Aeros fans: where are you?
Posted April 29th, 2008 by Stephanie Storm
The Aeros played another home game at Canal Park in front of a lot of fans dressed as blue seats Tuesday night.
Granted, it was pretty cold and raining on and off. But the wetaher for the most part, has been incredibly decent for April in Northeast Ohio.
Aeros fans get a pass for Tuesdasy’s game due to the extreme weather (kudos to the 10 who stayed for the whole game) - but support for the team during the first month of the season has been all but extinct.
“Officially” the team is averaging 3,148 fans in 10 home openings - ranking seventh in the 12-team Eastern League. And while no team is ever completely honest about the actual butts in seats, anyone who has seen the team play can attest to what a stretch that probably is.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:03 am
As someone that has seen the Aeros at Canal Park several times this season, I can attest that the Aeros’ 3,148 official figure is at least 2,900 off. Sunday was a beautiful spring day for a ballgame, yet the Aeros home crowd was relatively light.
I’m becoming increasingly concerned that Aeros management is running the team into the ground. I won’t bore you with a list of grievances, but as an Aeros fan who has attended ballgames at many other minor/major league venues over the years, I feel the Aeros aren’t putting much thought into entertaining and appreciating their fans. Perhaps many other fans are feeling the same way.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
I agree with the lone poster on this issue. I love the game and appreciate the intricacies. However, I am busy saving the ticket fee so I can pay for their recycling down at Canal Park. So fan friendly those Akron Aeros…
April 30th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
As someone that has been around baseball a long time I can tell you that the attendance figures are accurate. There is a difference between announced attendance and in house attendance. Announced attendance is how many tickets were sold for the event. If those tickets are sold the team has every right to claim them as attendance. Now you can’t force people to use those tickets when its 40 degrees, so you get in house attendance like Tuesday night.
I’m interested to hear some of Nick B’s complaints. What other parks in the area have you visited? Are you comparing the Aeros to the Indians, or have you actually been Mahoning Valley or Lake County or Columbus?
The fact is there are only about 160 cities in North America with affiliated Minor League Baseball and Akron, OH is lucky enough to have one. I’m not saying things perfect, but its early in the season. Give the promotions a chance to come around and weather to warm up and we’ll see if that frown turns upside down.
April 30th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
Who cares. I’ve often wondered why they are on the radio too. Who the hell listens to minor league baseball? i can see going to a game once every few years, but listening on the radio–that’s weird.
May 1st, 2008 at 9:30 am
Walk off makes a good point about the announced attendance, but at the same time almost every ticket the Aeros sell is either discounted down under $3 or the tickets are given to sponsors and that is why they are not used. And as for promotions and giveaways - there are none. Why would I be interested in a magnet or a baseball (which is the same stupid giveaways they have given away for years). The management will not invest in the team so as a fan why would I invest in them. I will see theses players in a few years in Cleveland. No need to support a team that the city government itself hates! As Nick said - I too have visited lots of parks including Toledo, Erie, Harrisburg, Bowie, Lake County, Columbus and many more (hopefully that lists covers it) and I have talked to a lot of people in the business and they all say Akron is the biggest joke in minor league baseball and by the looks of the changes that the team has made - the team is being run into the ground. Any team that cannot afford to keep ushers for every game is having problems!
May 1st, 2008 at 3:12 pm
I’ve made it to at least 15 Aeros games each of the past 5 seasons. I have a 45 minute drive to the park and work nights, so I go on weekends and the occasional Wednesday night I have free. I’ve only been able to make it to opening night and last Sunday’s game so far. The “education days” already ruled out one Wednesday I could have gone… no real complaint there, because I know they’re great for getting kids in the park, but they’re completely inconvenient for adults.
Attendance was awful even on opening night, and it was really sad how empty the park was despite the excellent weather on Sunday.
