Your record-breaking Orioles
April 3, 2008
Well, the Orioles made another one for the record books last night — but not in a good way. A crowd of 10,505 was announced at their game against the Tampa Bay Rays, breaking Oriole Park’s former all-time low of 13,194. (And if the announced attendance last night was a
nything like the announced “sold out” house on opening day, the actual number of people in the seats probably didn’t crack 10,000.)
Coincidentally enough — or maybe not when you consider the ability of both teams — that last low-attendance game was also against the Rays, almost two years ago to the day on Apr. 9, 2006.
It’s not a good sign for the folks at Camden Yards who want to sell the downtown baseball experience rather than focus on the team’s play. Total attendance at the park has dropped by 18 percent since 2005.
Last night’s record did have a couple of contributing factors: 1) a cold and windy night that felt like belonged more in January than it did in April, and 2) the day after Opening Day is traditionally one of the lowest-attended days of the year in baseball.
But the rest of the season has other factors. To name a few: 1) a 10-year streak of sub .500 seasons that shows no sign of ending this year, 2) concerns over the price of gas and the commute to Baltimore and 3) a competing ballpark down the road with a team that (so far) is looking like it will be more fun to watch.
In a news release Wednesday, the Orioles announced various promotions for this month such as $6 student tickets for Friday’s game against Seattle and $10 tickets for adults 55 years and older for Monday afternoon’s game, also against the Mariners.
Do gimmicks like these bring more people in? If the attendance continues to be lackluster (aside from when the Red Sox or Yankees are in town), should the team consider lowering its prices for the upper reserves? If the economy is a concern, how about offering gas vouchers with the purchase of ballpark food?
Or is money not the point and it’s the team that needs to be up to snuff before the masses are drawn back to Camden Yards?
LIZ FARMER, Business Writer
Sphere: Related ContentGrueling time at the concessions stand?
April 2, 2008
If you waited in a long line at the ball game Monday, dreaming of a nice warm hot dog, and got to the front only to find the concessions stand had run out of your treat or were handed a cold dog in a soggy bun, you might want to check out a new Web site that’s “raising awareness” about Aramark, the food service contractor at Oriole Park and other ballparks and stadiums around the country.
The site was launched Monday and is sponsored by Campaign for Quality Services, a joint project of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the trade workers, hospitality and restaurant union, UNITE-HERE.
Named appropriately for opening day, AramarkStrikesOut.info highlights rats at Angels Stadium in Anaheim, “long lines and tepid sausage” at RFK in D.C. (the Nationals’ new park dropped Aramark’s service), and asks visitors to send in their ballpark food horror stories.
So how about it? Did anyone have any grueling concessions stand experiences that soured them to buying food at Oriole Park? Are the venders outside with their truckloads of giant pretzels a better option? (If you’re a penny pincher like me, those pretzels were already a brilliant idea.)
Or do you think this Web site just stirring up a pointless debate?
LIZ FARMER, Business Writer
Sphere: Related ContentThe O’s vs. the Nats
March 31, 2008
Since today is Opening Day here in Baltimore (and the day after the Nats stadium debut), we thought we’d ask Baltimoreans about the 2008 season.
The problem: only a handful of people walking around downtown Baltimore last week were interested in talking about the Orioles. Ouch.
Seems that after a decade of losing, most people are unenthused about the 2008 year…
Steak-umm is O’s official burger
March 19, 2008
If you’re hankering for a hamburger at Camden Yards this spring, you’ll only have one choice: a Steak-umm Burger.
The new burgers, manufactured by Reading, Pa.-based Steak-umm Company LLC, are now the official hamburgers of the home team. They will be “the exclusive burger served at Oriole Park’s concession stands during the season.”
And if you can’t wait until the start of the season to try one, just check your grocery store’s freezer aisle.
From the BusinessWire release today:
“This affiliation with the Orioles is a great way for us to introduce our newest product to the public. It gives fans a great burger to eat at the ballpark, and it gives us excellent brand visibility,” said Sergei Szortyka, President of Steak-umm Company.
“People have known us for our sandwich steaks for years, and now they’ll get the message that we’re in the burger business too.”
Steak-umm may have the official designation, but they can’t buy the loyalty of fans of Boog’s Barbecue. Check out this review.
JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor
Sphere: Related ContentWhat would you do for free O’s tickets?
February 26, 2008
If you’ve ever seen the “Dancin’ Homer” Simpsons episode where Homer gets a job as the local minor league team’s mascot, you know how entertaining an overweight guy dancing around in a cheesy outfit can be.
Now the Florida Marlins have brought that idea to the majors and are forming an all-male, plus-size cheerleading squad called the “Manatees,” according to ESPN.com.
“The team hopes to recruit seven to 10 tubby men to dance, cheer and jiggle during Friday and Saturday home games this season,” the article stated, noting that the men who were scheduled to try out this past weekend were judged on how well they danced a choreographed routine.
The squad won’t be paid, however they will receive free tickets to the games they perform at.
Here’s my thought: why let the Marlins have all the fun? Should the Orioles take advantage of its longtime fan base and start up its own squad? (the name “Harbor Seals” immediately jumps to mind – bonus points to anyone who can do “the worm”).
Does else anyone think the Orioles’ games could be livened up this season by adding some local entertainment to the mix?
LIZ FARMER, Business Writer
Sphere: Related Content$5.2M scoreboard installed at Oriole Park
February 20, 2008
The play on the field at Oriole Park at Camden Yards may not always be pretty this baseball season, but at least the new high-definition scoreboard will be sure to catch your eye.
With the first installment of the JumboTron’s replacement being hoisted up this week, here’s a few interesting tidbits an O’s fan might want to know about the team’s $5.2 million addition.
• The top and bottom scoreboards are made up of panels with tiny red, green and blue lights (about the size of pinheads) spaced 20 millimeters apart. That multiplies out to about 472,632 lights on the top board (27.5 feet by 74 feet) and 22,894 on the bottom (24 feet by 40).
• The old panels were made up of square lights a little smaller than a Post-It. Each light had a section of red, green and blue.
• The new scoreboards will actually weigh less and use less electricity than the old ones, although Maryland Stadium Authority technician Vince Steier couldn’t say yesterday whether or not it could pay for itself in savings over the years.
• The scoreboards cost $1 million more than third baseman Brian Roberts’ salary in 2007 ($4.2 million, according to ESPN.com).
• The $9 million total venture (including a sound system and control room upgrade to be completed by the 2009 season) is more than the O’s paid for any one player in 2007.
According to Steier, the installation, which began at 8 a.m. Tuesday, is on schedule to be finished by March 19. That will allow for two weeks of test runs to try out the new team graphics and animations and iron out all the kinks before the home opener against Tampa Bay on March 31.
Steier noted the Orioles management was “very conscious about maintaining the old time feel of the park but also giving fans the amenities they expect” from Camden Yards.
“It reflects the team and the state’s interest to make this a fun place to go,” he said.
LIZ FARMER, Legal Affairs Writer
Sphere: Related ContentJust one Md. building on architects’ favorites list
February 15, 2008
The American Institute of Architects has released a list of America’s favorite buildings, which according to the methodology described on the project’s Web site, is actually more like, “the American Institute of Architects’ favorite buildings, plus a little bit of public input on the matter.”
So basically, it’s not the American people who have spoken, but card-carrying AIA-member architects who have weighed in, which means, potentially, that any number of pro architects out there might have voted for one of their own projects.
It’s also a reason why we shouldn’t feel so miffed that Maryland is only represented once – at No. 122 – with Baltimore’s Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
We came in just behind the Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa in Phoenix, 25 spots behind the Federal Building in Islip, N.Y., and way shy of the New York Times’ new headquarters in New York, which, to my knowledge, has been covered by scaffolding since it opened in 2006. That’s right, our beloved ballpark is less attractive than an oblong skyscraper near Time Square that no one has yet seen in its entirety. Hmmmm….
Take a look – you can vote for your own favorites on the website.
ROBBIE WHELAN, Business Writer
Sphere: Related ContentMultimedia: Camden Yards scoreboard dismantled
January 10, 2008
Watch the demolition of the old Oriole Park scoreboard unfold. The new scoreboard is scheduled to be in place by Opening Day, March 31, vs. Tampa Bay.
Click here to see the presentation in a larger window.
All photos by Eric Stocklin/The Daily Record
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