Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 25, 1995 TAG: 9505250079
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
Major-league baseball attendance is down 25 percent and national television ratings have gone down more. One year after the work stoppage that was supposed to make baseball more profitable, big-league teams probably will lose at least $300 million.
Maybe both sides in baseball's worst labor dispute underestimated how much fans would turn against them.
``We've got a long way to come back,'' said Bud Selig, the acting commissioner. ``But it's too early to make any snap judgments.''
One month into the season, the 232-day strike appears to have left major aftereffects, far more than baseball's seven previous work stoppages:
Through Tuesday, average attendance for games was 23,454, down 25.8 percent from last year's average of 31,611. When compared to a similar point last season, the average was down 20.3 percent. Team executives said group sales, which usually take place during the off-season, were hurt most by the strike.
ESPN's first 14 games had a 1.5 cable rating, down 32 percent from the 2.2 rating for the first 14 games last year. This year's games have been viewed by an average of 981,000 homes, down 29 percent from the average of 1,379,000 through 14 broadcasts last year.
Polling done for owners by Penn & Schoen Associates showed that among fans who attended at least one game in 1994, 39 percent were not very likely or not at all likely to attend a game this year.
Owners say revenue may drop to about $1.4 billion this year, down from from $1.88 billion in 1993. Because team payrolls declined by less than 5 percent following the strike, expenses won't change that much. Teams spent $1.83 billion in 1993, and that figure probably will decline by about $100 million because of missed salary during the first month of the season.
The average salary, which has declined only once since 1967, figures to drop slightly this year, from $1,168,263 to about $1,115,000.
The Fox Network says it won't even consider bidding for TV rights until there a new collective bargaining agreement is in place.
Owners, led by Selig, tried hard not to criticize players during the labor negotiations. But by claiming baseball had financial problems the union refused to address, the teams left many fans thinking the players were to blame.
Attendance is down for 25 of the 28 teams. Polling and focus groups conducted by Penn & Schoen on May 8 show the anger level of fans remains high.
``[It] is accentuated by the fact that fans understand that the strike was never truly settled,'' Douglas Schoen wrote to owners in a May 9 memorandum that was obtained by The Associated Press. ``Fans carry with them a strong sense that the strike was pointless and ... nothing was accomplished.''
by CNB