I’m another one who’s been to several other minor league parks, but I don’t think you have to attend any other parks to realize that Aeros ownership has become cheap and disinterested over the past few years. The promotions have become minimal and completely uninspired. Infield Outfitters doesn’t have half the variety or number of new items that used to be there. And half the ballpark staff seems to have vanished. I think to anyone who remembers what the experience used to be like, the current state of things has to ooze of cheap laziness. Even if the economy is partly to blame for that, a little effort and creativity could go a long way.
In 2006 Akron’s attendance ranked 3rd in the Eastern League, and it had only ranked that low once in its first nine years. Last year it dropped to 6th… that’s not a good trend.
Fortunately for them, I enjoy the game enough that I’ll keep attending… although the price of gas might start cutting into that, and there are no special promos/events on their calendar that make me think, “Well, I can’t miss that one”.
May 2nd, 2008 at 12:44 am
This is largely in response to Walk Off Walk:
Through the years, I’ve attended games throughout the United States, from AT&T Park in San Francisco to Damaschke Field in Oneonta, NY to Municipal Stadium in West Palm Beach, so I have considerable baseball watching experience. I’ve seen many minor league and major league games, so I know it wouldn’t be fair to compare minor league amenities to those at the major league level - that’s certainly not what I was driving at in my post above.
What I WAS driving at is this: the Aeros put forth almost zero effort to make fans happy, to make fans feel welcome, and to make fans feel appreciated (as testified to by several commenters above). The Aeros do nothing to give fans a unique baseball viewing experience - watching a game at Canal Park is like watching a game at a bank.
In contrast, I had the pleasure of taking in a Reading Phillies game in Reading last year, where, amongst many other things, an animated train in right center field roared to life with each Phillies home run; an interactive baseball bingo game kept fans interested in the ballgame and anxious for opportunities to win prizes; a college kid in a hot dog vendor/ostrich outfit (yeah, that’s right) threw free hot dogs into the stands; and, when we left the stadium, ballpark personnel THANKED US for coming to the game. Fans, including myself, ate up every second of it. I had a great time - it was unique, exciting, and, to top it all off, the Phillies realized that they had no one else to thank but ME and others LIKE ME for coming out to the ballpark that night and making Reading Phillies baseball a reality.
“The fact is there are only about 160 cities in North America with affiliated Minor League Baseball and Akron, OH is lucky enough to have one.” That statement is so very true - Akron is incredibly fortunate to have the minor league affiliate of a storied franchise in a beautiful stadium. The Reading Phillies realize how fortunate they are, but I worry that the Akron Aeros don’t.
I sincerely hope that the Akron Aeros have a change of heart and put forth the effort to make baseball at Canal Park a worthwhile experience for fans, but the clock is ticking - our generosity only goes so far. If die-hard baseball fans like myself and some of the commenters above are almost at the end of our ropes, then I fear Aeros management may have already driven away casual fans for good.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:04 am
Nick B. is on the mark. I have attended many Aeros games and left feeling the owner did little to warrant me returning. The popcorn is half kernels, the soda is sometimes flat, the cups are so flimsy that you have to be extra careful you don’t spill your drink, the entertainment between innings is disingenuous and boring, the seats are dirty and seldom cleaned, no one thanks you for attending the game. I would like to see some genuine interest shown to the fans to show you really want us to come downtown.
May 2nd, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Isn’t the game enough?
Why is there such a need for cheesy cheap thrills or free giveaways to get people to come to games?
Why isn’t there more excitement for seeing one of baseball’s top farm organizations that produces such future talent like Asdrubal Cabrera, Jensen Lewis, Aaron Laffey, and Brian Barton (just to name players from last year)?
Why is more needed when you are there to watch the game?
May 4th, 2008 at 2:14 am
I don’t even know where to begin, but I’ll surprisingly keep a bunch of it too myself. I will address Unanswered Questions’ unanswered questions though.
To be blunt, no. The game is not enough. It’s a majority, but it isn’t enough. Part of it is tradition. The seventh-inning stretch has been a part of the game for so long. Minor league baseball also has the difficult task of making it appeal to different demo- and psychographics because sponsorships are a huge part of keeping a minor league team running. That results in the many events that take place before and after the games and in between innings. The long story short goes along the lines of more is needed because it keeps the organization running.
