Cubs Guaranteed Lowest Attendance In Decade
By Chuck Sudo in News on Sep 17, 2012 10:10PM
For years the Cubs seemed guaranteed to draw three million fans to Wrigley Field through the turnstiles, regardless of the quality of the Chicago National League Ballclub's play. Barring a sudden sting of sellouts that streak comes to an end this year.
Crain's Chicago Business reports that the Cubs are on target to draw 2.8 million fans to the Friendly Confines in 2012. That's a seven percent drop in attendance over last year and the Cubs' lowest season attendance figure since 2003, when they drew 2.9 million.
The obvious causes for the drop in attendance are the team's sucktitude rebuilding program and high ticket prices (that aren't expected to go down next season). Don't cry for the Cubs yet: they're still drawing 36,343 per game. That's still good for 10th in Major League Baseball. Then there are all the concerts and other non-baseball events at Wrigley. The recent Bruce Springsteen concerts at the ballpark drew a record 84,000 people for a musical event at Wrigley and generated an estimated $24 million in economic activity for Wrigleyville businesses.
By contrast, the White Sox, who are in the middle of a heated division race, are averaging 24,520 through today's game. While it's nice to see some discerning fans stay home, there are a host of contending teams who would love to have the Cubs' attendance figures, including the Sox, who are extending their discount ticket deal promotion through the end of the regular season in an effort to draw fans to the game.