The Florida Marlins Have No Fans

[sbrylski]

Rows of empty seats greet the Marlins and Nationals on Wednesday. It was so quiet that one player's profanity could be heard clearly by the television audience, prompting the announcers to apologize.

 

Apparently only about 375 fans showed up to watch the Marlins and Nationals yesterday - LINK. What a fanbase. The ump even had to eject a fan because his heckling was so loud in the quiet stadium - LINK.

 

http://misterirrelevant.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/nats-marlinsgame.jpg

http://ckelly.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/09/12/20070912ds.jpg

[endaround]

The owners go out of their way to discourage fans from showing up, what do you expect?

[chadomac]

Can someone tell me the backstory on why the Marlins are a real life "Major League"? I don't get how this all happened. What's the deal?

[TooLiveBrew]

Holy crap. That is the single most embarassing thing I've ever seen in terms of attendance. Portland has been campaigning to try & bring in a MLB franchise, and I'd imagine that there must be at least the initial phases of investigation into purchasing that franchise by several different owners/hip groups. The attendance problem is not a new discovery, but this instance is - simply put - rock-bottom. Whoa.

 

I'd have to imagine some other interested cities would include

 

Charlotte, NC

San Antonio, TX

New Orleans, LA

Memphis, TN

 

Any others?

[sheethead]

indianapolis maybe?

[adamb100]

It's becoming quite apparent that Florida just doesnt like Baseball. Move the D-Rays to Las Vegas and the Marlins to Portland.

[owbc]

I think the D-rays would draw the league average attendance if they could get over .500 and make a playoff run.

 

The Marlins need a new downtown stadium, badly. I think they could and should get one, but with attendance like that...wow. That's a high-school sized crowd. I think it just rains too much there for people to consistently drive out to Dolphin Stadium in large numbers, ever.

 

Edit: The attendance for that game was 10,121, the smallest of the season for the Marlins, those pictures came from the 12th inning. So at least they are doing better than the 5,000/game that the Montreal Expos were drawing.

[sbrylski]

Edit: The attendance for that game was 10,121, the smallest of the season for the Marlins, those pictures came from the 12th inning. So at least they are doing better than the 5,000/game that the Montreal Expos were drawing.

By all media accounts, the MLB is lying and actual numbers through the gate were for sure under 1000. The bigger picture was not from the 12th inning.

 

As for where they could relocate too, I'd say try Puerto Rico. San Juan Marlins.

 

[brettac1]

That's just unreal. And they're not even that terrible - they have two of the best players in the league in Cabrera and Ramirez, plus other good players like Hermida and Willingham

[Kurt]

And this is a team that has won two world series? pathetic. MLB should get out of the god awful state of Florida asap.

[1992casey]

It's hard to believe that the Marlins drew over three million in their inaugural season. It seems to me that Miami is an area that's capable of supporting a team, but that ownership has simply done everything it possibly could have to sour its fan base. Dismantling two World Series teams will do that.

 

Marlins attendance history

 

In the case of the Devil Rays, it appears that lease issues will prevent anything from being done in the near future.

[jlau20]

Those pictures actually make me feel bad for the Marlins players. That's rough. I'll second that it appears Major League baseball just doesn't really fit in Florida, for those saying Tampa Bay would draw a crowd if they got to .500 or made the playoffs, I doubt it would have little effect other than maybe some sellouts for the playoffs.

 

The Marlins have won two WS championships in less than 10 years and have only been around, what, 15 years, and obviously that doesn't keep putting fans in the seats in the seasons after.

 

12th inning or not, those pictures are pathetic. The only reason that could be an excuse is if it's 4:30 in the morning.

[owbc]

What if the Brewers traded away Yount, Molitor, Thomas, Cooper, etc. after the 1982 season?

What if we sell our entire infield in 2 years, without even attempting to keep them?

 

I can't really blame Marlins fans. Their payroll is $14 million. Pathetic. I'm sure they would come back if they had an owner who cared.

[Paul77]

12th inning or not thats terrible. I just went back and watched a few innings of the game and it wasn't much better than what you see in those pics. According to the Washington Post there was no more than 400 people in attendance at any point in the game.

 

It was actually kind of funny when the ump ejected the fan. As this guy gets up and walks away you very clearly hear him say "By the way, you don't make more than me. No question!" Okay buddy, thats makes you cool.

[KRM17]

What inning does the fan get ejected in?

[pitchleague]

probably a record for percentage of fans that took home a foul ball, though.

[splitterpfj]

This is like something you'd read in "The Onion." I can't decide if it's terribly sad, or completely hilarious.

[TooLiveBrew]

it's both

[sbrylski]

What inning does the fan get ejected in?

I believe the 5th.

[jaybird2001wi]

Looking at the Marlins' attendance figures, I am pretty much convinced the people of Miami don't care. Some of the people who have posted before me state they won two World Series titles, but in their most recent one, they drew just 1.3 million fans.

Miami residents filled the stands 1.3 million times in 2003, even when they had 91 wins and a promising core of players at the time. The ownership has alienated the fans so much, that it would take years for them to recover. With the lack of dedication from ownership, I would highly doubt City officials would actually be willing to get a new stadium in gear.

The Marlins are not tied down to anything in Miami anyway, except a lease for a stadium that was never intended to be made for baseball to begin with. So I highly doubt City officials would cry and whine if they moved.

[JohnA17]

Well I live about 2 miles from the stadium in this god forsaken hellhole and I can tell you a lot of the problem is who in the hell would want to do anything outside in the summer here if the ocean isn't within 12 steps? I went to a game a few saturdays ago and bought tickets from a scalper about 15 rows behind home plate for 15 bucks each. I felt like I got cheated. What was funny was there was about I would guess 7000 fans there and nearly all of them stayed for the Oscar D Leon concert after a 12 inning marathon, I am not sure many were there for baseball at all. They need an indoor air conditioned staduim. Period.

[flosses like fossas]

Holy crap. That is the single most embarassing thing I've ever seen in terms of attendance. Portland has been campaigning to try & bring in a MLB franchise, and I'd imagine that there must be at least the initial phases of investigation into purchasing that franchise by several different owners/hip groups. The attendance problem is not a new discovery, but this instance is - simply put - rock-bottom. Whoa.

I'd have to imagine some other interested cities would include

Charlotte, NC
San Antonio, TX
New Orleans, LA
Memphis, TN

Any others?

 

Gary, IN

Roanoke, VA

Jackson, MS

Flint, MI

[jaybird2001wi]

Gary, IN? Flint, MI? Those are like the Compton, CA's of the midwest. Nothing good ever came from Gary, IN except the smell of the offensive sulfur plants as you leave Chicago along the Interstate.

[jlau20]

I'm guessing he was being sarcastic, as in those places could even put up more attendance than Miami/Florida right now.

 

Aren't Big Dog and Michael Jackson from Gary?

[TooLiveBrew]

I know for a fact that Glenn Robinson was from Gary, IN. Not sure about Jacko.