The Phillies are Losing Quite a Bit in Ticket Revenue

Photo credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

The obvious guy brings you this report.

Chris Hepp, writing for the Inquirer:

As of their last home game – Tuesday’s 6-5 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays – the Phils were league leaders in year-over-year attendance drop. After 15 home games, average attendance at Citizens Bank Park was 29,605 – a per-game plummet of 7,070, steepest in Major League Baseball.

It also represents an enormous loss of revenue. With the average Phillies ticket priced at $37.50, according to Team Marketing Report, 7,070 fewer fans means $265,125 less each game. Over 81 home games, that translates into more than $21 million.

I’m not sure it’s as easy as just figuring out the average ticket price and then multiplying by the decrease in attendance – much of which is presumably in the cheaper seats… and that’s before you factor in discounts, freebies and other deals – but close enough. The Phillies are on pace to lose essentially a Cliff Lee in ticket revenue. Despite that decline, however, the Phils will begin taking in an estimated (extremely so) $78 million per season when their new TV deal kicks in. So, yeah, losing ticket money hurts, but it’ll soon be more than offset by incoming TV money.