http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0420dbattendance0420.html
Where are the Diamondbacks' fans? Club preaches patience; fans wait for more wins
Nick Piecoro The Arizona Republic Apr. 20, 2006 12:00 AM
Like many Diamondbacks hitters, attendance at Chase Field is off to a slow start.
Through nine games, the club ranks near the bottom of the National League in average attendance, has already entertained the two smallest crowds in franchise history and is on pace to set a record low in total attendance for the third consecutive season.
But for a team coming off consecutive losing seasons, including 111 defeats in 2004, Managing General Partner Ken Kendrick says the small crowds aren't a surprise, adding that they won't have an impact on the club's budget.
"As we put a business plan together, we are realists," Kendrick said. "We look at the reality of what has happened in 2004 and 2005 and know that it isn't reasonable to expect that people are going to start to come out in really large numbers until we start playing very well."
He is hopeful that will happen soon, although early returns are not promising.
The club's home opener drew 37,355, which was 11,678 below capacity, although the team had the scheduling misfortune of playing its first home game a week into the regular season when anticipation wasn't so high.
That was followed by the two smallest crowds in Bank One Ballpark/Chase Field history: 18,664 and 18,745 on April 11-12 against Colorado.
Attendance against the defending National League champion Houston Astros over the weekend and against the San Francisco Giants and star slugger Barry Bonds this week were better, but the crowds still seem smallish when compared with those at the beginning of last season.
Attendance is down 14 percent from the first nine games of last season, although Kendrick said that on Tuesday night, nine of the 15 games in the majors were played before crowds smaller than Chase Field's 23,255.
Some fans at Wednesday night's game said they thought the drop-off could be attributed to wins and losses.
"They don't have a very good team," said Matt Wright, 26, of Phoenix, who was attending his first regular-season game. "They need to spend some money. They've got too many young guys and too many old guys, and they need pitching bad."
The Diamondbacks, who are 7-8, were 77-85 last season after going 51-111 in 2004.
The club hopes that once school lets out and the Suns' season ends, families will be more apt to take in a game.
"I know buddies who are more paying attention to the Suns right now," said Mike Barrett, 30, a season-ticket holder from Apache Junction. "It seems like baseball's taking a back seat to basketball."
Through eight games, the team was on pace to draw 1.9 million fans, which would be a 6.4 percent drop from last season.
"I think we have bad fans here," said Betty Clark of Phoenix, a season-ticket holder since 1998. "If the Diamondbacks aren't winners, they're not your team."
The organization believes it is back on track to win again soon. With a payroll in the $60 million range, Kendrick says, the team is operating with a more fiscally restrained model. For the first time in club history, the Diamondbacks last season turned a profit, albeit a small one, Kendrick said.
"What I feel, personally," Kendrick said, "is you owe it to your community to put a really good product on the field, and when you do, they owe it to you to support it.
"We're still a work in progress. We think we're improving. We're hopeful that we're going to have a good season."