The Braves have seen their ticket sales slide this season, with the fourth-largest drop in Major League Baseball.
They have averaged 24,192 tickets sold through 14 home games, after ranking 10th among 16 National League teams in home attendance in 2008 with an average of 31,270. One factor is the weather.
The Braves averaged just 20,358 tickets sold during the rain-plagued, eight-game homestand that ended Tuesday and included series against traditionally strong-drawing opponents St. Louis and the New York Mets. There are additional contributors, said Braves CEO Terry McGuirk.
"Start with the economy, and a team that didn't win last year, and the weather," McGuirk said of the decline. "And this town always does so much better after school's out. ... But the weather's had a tremendous effect. We've been doing very nicely the last couple of years, averaging about 32,000.
"That's the kind of numbers we expect to come back pretty soon."
The Gwinnett Braves, no less affected by bad weather, however have seen a tremendous uptick in their attendance since moving from Richmond for this season. Weekend pre-sale tickets sold hover around 7,000, compared to about 2,000 last season in Richmond, said ticket manager Mike Castle. Weekday pre-sale ticket sales are about 3,500. Like McGuirk, Castle expects bigger turnouts when metro-area schools let out in a few weeks.
"That makes it easier for families to come out on a Wednesday night, for instance," Castle said.
And when it rains, Gwinnett makes it easy for ticket holders. Just use the same ticket for any other game during the season.
"We want to give ticket holders as much flexibility as we can," Castle said.
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