Interest in the Brewers

[NYChez]

This was cool to hear.

 

[tomwopat]

The club has fielded a team that has been exciting or competitive to watch (often both) for the better part of the last 15 years. The teams of the late 90's and early 2000's were both awful and like watching paint dry.

 

The 80's Brewers had a core of two HoF players, surrounded by a cast of pretty good's and a rotating cast of freakshows that kept things lively even when they were out of the race by the All-Star break.

[Pugger]

Regarding that graphic, I seriously doubt the yankee push in Alaska. We transplants run the gamut of fandom but I cannot recall seeing yank swag and it’s not full of new yorkers. Lifelong Locals mostly don’t care about baseball but those that do are mostly mariners fans. I’d believe it if it had a circle with a slash through the N.Y. as in rooting for anyone but new york. There are plenty of folks wishing me well this fall with the Brewers. And i suspect we’ve got a lot of the fans across the country rooting for us too.

 

Maybe it is just southwest FL but I see a lot more Red Sox fans here than Yankee fans.

[Pugger]

This was cool to hear.

 

 

We could hear that on the broadcast of the Badger game last night! At first I wasn't sure if I was hearing it correctly.

[AZBrewCrew]

I saw this in Yahoo sports, but I have my doubts. I don't see a lot of Cubs fans rooting for the Brewers. But I have seen a lot of Royals fans rooting for the Brewers due to Cain and Moustakas.

 

 

https://sports.yahoo.com/yankees-dodgers-red-sox-arent-americas-team-postseason-guess-232321957.html

 

Not so sure you’d see Arizona rooting for the Rockies...they are archenemies with the Rockies and Dodgers

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[igor67]

You might very well be getting a non random fan sampling from twitter. I don't actually know anyone in real life who uses it.

[Austin Tatious]

I think this whole uptick in interest thing is a great point.

 

My take is that following the Brewers was fun from the late 70s to 1992, other than a hiccup here and there (e.g., 1984 in particular). Molitor leaving and the whole decade of the 90s being a fiasco hurt interest for a decade. The drafting and player acquisition part was atrocious.

 

Bud and Wendy sold a bill of goods that small markets couldn’t compete. Bud had an eye on the commissioner’s seat anyway and the bigger picture.

 

So instead of selling hope, the franchise told its fans that they couldn’t win because of the economics of small market teams.

 

It was when the stadium was built, Attanasio came in with bona fide competence, and player acquisition became competent instead of a big excuse machine, and interest flourished.

 

Milwaukee is a great baseball town. The attendance for the size of the market is tremendous. Fan interest is spectacular now. It shows that Milwaukee was a sleeping giant.

[Thurston Fluff]

I go fishing way up north every August and without fail every bar we ever go in has the Brewer game on if they are playing regardless of the team's record. Been like this for 15 years.

 

Back in the 90's I used to go bear hunting up north near the UP border and the Brewers game was always on in bars all summer long. I haven't been up there since then but if the mid 90's teams were on I'd have to imagine there would be even higher interest now.

[nodakfan17]

Mods -

 

I’d be neat if you could share any details about trends in site traffic or growth in users over the last year. Personally, I don’t think I’ve been this active since 2008.

[pacopete4]

Went to the grocery store this morning. More Brewers gear being worn than Packers. Never thought I’d see it. (Live in suburbs of MKE)

[jerichoholicninja]

I go fishing way up north every August and without fail every bar we ever go in has the Brewer game on if they are playing regardless of the team's record. Been like this for 15 years.

 

Back in the 90's I used to go bear hunting up north near the UP border and the Brewers game was always on in bars all summer long. I haven't been up there since then but if the mid 90's teams were on I'd have to imagine there would be even higher interest now.

 

Baseball is the only sport on regularly during the summer. It's not surprising that it would be on in bars no matter how the team is doing.

[jjgott]

I would guess the ubiquity of the internet helps a lot, too, as it is so much easier to follow your team if you don't live where they are.

 

I have been a Brewers fan since I can remember (I was 6 when the Brewers went to the World Series) and Brewers players were my childhood idols. I have always loved the Brewers. But all those lean years (which are most of them) were tough. Even tougher was going away to college and not being able to follow the day-to-day all that well. I was in college right when the internet became a thing, but even then, it wasn't that widely used yet. It didn't really hit big until just after I graduated.

 

Hell, without internet, there's a chance my kids would be Atlanta fans.

 

I agree the internet/mlb package helped tremendously with my increased fandom. I grew up in the northeast/west coast and was a Brewers fan because of my dad. Other than the odd Brewers game visiting my grandparents in the summer I very rarely saw the Brewers in person for the first 13 or so years of my life. I recall in Junior year of high school we got the MLB package with our satellite dish and then found this website. Being able to catch a good chunk of games and follow our prospects on here made my fandom go from a passing interest to an obsession.

[NYChez]

[homer]

Mods -

 

I’d be neat if you could share any details about trends in site traffic or growth in users over the last year. Personally, I don’t think I’ve been this active since 2008.

 

See what we can do. I'm not sure how to do it but someone else might.

[MKEBarrister]

I think this whole uptick in interest thing is a great point.

 

My take is that following the Brewers was fun from the late 70s to 1992, other than a hiccup here and there (e.g., 1984 in particular). Molitor leaving and the whole decade of the 90s being a fiasco hurt interest for a decade. The drafting and player acquisition part was atrocious.

