It’s not often that a pro sports team’s sucky attendance is verified by court testimony, but that’s the case this week, as Facility Merchandising Inc., the company that sells gear for the Dodgers, testified during a hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Monday. During the hearing, Milton Arenson, president of FMI, said that Dodgers’ attendance this season is projected to be 2.2 million to 2.3 million — the first time the team has sold fewer than 3 million tickets since 1992, when they lost 99 games.
If every one of Dodger Stadium’s 56,000 seats were filled for every game, the team’s attendance would be 4.536 million. If the Dodgers attract 2.25 million fans this season, they would play to 49.6% of capacity.
The turnstile count reflects the gravity of the city’s dissatisfaction with the Dodgers. The Dodger Stadium turnstile count was 3.6 million in 1982, so a 2.25-million count this season would represent a drop of 37.5%.
Of course it’s all relative — the Dodgers are still ninth in MLB attendance this season. And while it’s true that the Dodgers report tickets sold — not tickets used — to determine that, most teams do the same thing.
U.S. Bankruptcy judge Kevin Gross ruled today that FMI must purchase merchandise for the club next season even though the Dodgers might cancel its contract before the season starts. The company, said the judge, could sue to recoup the losses at a later time. Dodgers’ attendance figures were presented by FMI to illustrate how slow merchandise sales have been.
So in other words, the Dodgers won one!
Also, this happened:
FMI attorney Arthur Rosenberg had asked that Gross order the Dodgers to accept or reject the FMI contract by Sept. 26, 2011 — effectively, he said, the end of the season.
“Not for the Phillies, we hope,” Gross said.
“For the Dodgers, it’s pretty much over by then,” Rosenberg said.
Poor Dodgers. No respect, even among lawyers.
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It’s official: Dodger Stadium is half-empty [Los Angeles Times]
