RealGM

I'm curious what the new smaller one will be used for. It makes no sense if it's just a dup of the larger one right next to it. Probably mostly ads.

Sounds like the parking system was a disaster yesterday… Anybody go and try to use it?

Thunder Muscle wrote:Sounds like the parking system was a disaster yesterday… Anybody go and try to use it?

I had friends who went. It was a disaster. They have scrapped it until it can be fixed. I'm going Friday night, hopefully they stick to the old system.

Same friends said larger scoreboard means larger ads. Occasionally they go full screen for a replay. The new secondary board is used for pitching stats.

American Family Field ranked #2 for ballpark food: https://10best.usatoday.com/awards/travel/best-baseball-stadium-food-2024/

Was at the game last night. Old parking system for now. Scoreboard is huge. The new secondary, smaller scoreboard is the same size as the original Miller Park scoreboard. Funny comparing it with the new jumbo board.

Still working out glitches. The picture quality is fantastic. Yes, about half ads usually but replays are full screen. Smaller board is for pitching stats. I liked it.

Food/beer prices are high of course but better options and quality than FiServ. Last night I didn't have time to eat beforehand or tailgate. Checked out the 3rd Street Market food on the second level. Some good options. Lots of beer options.

Attended my first game of the season last night. Small crowd (18K+ announced), which made parking and leaving a breeze. As well as no lines anywhere.

The new videoboards are pretty cool. The RF one was mostly used for pitcher stats and pitch sequence. I liked that one more than I thought, but we were in Section 209 (OF Loge Right Field) and had to turn back to look at it. If on LF/3B it will be much easier to view. The main board is awesome, but does have alot of ads yet. My biggest complaint is the lack of replays. They never even showed the challenge play with Perkins out at 3B. I felt the LED screens around the stadium were upgraded and vibrant. Some may feel it is almost too busy, but whatever stat, MPH, time, etc you need is displayed somewhere to see.

I didn't notice anything else super different. We got in about 30 minutes beforehand so weren't bumming around too long. The kids area is the same. I was hoping to try that Dog of the North specialty dog, but that stand was closed. They had it on MLB Central a week or 2 back and it looked tasty. I had a couple beers in the parking lot so didn't buy any inside with driving afterwards so not sure what the price is this year.

Always good to get back to the park. For being 23 years old, it is still a pretty decent place to watch a game and provide what I need for a good experience. Smaller crowd helps with parking/leaving too.

The replay thing bugs me. Sometimes on challenges they show them and sometimes they don't. Frustrating.

Not super surprised as this is usually the weakest attended month, but so far attendance is down 18% from last year’s average. We have not really rebounded since COVID either. Not sure if that is any factor anymore or its just a genuine disinterest. Sure inflation, job losses part of it too. Although feel you get into the park pretty reasonable if use vouchers, secondary market, team deals especially during the week.

Average Attendance per ESPN:
2024 - 25,824 (8 games)
2023 - 31,496
2022 - 30,155
—-
2019 - 36,090
2018 - 35,195

Thunder Muscle wrote:Not super surprised as this is usually the weakest attended month, but so far attendance is down 18% from last year’s average. We have not really rebounded since COVID either. Not sure if that is any factor anymore or its just a genuine disinterest. Sure inflation, job losses part of it too. Although feel you get into the park pretty reasonable if use vouchers, secondary market, team deals especially during the week.

Average Attendance per ESPN:
2024 - 25,824 (8 games)
2023 - 31,496
2022 - 30,155
—-
2019 - 36,090
2018 - 35,195

I'm not really that worried. Like you said, April is a tough month for attendance. Last year their average in April was 28,963 and that included a series with St. Louis.

Yankees will draw next weekend. I never go on weekends, always during the week (not an option for everyone I know). Cheap tickets, easy in and out of the lot. I'm always between the dugouts, at worst 10 rows up. The team needs to win a playoff series to give it some juice.

I think there is just a general malaise in the fanbase since the team has basically been stagnant since the run in 2018.

Win 85 to 95 games and survive for a single second in the playoffs.

I think this year's team getting off to a hot start and some of the younger players being exciting has caused a bit more interest than normal but something will have to drastically change to get out of the doldrums. Win a playoff series (good) or bottom out (bad but sometimes interesting)

Thunder Muscle wrote:Not super surprised as this is usually the weakest attended month, but so far attendance is down 18% from last year’s average. We have not really rebounded since COVID either. Not sure if that is any factor anymore or its just a genuine disinterest. Sure inflation, job losses part of it too. Although feel you get into the park pretty reasonable if use vouchers, secondary market, team deals especially during the week.

Average Attendance per ESPN:
2024 - 25,824 (8 games)
2023 - 31,496
2022 - 30,155
—-
2019 - 36,090
2018 - 35,195

We're behind last year's pace but last year our first 8 home games were 3 against the Mets, 3 against the Cardinals and 2 against the Red Sox. Those are 3 good draws. This year it was 2 against the Twins, 3 against the Mariners and 3 against the Padres. Only the Twins are a good draw and one of those was a guaranteed sellout on opening day and the other was a Wednesday afternoon game and you're not going to draw a big crowd in April on a Wednesday afternoon no matter who you're playing. Only 3 of our home games have been Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Every other has been a weekday.

More than a month later and the new parking system is still not back, I was at the game tonight.

Still a subpar experience. Big new scoreboard and they rarely show replays. The missed tag on Contreras in the first? Nope, never showed it. And many others. I recorded the game and just watched the first. They showed that play from 3 different angles. But fans at the game saw nothing. Ridiculous.

MickeyDavis wrote:More than a month later and the new parking system is still not back, I was at the game tonight.

Still a subpar experience. Big new scoreboard and they rarely show replays. The missed tag on Contreras in the first? Nope, never showed it. And many others. I recorded the game and just watched the first. They showed that play from 3 different angles. But fans at the game saw nothing. Ridiculous.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that pretty much standard across MLB where they intentionally don't show close/controversial plays on the video boards?

jakecronus8 wrote:

MickeyDavis wrote:More than a month later and the new parking system is still not back, I was at the game tonight.

Still a subpar experience. Big new scoreboard and they rarely show replays. The missed tag on Contreras in the first? Nope, never showed it. And many others. I recorded the game and just watched the first. They showed that play from 3 different angles. But fans at the game saw nothing. Ridiculous.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that pretty much standard across MLB where they intentionally don't show close/controversial plays on the video boards?

It used to be. They didn't want to "show up" the umps. But they supposedly changed that a couple years ago for a "better fan experience". They will show plays that are challenged. But close plays that aren't challenged aren't shown. Which is weird. The teams obviously took a look and decided the call was correct. So show it. Like the Contreras play.

The play where the line drive went off Ortiz's glove wasn't shown. Almost a great play, nothing controversial. I would have liked to see it again with different angles. Nope.