What are some ways to stimulate fan interest and to increase ticket sales?

[Metsman]

My team ranked 30th in attendence last year, drawing 15,000 or so per game. The Fan interest is 30. Any ways to increase this? And don't say win, its not like I'm not trying to win.

[awick]

The long-term answer is .... win. But there are other things you can do. Look at the popularity of your current players. If you sign a popular player to a contract extension, then you'll get a bump-up in fan interest. The more popular the player, the bigger the bump. (I think you get the bump for popularity for well known and above.)

Similarly, look at the available free agents. If you sign popular players, even if they go to the minors, you'll get a similar bump in fan interest. The same is true if you acquire popular players via trade.

Be careful with all of this though. If you release or otherwise lose a popular player (via free agency, trade, whatever) then you'll have a corresponding drop in fan interset.

If a player retires, then you don't lose anything in terms of fan interest. Also, if a player loses his popularity then there's no hit if you let him go.

[The Wolf]

Originally Posted by Metsman

My team ranked 30th in attendence last year, drawing 15,000 or so per game. The Fan interest is 30. Any ways to increase this? And don't say win, its not like I'm not trying to win.

Make it into playoffs. (Note that I did not use the w-word.)

[Metsman]

Originally Posted by awick

The long-term answer is .... win. But there are other things you can do. Look at the popularity of your current players. If you sign a popular player to a contract extension, then you'll get a bump-up in fan interest. The more popular the player, the bigger the bump. (I think you get the bump for popularity for well known and above.)

Similarly, look at the available free agents. If you sign popular players, even if they go to the minors, you'll get a similar bump in fan interest. The same is true if you acquire popular players via trade.

Be careful with all of this though. If you release or otherwise lose a popular player (via free agency, trade, whatever) then you'll have a corresponding drop in fan interset.

If a player retires, then you don't lose anything in terms of fan interest. Also, if a player loses his popularity then there's no hit if you let him go.

I thank you for the advice; however, I have one major problem that prevents me from following it: my payroll is completely maxed out because my budget got slashed because of the poor atendence.

[awick]

Are there any popular minor leaguers you can sign to minor league contracts?

[GrantDawg]

Two words: Nude cheerleaders.

Popular minor leaguers can help, but just try and win. Winning changes everything.

[DanP68]

Originally Posted by Metsman

I thank you for the advice; however, I have one major problem that prevents me from following it: my payroll is completely maxed out because my budget got slashed because of the poor atendence.

Welcome to the reality of the MLB

MLB needs more revenue sharing, ala the NFL. I won't get on a soap box about it. Suffice it to say what you are encountering is quite realistic. You need to win to get attendance high. You need high attendance to afford players who will help you win. It seems impossible to rebuild.

My advice is to forget about popular players for now. Look for value wherever you can find it. Find cheap players who can do something very well - for instance hit left handed pitching, or play excellent defense.

Look for pitchers who have high K/BB ratios and inflated ERA's, and try to determine if they are the victim of bad luck or if they are just bad. If it is the former, roll the dice if you can buy them on the cheap.

The bottom line is you need to pay attention to threads on team building, and rebuilding. Establish a winning tradition and the fans will come.

And since you are apparently a Mets fan, remember not to trade Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano...

[southside_hitmen]

Originally Posted by DanP68

Welcome to the reality of the MLB

MLB needs more revenue sharing, ala the NFL. I won't get on a soap box about it. Suffice it to say what you are encountering is quite realistic. You need to win to get attendance high. You need high attendance to afford players who will help you win. It seems impossible to rebuild.

My advice is to forget about popular players for now. Look for value wherever you can find it. Find cheap players who can do something very well - for instance hit left handed pitching, or play excellent defense.

Look for pitchers who have high K/BB ratios and inflated ERA's, and try to determine if they are the victim of bad luck or if they are just bad. If it is the former, roll the dice if you can buy them on the cheap.

The bottom line is you need to pay attention to threads on team building, and rebuilding. Establish a winning tradition and the fans will come.

And since you are apparently a Mets fan, remember not to trade Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano...

Great advice. Any threads that jump out at you from the bold part?

[Metsman]

Originally Posted by DanP68

Welcome to the reality of the MLB

MLB needs more revenue sharing, ala the NFL. I won't get on a soap box about it. Suffice it to say what you are encountering is quite realistic. You need to win to get attendance high. You need high attendance to afford players who will help you win. It seems impossible to rebuild.

My advice is to forget about popular players for now. Look for value wherever you can find it. Find cheap players who can do something very well - for instance hit left handed pitching, or play excellent defense.

Look for pitchers who have high K/BB ratios and inflated ERA's, and try to determine if they are the victim of bad luck or if they are just bad. If it is the former, roll the dice if you can buy them on the cheap.

The bottom line is you need to pay attention to threads on team building, and rebuilding. Establish a winning tradition and the fans will come.

And since you are apparently a Mets fan, remember not to trade Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano...

Thanks and sadly I am a Mets fan lol. The thing is while my team isn't a true championship contender, I don't feel its awful. But I think I can use to find some more value players.

Another problem I have been having is that I have apparently been rushing prospects. How much do you guys usually keep prospects at one level? Because many of my prospects are burning out.
The bottom line is you need to pay attention to threads on team building, and rebuilding. Establish a winning tradition and the fans will come.

[Toado]

One small trick I use some years when I take a big fan interest hit from losing very popular players to free agency is to just look for the cheapest, most popular players remaining when preseason starts. Contract demands typically go down at this point, so a lot of times you can get a few extra fan interest points by signing popular guys that nobody else wants for near-minimum wages.

This is just a temporary boost type thing though... basically, you have to win to be consistently high.

[DanP68]

Originally Posted by Metsman

Another problem I have been having is that I have apparently been rushing prospects. How much do you guys usually keep prospects at one level? Because many of my prospects are burning out.

Another reality of the real majors is that most prospects do burn out. It's pretty common to hear great expectations about draft picks. It's pretty rare to see a player fulfill those expectations.

That said, I have been far more patient with my minor leaguers than I used to be. Even if my minor league scouting department suggests a player should be promoted, I don't do so unless they are performing well at their current level. And even then I prefer they spend 1 full season minimum at A, AA, and AAA. I am conservative. I prefer to keep a player at a certain minors level for at least a year, with fast movers getting the opportunity to move up 2 spots in a single year if they are absolutely dominating.

For example, I have a player named Mike Adams in my system. The scouting dept kept telling me to promote him during his development, and he went from A Ball to the Pros in about 2 seasons. He was a terrible Pro hitter. He hit under .180 with little power, struck out a ton.

So I demoted him to AAA where he continued to suck. Then AA, where hit was hitting about .200. Then back to A ball where he was 1 for his first 22. His morale went Angry - clearly he hated me. But he wasn't performing and I never should have listened to my scouts and promoted him so fast.

So I kept him A ball, and slowly he came around. The home runs started coming again, and he raised his average above .280. Promoted him to AA, and he is doing pretty good. I'm not touching him. He is going to stay there at least 3 months, maybe a full season. If he is mashing, I will move him to AAA, but not until. In the meantime my scouts think he is ready for the pros. No he isn't.

Be patient. Think of your system as a slow development process. The guys you draft will generally be ready in 3 to 5 years if they have the makeup. A small few will move faster (think Evan Longoria and Eric Hosmer), but those are rarities.

[Erithtotl]

I would also point out that some of the financials still seem to be broken.

I just managed to NOT sell out Game 7 of the World Series.