MLB warns of 20% dropoff in attendance

• Big League Stew: "According to ESPN's Peter Gammons, MLB officials are readying team beancounters for a drop in attendance that could equal a
• 20 percent decline — or even more in areas hit particularly hard by the economy.

Gammons doesn't get into specifics — the mention comes in the middle of a Jon Lester contract post — but the drop would obviously put a crashing halt to the yearly attendance increases from 2004-07 and be much more devastating to revenues than the 1.14 percent dip in '08 (a year which still ranked as MLB's second-highest attendance total ever).

From Gammons' ESPN blog:

"Major League Baseball has warned club businesspeople that attendance is expected to be down 17-20 percent in 2009, and that it could be worse, especially for franchises such as the San Diego Padres, Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians, Houston Astros, Colorado Rockies and others that could be seriously impacted by the recession."...

Over on MLB Trade Rumors, Tim Dierkes does the math and finds that a drop of 20 percent

• would mean the league losing about $400 million in just ticket revenue.

• That's not counting cash from parking, concessions, souvenirs for Stewie Jr., etc."...

Available pundits have shouted down any criticism of crime family boss Bud Selig by saying,

• 'baseball is awash in cash,'

and you'd be 'silly not to say it was thanks to Selig.' Will the same experts say it would be silly

• not to blame a cash failure on Selig (should that unfortunate event take place)?

If not, why should these pundits be viewed as anything but

• sycophants, toadies and lackeys for Selig? (sm)

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