Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Tampa Bay Rays Attendance Review: August 2017

Welcome to our fifth monthly review of the Tampa Rays 2017 attendance. This post will look at attendance in games played from August 4, 2017 to August 24, 2017.
  • Total August 2017 Tampa Bay Rays home attendance: 216,867
  • Average attendance per game: 14,457
  • Highest attendance: 22,328 on Tuesday, August 8th
  • Lowest attendance: 8,264 on Wednesday, August 23rd
  • Average August game time: 3 hours, 0 minutes
  • Highest attended series: 17,090 per game vs Red Sox, August 8-9
  • Lowest attended series: 10,115 per game vs Blue Jays, August 22-24
  • Competing events:
    • August 5: Tampa Bay Rowdies @ Al Lang Stadium (attendance 5,619)
    • August 19: Tampa Bay Rowdies @ Al Lang Stadium (attendance 6,710)
  • Total Tampa Bay Minor League July attendance: 81,850
  • Tampa Bay Minor League attendance per game: 1,637 (50 games)
  • Houston Astros relocated games: 3 games - total attendance: 12,993

Comparing August 2017 with previous years

The following chart compares August 2017 average attendance to other recent years.




The average August 2017 attendance increased 11% (1,467 more fans per game) than the August 2016 per game average. August 2017 stopped a four year decline in average August attendance.

Weekdays vs Weekends

Let’s now look at the Rays June attendance on weekdays (Mon-Thurs) and weekends (Fri-Sun). As I have pointed out many times, the Rays usually have one of the biggest differences in Major League Baseball in regards to weekday versus weekend attendance.

August 2017 breakdown:
  • Weekday home games: 6
  • Weekend home games: 9

This chart shows the Rays average weekday attendance in August since 2007.




Weekday August attendance in 2017 increased 424 fans per game, giving the Rays their highest weekday August average since 2014. The last three years have been very similar. 2015-2017 are 1,800-1,500 per game less than a similar group in 2011-2013.

The following chart shows Rays average weekend attendance in August since 2007.




The Rays August weekend average attendance in 2017 was 2,828 less than their August average attendance in 2016. Rays August 2017 average attendance was the lowest of the Sternberg ownership.

Conclusion

For the first time in 5 years, August average attendance increased. However, although attendance on the weekdays was better than it was in 2016, attendance on weekends was not - and a larger percentage of the total number of August games.

August attendance is often a reflection of how the team is doing on the field. If the team is in contention, attendance tends to increase. However, if the team is not or falls out of the race, attendance will decline from July attendance and look more like April or May attendance.

The Rays struggled in August and so did attendance.