? the 300,000 strong homestand !

[kramnoj]

B-Ref has it at 1,820,282 as well.

[logan82]

The Brewers website has their capacity at 41,900.

[kramnoj]

If the Brewers wanted to add capacity, how feasible would that be, and where could they do so? I wouldn't want to make the playing field smaller, so it would probably have to be in the area behind CF where they have the Point and that Tundra section. I'll freely admit to knowing nothing about architecture, so I'm probably missing a few things, but I imagine the FO has to be considering possibilities.

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

I think the seating capacity is fine. If we start to sellout EVERY game, that means the Supply/Demand has shifted dramatically where the tickets are more valuable and the Brewers can *gasp* charge more....

 

In reality though, its all about building the fan base. A viewer watching FSN at home is just as valuable as a fan in the seats (especially if we're drawing 40K/night), and building those TV ratings for our next contract will be HUGE.

 

Merchandise sales will also help and i think our attendance/capacity questions can be put to rest for now

[kramnoj]

think the seating capacity is fine. If we start to sellout EVERY game, that means the Supply/Demand has shifted dramatically where the tickets are more valuable and the Brewers can *gasp* charge more....

 

Gasp? Really?

 

I'm pretty sure the Brewers have raised ticket prices in many areas over the last few years and would be expected to do so again this offseason. Increasing capacity increases revenue in parking, tickets, concessions, team gear. I would think the Brewers have a handle on how many extra tickets they could sell and would be exploring the cost of adding extra capacity vs the revenue return.

[owbc]

There's definitely room for adding capacity in the far LF and RF corner of the terrace, although those seats are some of the last to be sold. In LF, it could probably go 5-7 rows higher in about 3 sections up there to make the seating bowl touch the outside wall. That would be maybe an extra 300-500 seats.

 

In RF, it looks like it could go higher from about section 405 through section 410. A few of these sections could probably go 10 rows higher which would add 500-700 seats at least.

 

The loge bleachers and Dew Deck could both be extended farther towards Center Field--essentially adding 2 more full Loge Bleacher sections where Tundra Territory is right now. They could get 500-1000 more seats out of that.

 

Same thing in LF, more Loge bleachers covering the Brewers bullpen--500 more seats.

 

Thus, I think they could get at least 2,000 more seats in and possibly more.

 

However, I like the ballpark the way it looks now. The terrace additions seem like a waste of time for seats that would only be sold about 20 times per year. However, the value in additional bleachers would be greater. I doubt they would actually do it, though.

[dadofandrew]

Those terrace sections would sell out 40-50 times this year. I think they will look to add seats, I had mentioned that a week or so ago at Ramblings.

[nohopspanther]

The cost of construction is highly unlikely to ever come close to making it worthwhile to add cheap seats because you could not charge much for seats out there. Do small seating additions, possible answer to getting more fans in, but extremely limited revenue. The same reason Mark Cuban is talking about finding a sponsor for the entire upperdeck and then making those seats free at Mavericks home games to bring in more revenue via sponsorship.

[kramnoj]

The cost of construction is highly unlikely to ever come close to making it worthwhile to add cheap seats because you could not charge much for seats out there.

 

I really don't know, but what would the cost of construction for 500 bleacher seats be? If you figure just $20 average revenue per seat (that's cost of ticket, parking cut that the Brewers get, whatever profit they get from concessions, etc) for say 40 games a year that is $400k in just one year. And I think I'm being conservative there in revenue/seat. The Brewers will sell out at least 30 games this year. I don't think it's a stretch to guess they could sell out 40. Every time they turn away a customer they are losing potential revenue.

 

There are certainly different schools of thought when it comes to seating capacity. The Red Sox have the smallest stadium in the league (IIRC) and have been adding seats in different places to increase revenue. Meanwhile, the new Yankee stadium is going to have a few thousand fewer seats than the current one. There's a balance between creating scarcity to increase prices and being so scarce that you are limiting revenue. I do think that it is feasible to add 1-2k seats as previously pointed out and generate a million $ or more for the team per year.

[dadofandrew]

1000 seats at $14 is $1.2M a year. If it costs less than $10M, you get your cost back quickly in a long-term business, and tickets will never be cheaper than they are today. I would think they will look to add spendy seats as well, like Boston has, if at all possible.

