Baseball a Big-Ticket Item Here

The game was almost over, the Angels were getting blown out and the crowd was thinning out. Designated hitter Tim Salmon glanced up at a patch of empty seats, a rare sight at Angel Stadium, and flashed back to the not-so-good old days.

“Holy cow,” Salmon said. “That’s what it used to be like every day.”

No more. In a season in which major league baseball is on pace to set an attendance record, there is no hotter market for a hot sport than Southern California.

The New York Yankees lead the majors in attendance, but the Dodgers rank second and the Angels third. With the possibility of both teams advancing to the playoffs in the same season -- for the first time in the 44 years the teams have shared the Southland -- the Dodgers and Angels will sell nearly 7 million tickets this summer, a figure unprecedented in baseball’s two-team markets.

“Winning does great things,” said Lon Rosen, the Dodgers’ chief marketing officer. “You’ve got to hand it to the guys on the field.”

There could hardly be a more opportune time for the surge in popularity. With the Lakers disintegrating, the NHL season in jeopardy and the NFL still absent from Los Angeles, the Dodgers and Angels could claim the Southland as baseball territory for years to come.

“This gives baseball a long-term opportunity to really strengthen its hold on the market,” said David Carter, a Los Angeles sports business consultant.

Commissioner Bud Selig has proclaimed this “a golden era” for baseball, citing increases in attendance, local television ratings and national television ratings as evidence.

“There’s no question it’s sustainable,” Selig said. “I don’t think people understand how good this sport is going to be in the 21st century.”

The 30 major league teams are on pace to draw 74.1 million fans, up 6.5 million from last season and 1.4 million from the record set in 2000.

The Dodgers are on pace for 3.49 million fans, third-highest in team history and highest for any National League team in six years. The Angels are on pace for 3.39 million, a club record for the second consecutive season and close to their maximum annual capacity of 3.6 million.

The Angels have sold out a record 39 games -- of 60 -- in their 45,000-seat stadium. The Dodgers have sold out 21 games -- the most since 1991 -- in their 56,000-seat stadium.

The Angels’ ratings on Fox Sports Net are up 63% from last season, and the Dodgers’ ratings are up 23%, Fox spokesman Dennis Johnson said.

“To me, baseball is alive and thriving in Southern California,” Angel President Dennis Kuhl said, “from Little League all the way up to the major leagues.”

Although the Dodgers have long been one of baseball’s best draws, the Angels have not, much to the dismay of major league executives befuddled over how previous owners -- Walt Disney Co. and the Autry family -- failed to capitalize on the huge Southland market.

“We were told over and over again this was a small-market team,” Angel closer Troy Percival said. “We finally had somebody come in and say, ‘I don’t think so.’ ”

Under new owner Arte Moreno, the Angels sell themselves as a Southern California team, not an Orange County team. Moreno’s business plan calls for the Angels to draw 3 million every year. They have considered adding hundreds of seats behind the outfield, but Kuhl said that idea has been shelved for now because of concern over sight lines.

The Angels drew 1.76 million in 1997, about half what they will draw this season. They have sold at least 40,000 tickets for each of their last 29 games and have sold more than 30,000 for every game this season.

“If we did fill the seats back in the day, a lot of them were rooting for the other team. You don’t see that around here anymore,” Percival said. “And we get more people out here from more areas now. In Riverside, everywhere I go, people say, ‘I was at the game last night.’ ”

Kuhl said he believes the Angels can sustain high attendance, with temperate weather that makes good crowds in April and May possible and Moreno’s presentation of nearly every game on television.

“Arte will continue to put a good product on the field,” Kuhl said. “More games on TV gives the club more exposure and highlights players people want to come and see.”

The Dodgers also upgraded their television schedule this year, in time for an unexpectedly excellent season. The Angels won the World Series in 2002, but the Dodgers have not appeared in a playoff game in eight years and have not won one in 16.

“For a team everybody wrote off in spring training, they’re pretty much running away with it,” Salmon said last week. “I think they’ve been a pleasant surprise to Dodger fans.”