 

Bud and Wendy sold a bill of goods that small markets couldn’t compete. Bud had an eye on the commissioner’s seat anyway and the bigger picture.

 

So instead of selling hope, the franchise told its fans that they couldn’t win because of the economics of small market teams.

 

It was when the stadium was built, Attanasio came in with bona fide competence, and player acquisition became competent instead of a big excuse machine, and interest flourished.

 

Milwaukee is a great baseball town. The attendance for the size of the market is tremendous. Fan interest is spectacular now. It shows that Milwaukee was a sleeping giant.

 

Gents, and ladies, first post on this forum.

 

Anywho it's a different era now, partly because of Bud's reforms as the commish. Revenue sharing and the luxury tax have helped narrow the disparity between big and small markets. He also approved the Brewers move to the National League which IMO is kinder to small market teams without the DH. It is easier now to put a product worth watching on the field.

[pacopete4]

2008/2011 probably helped bring in a new wave of Brewers fans. This season and hopefully a good string of successful seasons will hopefully bring in even more.

[nodakfan17]

Gents, and ladies, first post on this forum.

 

Anywho it's a different era now, partly because of Bud's reforms as the commish. Revenue sharing and the luxury tax have helped narrow the disparity between big and small markets. He also approved the Brewers move to the National League which IMO is kinder to small market teams without the DH. It is easier now to put a product worth watching on the field.

Welcome! That’s a great first post.

[RollieTime]

I go fishing way up north every August and without fail every bar we ever go in has the Brewer game on if they are playing regardless of the team's record. Been like this for 15 years.

 

Back in the 90's I used to go bear hunting up north near the UP border and the Brewers game was always on in bars all summer long. I haven't been up there since then but if the mid 90's teams were on I'd have to imagine there would be even higher interest now.

 

In response to Brewers fans in northern Wisconsin, there is a very strong pull of Brewers fans from the far northern part of the state. I live 6 hours from Milwaukee (and yes I live in Wisconsin) and the games are on wherever you go. You can’t go anywhere without seeing people in Brewers attire or people talking about the Brewers. The Brewers draw very well from way up north.

 

The Bucks on the other hand... There is no interest from the community at all. There are people who don’t even realize Wisconsin has an NBA team. I can’t even recall ever seeing a person in the community wearing Bucks attire. On top of that, the Bucks weren’t on television up here until the start of the 2016 season. It’s hard to draw interest from people if they can never watch the team play.

[nodakfan17]

I’ll echo that sentiment as a northerner.

 

The Brewers are a much more accessible team. I attended some Bucks games in my early 20s, but now the thought of driving 2+ hours in the winter is unappealing. You never know what kind of weather you’re going to get when you buy tickets. With the Brewers, the chances of hitting severe weather from April - October (yay!) are much lower. Also, the Wisconsin tailgate culture helps drive Brewer attendance, but you’ll probably get a fine if you take out your grill in a parking ramp. Lame. Lastly, I still hate that the state kicked in $50 million to help the Bucks after the Packers’ request for help was denied in 2000. Brown County (population 250,000) had to go in alone with a half percent sales tax to finance the Lambeau Field renovations. The Brewers are a state-wide team and the Bucks’ appeal is limited beyond Southeast Wisconsin.

[homer]

Let's try to avoid making this thread a Bucks vs Brewers battle. There's an off topic forum dedicated to other wisconsin sports.

[Madhawk23]

Just to hop on - it really is exciting to see the growth in excitement for this franchise across the state. I moved back to the state after college in the early 2000's (living in the Madison area ever since), and I swear at that time you'd see more Cubs gear than Brewers in this area. It stayed that way for most of the early 2000's until the Prince/Hardy/Hart/Weeks/Braun era started to gain traction around 2007. Then, over the next 4-5 years you definitely started to see more Brewer gear around town than Cubs gear, and I would say that it's been that way ever since. The past couple of years especially, I would say that it's pretty uncommon to go somewhere out in public and not see someone wearing Brewers stuff.

[TURBO]

I would guess that the recent success will up the Brewer fandom, but it is always related to "what have you done for me lately" when it comes to Brewers fans.

 

Lots of bandwagon fans for sure, but then again, there are tons of die-hard fans out there too.

 

It's all to be expected.

[Baldkin]

Wait, fans are more likely to be interested in and spend money on a product that is good as opposed to terrible? I've never.... what a shocker!

[homer]

I would guess that the recent success will up the Brewer fandom, but it is always related to "what have you done for me lately" when it comes to Brewers fans.

 

Lots of bandwagon fans for sure, but then again, there are tons of die-hard fans out there too.

 

It's all to be expected.

 

I read somewhere that if a team has success when you are about 10 years old you'll stick with them through thick and thin. I have no idea if that's actually true but if it is then the success in 2008 might be revealed in a larger "base" of fans now.

[NievesNoNO]

The state has really always supported a winner. The addition of Miller Park has obviously helped take weather out of the equation to go enjoy a game. Mark A, has been phenomenal for this franchise sticking money back into the park, it's amenities, and the payroll. Yes, some of the younger fan base has gotten to see some moderate success and an entertaining team and players, and that's important. Being in Green Bay, football still dominates conversation and talk radio but I've noticed more Brewer attire around the last few years, and obviously now.