[TauPentaRei]

The path to the 300,000 homestand:

 

F: 41,357

Sa: 43,489

Su: 41,565

 

leaving 173,589 to be got over the next four games - a 43,397 average.

 

a quick scan notes:

44,014 - Sunday 6-APR v Giants

44,169 - Saturday 26-APR v Marlins

44,613 - Sunday 1-Jun v Astros

 

If there is any series where the turnstiles will operate like Paris Hilton's pants and push the capacity limits - it's this one. 300K seems in the bag.

 

Anybody got a car up on blocks in their front yard that we could conveniently tow out to - oh, say, a couple of miles short of the 894 / 94 split, and set on fire round about 5:30? Block a couple of FIB lanes with a flipped over turnip truck? I'm not saying... I'm just saying.

[Brew Man Dan]

a quick update

 

F: 41,357

Sa: 43,489

Su: 41,565

M: 45,311

Tu: 45,069

total: 216791

 

that leaves 83,211 or 41606/game to get to 300,000. This seems in the bag.

[dadofandrew]

The only question left is 3M or just missing it.

[Brew Man Dan]

The final tally

 

F: 41,357

Sa: 43,489

Su: 41,565

M: 45,311

Tu: 45,069

W: 44,871

Th: 45,346

total: 307,008

 

that is 11 straight sellouts and 27 for the season.

 

total for the year: 2,039,444 that leaves 960,556 fans to get in 26 games to get to 3M an average of 36,945.

 

We are on pace for 3,003,545 fans. An with 3 completely sold out Cubs games left I would think that staying on pace would be easy.

[dadofandrew]

As silly as it sounds, any extended losing streak, even after a 7 game win streak, could be enough to slow down the pace to break 3M. I think it is safe to assume the total will be between 2.95M and 3.05M...it is very possible a few hundred folks could do it.

[bucks2281]

The four games against Washington appear to be sellouts. The first three are slamdunks, and I think only club seats remain for the Monday game. The first two Houston games look good -- not many terrace seats remain. The Wed., 8/20 game is during the afternoon, so I wouldn't be surprised if those tickets are gobbled up quickly. Then there's a weekend set against Pittsburgh, two of which are already selling SRO. There's probably a good chance Labor Day sells out, too, looking at the number of terrace seats remaining. So, the Brewers may sellout every home game until September 2. It's definitely something to keep our eyes on.

[1992casey]

When I checked last night, the best seats available for the Wednesday afternoon, August 20 game vs. Houston were in the upper reaches of the Terrace Reserved. However, they were still relatively close to home plate.

 

The Houston night games still had seats in several sections, but they were hardly what one could call premium. Still OK, though.

[hawing]

total for the year: 2,039,444 that leaves 960,556 fans to get in 26 games to get to 3M an average of 36,945.

Actually, the Journal Sentinel reports a total this morning of 2,042,444 - which is the same figure I have on the 2008 attendance spreadsheet I dorkily maintain at home. So that's 957,556 fans to get in 26 games, an average of 36,829.

 

I point this out not to nitpick on 999555999, but because the 2008 Brewers' season draw to July 31 comes within 20,000 of the full-season attendance for 2004 (2,062,382). And I remember being moderately excited that they broke 2 million that year.

[dadofandrew]

Wow, there were oodles of seats left for the Monday afternoon game a week or so ago when we bought seats for my son and I. Literally, the entire 4th deck, as our choices were rtight behind home plate. We got the Braun special seats, but since he'll be spending much of the game in the play area, it seemed silly to spend too much.

 

Hawing, that is some geeky behavior. You should blog that sucker.http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[1992casey]

The discrepancy hawing points out still exists between the Journal Sentinel and ESPN. Weirdly enough, the ESPN number would match up to an article Tom Haudricourt wrote a few days ago.

 

I think I gotta go with hawing's spreadsheet. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif Although, I also think that the next time I go to a game, I'll write down the number displayed on the scoreboard and see how that matches.

[hawing]

Living up to my now-cemented dork reputation, for every game we attend, I note the game attendance and season attendance total on the ticket stub, which is another reason why I have faith in my data. Of course, now I'll have to recheck it tonight, maybe just because I can.

 

http://www.uniquities.co.uk/acatalog/ts-nerd.jpg