The Angels never had drawn 3 million before last year, but the Dodgers did it in each of the last eight years. In spring training, new co-owner Jamie McCourt said the Dodgers ought to shoot for 4 million, a milestone achieved only by the Colorado Rockies and Toronto Blue Jays. To reach 4 million, the Dodgers would need to average 49,382, up from the current 43,135.

“Absolutely, it’s realistic,” Rosen said. “We don’t want to stay where we are. We have more room in the ballpark. It’s a lofty goal, but one I think we can achieve.”

Under Moreno in Anaheim and co-owners Frank and Jamie McCourt in Los Angeles, both teams have revitalized community relations and customer service operations that sometimes appeared neglected under the corporate ownership of News Corp. with the Dodgers and Disney with the Angels. Moreno and Frank McCourt each walk the stadium and meet fans.

Moreno also built a reservoir of goodwill by committing nearly $200 million to lure free agents, including superstar Vladimir Guerrero, and retain outfielder Garret Anderson. However, Moreno and McCourt each plan to cut payroll this winter, a delicate challenge for championship hopefuls.

Ultimately, high attendance can be sustained only with a winning team. Rosen said he believes high attendance can best be sustained with two winning teams in town.

“It’s good to have the Angels here. The more baseball fans we have, the better off we both are,” he said. “The better they do, the better for us, and vice versa.”

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Attendance Report

Major league baseball attendance statistics through games played Sunday:

*--* AMERICAN LEAGUE HOME GAMES ROAD GAMES Dates Total Avg. Dates Total Avg. ANGELS 60 2,514,661 41,911 64 1,871,552 29,243 Baltimore 64 2,187,453 34,179 57 1,707,791 29,961 Boston 61 2,138,493 35,057 60 2,143,958 35,733 Chicago 62 1,595,539 25,735 57 1,471,389 25,814 Cleveland 61 1,340,402 21,974 64 1,778,561 27,790 Detroit 61 1,555,092 25,493 62 1,758,990 28,371 Kansas City 63 1,393,016 22,111 57 1,504,148 26,389 Minnesota 66 1,544,996 23,409 57 1,507,720 26,451 New York 61 2,998,154 49,150 62 2,587,150 41,728 Oakland 57 1,527,047 26,790 66 2,127,029 32,228 Seattle 58 2,112,631 36,425 64 1,797,013 28,078 Tampa Bay 66 1,108,176 16,791 58 1,600,125 27,588 Texas 55 1,833,536 33,337 65 1,872,183 28,803 Toronto 59 1,217,389 20,634 64 1,742,759 27,231 AL Totals 854 25,066,585 29,352 857 25,470,368 29,720

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*--* NATIONAL LEAGUE HOME GAMES ROAD GAMES Dates Total Avg. Dates Total Avg. Arizona 65 2,063,966 31,753 60 1,836,271 30,605 Atlanta 58 1,742,323 30,040 65 1,989,701 30,611 Chicago 58 2,281,003 39,328 64 2,550,361 39,849 Cincinnati 58 1,754,143 30,244 65 2,025,281 31,158 Colorado 65 1,980,997 30,477 58 1,797,330 30,988 DODGERS 64 2,760,635 43,135 59 1,862,976 31,576 Florida 58 1,259,161 21,710 64 1,865,548 29,149 Houston 63 2,383,947 37,840 60 1,897,673 31,628 Milwaukee 64 1,702,253 26,598 57 1,675,428 29,393 Montreal 58 534,658 9,218 63 1,873,901 29,744 New York 56 1,658,377 29,614 66 2,126,228 32,216 Philadelphia 63 2,597,517 41,230 61 1,753,084 28,739 Pittsburgh 55 1,183,603 21,520 63 1,919,094 30,462 St. Louis 65 2,473,570 38,055 59 1,795,856 30,438 San Diego 66 2,440,177 36,972 56 1,907,234 34,058 San Francisco 66 2,647,681 40,116 59 2,184,262 37,021 NL Totals 982 31,464,011 32,041 979 31,060,228 31,726 MLB Totals 1,836 56,530,596 30,790 1,836 56,530,596 30,790

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