Attendance Key Reason White Sox Need To Compete

By Matt Manetti | Sep 9, 2016

Jul 21, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; A general view of the field during the seventh inning in a rain delay in a game between the Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers at U.S. Cellular Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports /

Attendance at White Sox games has been on the decline since 2006. The only solution is for the team to start winning more games, and fast.

The Chicago White Sox won their game on Tuesday, but that wasn’t the thing that jumped out at me. The thing that jumped out was how empty U.S. Cellular Field was. A few scattered fans were in the bleachers and around the foul territory, but that was it.

This team ranks 26th in the major leagues with an average attendance of 22,793. That’s only better than Miami, Cleveland, Oakland and Tampa Bay. To put that in perspective, U.S. Cellular Field has a capacity of 40,615. They’re barely selling enough tickets to fill half the stadium and that should be a huge concern to the front office.

More from White Sox News

But it wasn’t always like this. When they won the World Series in 2005, they had an average attendance of 28,923. In 2006, average attendance boomed to 36,189, which ranked them ninth. Can you believe that? The White Sox ranked ninth in baseball in attendance. Since then, the numbers has just dropped until it hit rock bottom in 2014. In 2014, they averaged 20,896.

Bottom line, White Sox fans will only come out if there’s a winning product. Early in the season attendance was great because they were one of the best teams in baseball. Now, they are at the bottom of their division and on track for yet another losing season. This team is painful to watch and fans have shown they will not pay good money to see a bad team play baseball.

Now this team has a lot of obvious holes all over the place. They have holes in their pitching, on offense, the list just goes on and on. People have argued for a complete rebuild, but the question remains, would fans support a bad team? I think the answer to that question is a resounding no, and the proof is already there.

White Sox fans don’t come to the ballpark unless this team is winning ball games. It would be foolish to think this team can go into rebuild mode and still draw fans. They already have to compete with the Cubs, who will always draw fans, no matter what. The Sox don’t have that luxury. They need to win to sell tickets.

A rebuild would make this team even more irrelevant in the Chicago baseball landscape. With the Cubs being the World Series favorite, hardly anyone pays attention to the South Side. It’s like people have forgotten we have two baseball teams. Even when you listen to the Chicago media, you never hear them talk about the Sox.

Next: In-Depth Overview of White Sox Offensive Woes

The only solution is for this team to retool and try to compete year in and year out. They have some pieces in place. Now it’s up to their front office and coaching staff to do everything in their power to make sure they are competitive and relevant again. Otherwise those attendance numbers will continue to fall.

Home/White Sox News