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David Dodd

David Dodd is a Reader contributor. See staff page for published articles.

Price Slashes, Improved Team Haven't Helped Padres

Official Padres attendance for 2010: 2,131,774 For PETCO, since its opening, here are the previous years: 2004 - 3,040,046 2005 - 2,832,039 2006 - 2,659,732 2007 - 2,790,074 2008 - 2,427,535 2009 - 1,922,603 Previous to PETCO, when the stadium was called Jack Murphy, the only times the Padres drew more than 2,131,774 was in 1985 when they drew 2,210,352 and in 1996 when they drew 2,187,886. During the Qualcomm years, the attendance was as follows: 1997 - 2,089,333 1998 - 2,555,874 1999 - 2,523,538 2000 - 2,423,149 2001 - 2,378,128 2002 - 2,220,416 2003 - 2,030,084 In Qualcomm, the capacity for baseball was 50,000 until 1986 where bleacher additions raised capacity to 58,433 until 1997 when improvements upped the capacity to 67,544. In comparison, the capacity for PETCO is 42,445. Is there a decrease in attendance at PETCO, excluding last year, in comparison with 2004 through 2008? Yes. Is it drastic? I don't think so. However, there's some data for everyone to chew on. (Side note: The Padres just lost to the Cubs, the last regular season home game of 2010. They are three games behind San Francisco with three games to play, so they would need a sweep of the Giants starting tomorrow in order to force a one-game play-off at PETCO. To win the wild card, the Padres need for the Braves to lose at least two of their three games hosting the Phillies while the Padres must sweep the Giants. Should the Padres tie the Braves in the standings for the wild card, they would play one game in Atlanta to determine the winner.)
— September 30, 2010 6:53 p.m.

Price Slashes, Improved Team Haven't Helped Padres

Re #21: Personally, I couldn't care less, I've turned down free tickets to see the Chargers play, I have no intention of attending another professional football game unless I'm in the press box and being paid to do so. My argument is on behalf of fans that do attend and it is based on their input, and my criteria for judging Qualcomm so harshly comes from personal experience of being inside of the stadium, on the field, numerous times. Note that football fans in Washington D.C. complain about Fed-Ex Field, they miss the experience of RFK Stadium even though the newer venue is much more accommodating for a professional football team. So, you never know. The Chargers certainly CAN play at Qualcomm for at least another decade, although maintenance costs are beginning to skyrocket. Note that the home opener failed to sell out and now this Sunday's game is going to fail to sell out. This isn't because Qualcomm is not a great venue to watch a game, it is mostly economics and less than stellar opponents. So far as a new football stadium in San Diego, it isn't going to happen, and I agree with the majority here that believe it shouldn't happen if public funding is part of the equation. My argument about Qualcomm is entirely separate from that issue. I think it is furcated to argue that since a new stadium can't be built then the existing one is just wonderful. Qualcomm is a useful venue, it simply isn't useful for the Chargers or the Padres. And I watched a lot of Padres games there and had a great time, never complained, but I fully understood why the Padres wanted a new stadium. Like you, I find it reprehensible what Moores was permitted to get away with, but setting that aside along with the way it was financed, PETCO is a far superior venue than Qualcomm for baseball.
— September 30, 2010 2:48 p.m.

Pb sucks, and I'm old!

Brilliant, Ms. Grant.
— September 30, 2010 1:45 p.m.

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