FanPost

Preview of the week of May 9-15, Attendance, tickets and promos

As expected, the Rangers drew between 48,000 and 50,000 fans for each of the three games against the Yankees. Where does that put the Rangers for attendance year to date:

through 19 home games

total avg. per game

2010 Rangers 487,583 25,662

2011 Rangers 688,036 36,212

1997 Rangers 645,953 33,998

1994 Rangers 684,116 36,006

2001 Rangers 705,013 37,106

Doing very nicely indeed, thank you. As you can see, the Rangers are far ahead of their pace from last year, up 41%. They are well ahead of the pace from 1997, which is the year the Ranger's set their all time attendance record, They are even ahead of the pace of 1994, the first in the ballpark, when they set their all time record of attendance per game. While they are a little behind the pace of 2001, by this point in 2001 the Rangers were already 17+ games behind, which puts this year's struggles in some perspective. Understandably, the pace of attendance began to drop off after a while in 2001, I'm hoping that they right the ship soon here in 2011 and eventually blow past that season's attendance numbers.

Two cautionary notes. First, one of the reasons the Rangers attendance looks so good to this point is that they have already played 6 games against the Yankees and Red Sox, and they only four against these two opponents remaining. By this point in 2010, the Rangers hadn't played any home games against those two teams. Second, after this week the Rangers will have already played 25 home games which is quite early in the season to have played nearly 1/3 of the allotted home games. Given that attendance, especially for weekdays, rises significantly after school is out, it will tough to be able to keep up the pace of past years for games 20-30, which in other years were played a week or two later on the calendar.

This week the Rangers play 6 games, three against the A's on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and three more against the Angles on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Let's look at those games one by one.

Monday May 9 7:05 p.m. Rangers vs. Oakland A's- It's AL pennant night, with all fans in attendance receiving and AL Championship Pennant. Whoever came up with the idea of Monday night give away games deserves a bonus:

attendance for Monday/Tuesday games excluding opening day

Monday Tuesday

2010 18.824 18,574

2011 30,444 25,053

The first three Monday and Tuesdays of last year drew just about identically (of course, leaving out opening day). This year the Rangers have drawn 5,000 more on Mondays. We'll see over the next few days whether the difference between the two nights remains that large, but there is certainly every reason to expect a larger crowd for tonight than for tomorrow or Wednesday. Prices aren't much higher for today than they are for Tuesday or Wednesday in the secondary market, but given a low inventory probably won't fall much further as the day goes along.

Tuesday May 10, 7:05 p.m. Rangers vs. A's- Thirsty Tuesday can save you a couple of bucks on soda, beer or water, but it hasn't moved the dial much in drawing fans. While I think that it is likely that the 21,755 the Rangers drew on April 26 will go down as the lowest attendance of the season (assuming the melt down on the field reverses itself at some point) if that number is going to be challenged or broken, this game or possibly Wednesday''s would be when it would happen. If you are wanting to go to a game and to sit in better seats than you usually want to pay for at the box office, this game is your chance, with corner box seats available at the non-discounted price you would pay at the box office for Upper Reserved, and Premium infield seats (first 14 rows in the infield) for what you would pay at the box office for corner box.

Wednesday May 11 1:05 p.m. Rangers vs. A's- It's dollar hot dog day, but most important it is Weather Day. Beginning at 10:15 a.m,. the CBS Storm Team and Chief Meteorologist will do a presentation on the weather. Gates open at 9:30. Further details are available on the website, but if you are thinking of taking a group of 10+, think twice about the special group pricing they are offering for lower reserved and Lexus Club Terrace seats as it actually appears to be more expensive than the prices you can get using the website Wednesday promotion.

Friday May 13, 7:05 p.m. Rangers vs. Angels: Fireworks Friday means cheap ($5) parking and $10 ticket specials, although tickets at this price directly from the Rangers in Lexus Club Terrace and Upper Box are sold out. Prices on the secondary market are currently less than the prices available directly from the Rangers (especially considering that premium pricing is in effect, but it is close enough that you will probably want to comparison shop. The Rangers have announced that fireworks this week will have an early 60s theme to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Washington Senators.

Saturday May 14 3:10 p.m. Rangers vs. Angels. Pregame concert by Tobymac at 1:00 p.m. First and third base gates open at 11:30. As part of the faith concert series, groups of ten or more can get a very nice discount to the game, just $39 for box seats, $27 for corner box. This is also a premium game so higher box office prices will be in effect. Expect a large crowd, although the game will probably be well short of a sell out.

Sunday May 15 2:05 p.;m. Rangers vs. Angels- Dollar ice cream for the kids, but what the kids will really want is their Neftali Feliz red jersey. The website claims that they have enough for the first 10,000 kids age 13 or under. It sounds to me like they could run out, so I would plan to get there a bit on the early side if you don't want to come back empty handed. Also, I had mentioned last week that the May 7 Yankees game had the largest inventory of tickets for sale on Stubhub of any remaining game. The price for tickets to that game fell sharply as game time approached. I didn't mention the game that had the fewest tickets available for sale, but the answer was this one. Expect prices to stay firm or maybe even increase a bit as game time approaches. If you are a season ticket holder and have some tickets that you didn't use or won't be able to use, this game is definitely one of your better choices to trade them in.

I'll insert some charts regarding prices for this week and some information on upcoming promotions over the next day but wanted to get this up without further delay. I was about to post last night and instead about 3/4 of my post vanished without a trace. Not fun. Hope this week for the Rangers is a lot more fun.