idea of "cheaper" is a philosophical one. Oh, sure, one could go all analytical and figure out who much was spent to watch a game at home. But maybe for for you, the idea is too esoteric to fully comprehend. I attended my very first major league baseball games ever 47 yrs ago this month and have been attending games regularly for 39 yrs. I can tell that for me, it's definitely NOT about the nuances. Yes, they are there. The cut of the grass along the baselines, the direction the wind is blowing the flag, the high pale blue sky for a California day game or the tough sun for a late afternoon/early evening game. Yeah, those things, and countless more, are there for every game, and are an undeniable part of the game. But for me, it's about the experience, the ambiance, if you will. Yes, there are days, more now than in past years, when I simply don't want to endure the trip to Dodger Stadium or even the Big A, and back, and so choose to watch the game at home. But the times that I do choose to attend, the experience is nothing like watching at home. And even when dealing with traffic on the 5 on the way home, it's always worth it.— June 3, 2015 9:44 a.m.
Power company's Darling
don bauder, With the U-T not even penetrating 20 percent of the households in the county does it even matter? How many of the county's 2.5 million or so residents of voting age even pay attention for more than just a moment or two? I follow what goes on there from afar, having left SD more than 2 decades ago, but I probably know more of what's going on down there than half the people who live there. And my opinion is that in San Diego county, as well as the rest of So Cal, the vast majority of people not only don't pay much attention to the goings on of the PUC, but most of those people don't have have the slightest clue of not only how they have been doing things for some many years, but also how things are supposed to work. This "rape of the ratepayer", as you call it, has been going on for so long that most people just don't know any better. People don't drink the sand because they're thirsty. They drink it because they don't know the difference.— June 2, 2015 8:36 a.m.