What Do The Fans Think?

by Ellis Eyeland

Several months ago, when the BPLA was in the midst of its first off-season, I was scared.  I saw sixteen teams engaged in a high-priced bidding war with not much talent to go around.  I immediately thought of MLB, and all of the things they had done wrong:  the high salaries, the arrogant players and owners, the high ticket prices, the dejected fans, the lack of black ink on team financial statements.  Sure, the inaugural BPLA season had gone well, but could the young league afford to be dishing out this much money this quickly?  After receiving a packet from the commissioner’s office, my fears were quickly relieved.

The packet contained attendance figures for the first month of the 2004 season.  They tell the tale of a thriving league, a league that does not seem to have any FANancial (I'm known to make up words every now and then) problems at all.  Average attendance is up 7.2%, and average attendance revenue is up 5.1%.  In fact, only one team in the BPLA has seen a drop in attendance.  The Mirage, who averaged 49,618 fans per game last season have seen a 4% drop to 47,679.  However, anyone who follows the Mirage's farm system can tell you that the future of this club will be bright.

Five teams have seen a double-digit increase in attendance:  Orlando (+19%), Indianapolis (+13%), New Orleans (+27%), Portland (15%) and Vancouver (38%).  Vancouver's $2 ticket price drop has not only increased attendance by almost 40%, but it has also increased ticket sales revenue by 18%.

Ticket revenues have dropped in four cities (Orlando, Richmond, New Orleans and Las Vegas), but of those cities only the Mirage has seen a loss in attendance.  Revenue increases are remarkable in Raleigh (+29%) and Portland (+27%).  Portland leads the league with an average of $523,336 in gate receipts per game.  They were 9th in the league last season.

It appears that the BPLA is moving in the right direction.  It is important that the owners do not forget about the fans and pay close attention to attendance trends.  The only way the fans can tell us what they think of our product is with their wallets.  If they fade away, so do our revenue streams.  Too many consecutive years going the wrong way could spell gloom and doom for our young league.  But I'd say we're doing fine for now.