Chuck Armstrong wasn’t sure what to expect when the Seattle Mariners hosted their annual FanFest last weekend.
After a 99-loss, last-place season, would the fans care enough to show up?
And those who did, would they be angry? Would they pepper Armstrong and other Mariners executives with directives to return the team to the postseason?
Or were the additions of free-agent sluggers Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson enough to calm the edginess of fans who became accustomed to a franchise that had never spent big money for big boppers?
“I was curious,” said Armstrong, the Mariners’ president.
After two days, satisfaction replaced his curiosity.
“As I spent time walking around the ballpark, I didn’t see too many discouraging looks,” Armstrong said. “I was happy, pleased, pleasantly surprised and gratified.”
So far, the Mariners believe the fan base hasn’t stumbled in 2005 like the team did in 2004.
More than 14,000 attended FanFest, season ticket sales are showing a slight decline, and advance sales of spring training tickets indicate the Mariners could play to record crowds in Arizona this March.
Short of 99 victories to replace the 99 losses, the Mariners are enthused at the amount of interest their fans continue to show.
The team has some serious issues going in spring training, especially the strength of the pitching staff because of injuries to starter Joel Pineiro and closer Eddie Guardado in 2004.
Still, the signings of Beltre and Sexson to long-term, multi-million-dollar contracts have restored hope among fans, Armstrong said.
“It put to rest all the criticism that the Mariners won’t spend the money for high-priced guys and won’t go long-term (on contracts) with them,” he said. “That went a long way to help maintain fan interest and hope and faith.”
The M’s drew 2,942,054 last year, third-best in the American League behind New York and Anaheim and 10th overall in the major leagues. The Mariners, who sold more than 19,000 season tickets in 2004, expected some erosion in fan interest this year and there has been.
FanFest last weekend drew about 1,700 fewer fans than last year’s two-day record of 15,854. Sales of season tickets and 16-game ticket packages aren’t what they were at this time last year, but Armstrong said the falloff hasn’t been severe.
The Mariners sold 325 of their 16-game plans over the weekend and about 20 full-season tickets.
“I think we’re doing better than you might expect after losing 99 games,” Armstrong said. “We’re behind last year (in season ticket sales) and last year was behind the year before, but they seem to be picking up. One of the biggest complaints we’ve had are people calling in thinking they could improve their seat locations because they assumed other season ticket holders aren’t renewing their seats.”
The Mariners also re-signed four of their biggest corporate partners to long-term contracts – Anheuser-Busch, U.S. Bank, Boeing and Redhook – and are ahead of targets for sponsorship revenues at this time of the year, said Rebecca Hale, the Mariners’ director of public information.
One huge barometer of fan interest, single-game ticket sales, won’t be known for several weeks, when those tickets go on sale March 5.
Tickets to spring training have sold so well that officials in Peoria, Ariz., where the Mariners play their home games, are anticipating record attendance in March.
Through January, about 64,000 tickets had been sold to Mariners spring games compared with 35,000 to San Diego Padres games, said John Richardson, executive director of the Peoria Diamond Club. Peoria Stadium is the spring training home of both teams, and together they drew a stadium-record 214,088 fans last March.
Already, hotels near the Mariners’ ballpark in Peoria are close to being fully booked in March, Richardson said.
“We’re off to a great running start,” Richardson said. “Whether we can continue that depends on how many local buyers continue to buy and how the weather is, because that affects the walkup sales.”
FanFest last weekend was an important gauge in fan interest for Mariners executives who have been understandably anxious this offseason.
“I walked away Sunday night feeling it was a really good weekend,” said Kevin Martinez, the Mariners’ marketing director. “We were realistic going into season-ticket sales that there will be some erosion coming off a 99-loss season. But the spirit of the fans is what struck me. I still think we’ll be among the tops in baseball (for season-ticket sales). We’ve got to show the fans that we’re committed to winning, and now we’ve got to keep the club healthy and perform.”
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