17,000 to see a playoff team?

[Ben Grimm]

The Braves just finished up a three game series against the Padres. Attendance for the set averaged less than 17,000. Are you kidding me? I really hope game time temps were 130 degrees or there was a three-day hurricane warning or something to keep the fans away. That's an embarassment for a team leading the WC race and is only 4.5 out of the Division.

[RaysFan_98]

And? Times are tough in this day and age everyone doesn't have money to just throw around as of late.

[Los Bravos]

On the plus side, no little kids got vomited on.

[aztecsince79]

The Padres aren't a huge draw. It was probably hot and humid. Braves fans were getting pretty spoiled there for awhile.

[Bothrops Atrox]

And? Times are tough in this day and age everyone doesn't have money to just throw around as of late.

Yet in other non-affluent towns like St. Louis, the stadium is full every night. Maybe there are other factors at play here other than just the national economy?

[Los Bravos]

The Braves have a great regional and national following. They just don't have all that strong a home base in Atlanta itself. It's SEC country, most southerners prefer football, there are a lot of transplants and bandwagon jumpers there...it's all an ugly melange.

Believe me, it's a source of angst and embarrassment for all of us who don't live close enough to go to games but love the team.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

The Whitesox fans have been the same way. It will pickup in September i'm sure though.

[Ben Grimm]

The Braves have a great regional and national following. They just don't have all that strong a home base in Atlanta itself. It's SEC country, most southerners prefer football, there are a lot of transplants and bandwagon jumpers there...it's all an ugly melange.

Believe me, it's a source of angst and embarrassment for all of us who don't live close enough to go to games but love the team.

Makes sense and was something I sort of assumed but wasn't sure. It just popped out at me when I saw the lousy Astros hosting the brutal Cubs in front of an average of 30K+ during the same three days. Even Pittsburgh played in front of 24K per night.

[BeatEmBucs]

Tampa was only drawing that much in September of '08 when they were making their pennant run so it's nothing new. I was a little surprised the Bucs only drew 25,000 for todays game, but if the Bucs weren't in it, that figure would probably have been 15,000. It is a bit surprising considering how much bigger Atlanta is as a city, but I'm sure there were some folks at the Falcons-Bengals preseason game that would've gone to Turner if there wasn't a football game going on.

[UnderPressure]

Atlanta just doesn't seem like a great pro sports town. Like Los Bravos said, a good chunk of the Braves fan base is in the suburbs, far away from the big city.

[Dude Paskert]

The Braves have a great regional and national following. They just don't have all that strong a home base in Atlanta itself. It's SEC country, most southerners prefer football, there are a lot of transplants and bandwagon jumpers there...it's all an ugly melange.

Believe me, it's a source of angst and embarrassment for all of us who don't live close enough to go to games but love the team.

Aren't there about 10,000 "gentlemen's clubs" around Atlanta?
I always thought that factor hurt the Rangers when I lived in/near Dallas, a group of guys would pile in the car to go to a game and then drive by MDS or some place like that and cut the drive short.

[Ben Grimm]

Surprisingly (at least to me), last night's final match-up between ATL & SD had 33K in attendance - on a night when the Falcons were playing no less. That's more like it. I heard that it may have been Chipper Jones bobble head night - but can't confirm - which could be the reason for the sudden boost.

[philliesfiend55]

Atlanta isn't even the worst "Indifference Offender". Commissioner Selig has taken the Tampa Bay Rays fans to task for their low attendance figures, despite the fact that the team made the playoffs three of the last four seasons, was over .500 the year they missed, and appears playoffs-bound again this year. The Tampa area also has failed to sell out their NFL Buccaneers home games too, thus invoking the TV Blackout rule. It's a systemic problem, because Tampa Bay's economy is extremely depressed and a lot of people their are living below or near the poverty line. A lot of these people are sports fans but simply can't afford tickets plus the other expenses a day at a baseball or football stadium entails. There seems to be no problem selling out the NHL Lighting games, but with the Lightning we're talking about selling out an arena of only around 17,000 seating capacity.

[ol' aches and pains]

Surprisingly (at least to me), last night's final match-up between ATL & SD had 33K in attendance - on a night when the Falcons were playing no less. That's more like it. I heard that it may have been Chipper Jones bobble head night - but can't confirm - which could be the reason for the sudden boost.

Yes, it was Chipper Jones bobble-head night, and he rose to the occasion, hitting two home runs.

[Los Bravos]

Passing Dave Winfield on the career homer list and notching hit #2700 with the second one. He continues to really rise to the occasion this season.

Aren't there about 10,000 "gentlemen's clubs" around Atlanta?

I know the Gold Club isn't there any longer...