May 4th, 2008 at 11:05 am
It seems I’m not the only one that thinks ownership has no interest in promoting the team or making the experience of going to Canal Park worthwhile.
When I applied for an employment opportunity (Merchandise Director) citing the bland, tired state of Infield Outfitters, not only did my 25 years of sports sales not get me an interview, my calls did not even merit the professional courtesy of a reply.
There were numerous suggestions made in my cover letter addressing the very same issues mentioned by previous posts about lack of enthusiasm and excitement at the Aeros games.
It’s obvious what’s been done in the 2 years since I applied for the job - NOTHING.
Another factor may be the lack of coverage of the team by the Newspaper, with award winning sports columnists, that is only 1 block from the stadium.
I’m aware there were “differences of opinions” by the Beacon Journal and the Agannis family that goes back to the days when the Aeros were in Canton. So, perhaps, blame should not be directed at the Beacon Journal.
Based on personal observations/experiences, reader comments and history, there are questions that are begging to be answered:
Has the Agannis family already scheduling moving vans?
Is ownership trying to drive down attendance to manipulate the city into more concessions (as if a $10 million scoreboard wasn’t enough)?
Is the scoreboard an indication that the city knows there is a potential problem with the Aeros (Mike Agannis used the field and stadium in Canton as reasons for leaving Canton holding the bag) ?
Is the staff turnover a sign of internal power struggles (Auman vs Agannis)?
Can the area find an ownership group that really has the passion and expertise that wants to make this franchise a success?
And I just can’t wait for the next “Take your pet to the game” promotion. They lose revenue for half the seats since the family pooch/kitty/koala occupies the seat next to you. When the Aeros have this promotion our son, who is a ticket buying baseball fan, can’t go because of his allergies. We certainly wouldn’t exclude our son from any game we go to. So, our entire family of 5 can’t go even if we wanted to!
May 5th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
I agree with some of the recent comments about the media coverage and how they are not at fault. In fact I think for a minor league team, they get the perfect amount of coverage. I like the stories about the players and rather read about that then who got two hits. I want to know these players and what they are all about because once they get to cleveland, then I will follow the fantasy stats.
The only objection I think I have with the Media, is that this seems to be the most popular issue with fans - yet no story, no interviews with the owners, or the GM or anyone.
Stephanie you do a great job and I assume you have knowledge and some insider contacts to get interviews. And looking at the blogs this season and even some from last season - the most popular story (in regards to comments posted) are about the failures of the Aeros, yet we have not seen an in depth story about what the problem is - or what the aeros think about it all. When can the fans get some answers to our concerns. And some REAL answers, not the smoke and mirror answers. I want to hear from the teams high ranking staff (Owner and GM) and even the city officials on the problems with this franchise.
What are the goals of the franchise - and are things going to improve and how are they going to improve. This way when it doesn’t get done - we have our answers.
May 13th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
I went to an Aeros game last year with my family. At the ticket window I suprisingly found out the the lowest priced ticket was $10! When I asked girl at the ticket window if there was a student or senior discount on ticket prices, she responded with a cold “no” as if I just inconvienced her. It was just a simple question. I guess she was in the middle of doing her homework. I ended up buying four tickets. Needless to say, I did not get the bang for my buck. I actually went back this year and to a game and the “promotion” was a magnet schedule. …Yes, the same kind of magnet schedule that is readily available in 90% of stadiums/arenas (of all sports) around the country piled up in complimentary stacks at various locations around any given stadium/arena (college and pro). This Aeros game was actually the first time I received a magnet schedule as a “promotion!” I should also caution that the games are pretty uneventful. Each Aeros game that I attened over the last few years was pretty boreing (win or loss). Also, the workers around the stadium are usually mean. Some even look/smell like substance abusers. Who actually hires these people? Unfortunately, I will probably end up going back to some more games this year and next year. After all, I better go now before the team finally moves away from this dying city of Akron.