Marlins Closing Upper Deck Due To Poor Attendance
By Spike Eskin
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – The Phillies attendance has been lower this season than in recent years, but it's nothing like what the Marlins are dealing with.
The Miami Marlins announced they would close the upper deck of Marlins Park for some weeknight games, The Miami Herald reports, including six of their next nine games at home. The Phillies visit the Marlins May 20-22, and the the upper deck will be closed for those games.
The stadium holds about 37,000 people, and 10,000 of those seats are in the upper deck.
The Marlins are 28th in the MLB in attendance, averaging 18,864 per game, down almost 10,000 per game from 2012. This number reflects tickets sold, and not the number of people actually in the stadium, which the Marlins say was about 10,000 less per game than tickets sold last year.
It's a real shame that such a small number of people are able to see that ridiculous moving Marlins circus thing in center field.
The Phillies are 7th in attendance this year, at just over 37,000 per game. Many will remember the lean days of Veterans Stadium, when attendances during some of the worst Phillies seasons didn't look much better than Marlins Park does now.
Thanks to Jonathan Tannenwald for the heads up on the story.
