Fan interest

[Birdland24]

Is anyone able to explain a bit how this works? I am in 2023 and currently in June as the Orioles 18 games over .500 interest went from 63 to 71 and down to 70 while on a 6 game win streak. Is there a method to how this works and happens or is it something that is completely random?

Also I’ve not released or traded anyone to decrease or upset fans. I play each game pitch by pitch. So just trying to figure if I can do something different for the fans to be happy.


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[PSUColonel]

It is probably calculated as a way to help keep the league solvent...the same way media contracts and fan loyalty are.

[Bobbyraz49]

I "think" attendance is way off from the 23 version. I play as the Cards and in previous versions, 40,000 in attendance was the norm. This season we are 12 games over .500 and are lucky to get near 30,000.
I always thought they have the best fans in baseball.

[HuachucaThunder]

Have you looked at the ticket prices that are set? Perhaps that has something to do with it?

[Charlie Hough]

Fan interest might be a lagging indicator in some cases, because there is a modifier that can cause it to temporarily rise and fall. The increase from 63 to 71 could be from your team's strong performance, and maybe the number did not update right away. You mentioned that you did not release or trade anyone that would upset the fans, but did you acquire any players at all during that span of time or perhaps during the days or weeks before it? That might also explain the increase in fan interest.

According to the OOTP manual:

Fan interest describes the level of fan interest in your market. Higher fan interest means better attendance and merchandising revenue.

Each team also has a fan interest modifier, which affects fan interest:

The Fan Interest modifier changes when you sign or lose a popular player. This modifier gets applied to fan interest, to simulate the rise or fall of fan interest after a big move. The modifier then moves toward 0 as time goes on, so that the effect doesn't last forever.

That last passage is only about losing a player, but I suspect that the same modifier can temporarily rise and fall based on other factors as well, and this be why you've seen this fluctuation. But it would be nice if we could get a better explanation from OOTP Developments.

[Bobbyraz49]

Originally Posted by HuachucaThunder

Have you looked at the ticket prices that are set? Perhaps that has something to do with it?

Hi. I did..$36, same as last season.

[Pelican]

Or, as Commissioner, you could manually adjust for fan support, or the modifier number. I’m not a fan of “cheesing” the game by directly changing player ratings, for example. But adjusting the fan interest numbers for a franchise, in particular to reflect reality, seems like a defensible intervention. The only effect on performance in the long run would be the benefit of some increased revenue from ticket and merchandise sales, which could be pumped into player development or free agents or contract extensions.

I have noted changes in these numbers after acquiring a new quality player, or even signing a fan favorite to an extension, as noted by others. I have not seen any real sensitivity to the performance of the team. I realize that fan reaction can lag, but the fact remains that competitive teams draw far more than non-competitive teams.