A couple of weeks ago I went to the Vault to attend a Phillies game. The place was almost full - I didn't hear the announced attendance but I'm guessing it was around 35,000. As I sat in the stands I noticed something very odd -- everyone was white. I mentioned this to my buddy and he was also astonished. We searched the entire ballpark -- as far as we could see -- and we finally saw one person of color.

I watched a few innings of the game on TV last night and noticed the same thing.

Why? 1 in 35,000 -- that's just too weird.


[Thread title modified for clarity. - Outsports moderator]

[ May 06, 2004, 10:10 AM: Message edited by: m1 ]

Thank you! wink As to your point, I have to say I've noticed a similar trend -- although I have seen more than just one person of color, it is a predominantly white crowd. Same thing at the hockey games I've gone to.

I think MLB teams could do more to attract non-white crowds. I think part of the problem may stem from the fact that most of the employees are white. But when there is a non-white person, they have a natural interest in attracting a different type of fan.

For example, the Toronto Blue Jays have a Japanese guy in their group sales department and thus the Jays have a Japanese Flex Pack and a Japanese Day. This is despite the fact that the Japanese community is NOT one of the larger ethnic groups in Toronto.

The Mets have a host of ethnic nights--Pakistani, Black, Asian, Irish, Jewish, Hispanic, Italian, Oktoberfest, Merengue--and I wouldn't be surprised if they have a more diverse fan base because of it.

I think that's why Gay Days are important, too, because it will bring more gay people out to the ballgame.

---------------

I've noticed in the past couple of years that I see many more non-white people (Asian, south Asian, in particular) at Raptors game than before.

[ May 05, 2004, 08:54 AM: Message edited by: canmark ]

I've noticed the same here in LA: go to a Dodger game at Chavez Ravine and you'll see a mix of mostly whites and Latinos--few blacks. But go to the Lakers & you'll see mostly whites and blacks--few Latinos. Last season I watched a game from Comerica Park in Detroit & was struck by how white the crowd was. Is it just a question of marketing?

~Adam

canmark, one thing you will notice at Shea Stadium is that the upper levels of the stadium are much more diverse than the lower levels. If you watch games on TV and then sit in the upper mezz seats, you'll notice the difference. Also, Queens is the most diverse area of NYC so it does help in that department.

The theme nights are actually a lot of fun. I went to what I think was "Dominican Indepence Night" or something like that last year. The fans were pretty up for the game (it was against the Reds) and it was more fun to watch the people than the game. There were many families and groups there that you could tell don't normall go to a baseball game.

Now why doesn't Shea have gay night?? :confused:

Regarding the Jewish part--I would say that only confused Jewish fans would partake in such an event at Shea Stadium. I will take my yarmulke to The Bronx, thank you!

There's a rumor going around that they might...stay tuned

I think the ethnic themes are a great idea, although some of the minorities listed above are more 'visible' than others (I'm not sure how the promoters of an 'Irish' night would be able to gauge the success of their efforts :confused: ).The one and only game that I've been to at Safeco Field (last year) happened to be 'Japanese Night', and there were certainly plenty of Japanese fans in attendance to cheer on Ichiro and the rest of the Mariners. I even received a free ball-cap in Seattle's colours with a Japanese inscription. I assumed it said 'Mariners' but recently someone here in Calgary translated it for me, apparently the words are 'Wild Bulls' (maybe there's a team by that name in Japan!)

[quote]BPT336:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by canmark:
[qb]The theme nights are actually a lot of fun. I went to what I think was \"Dominican Indepence Night\" or something like that last year.[/quote]I've been to Merenge Night with the Mets with a group of Outsporters. After the game there was a Dominican music concert. What a hoot! JiP and I were there till after midnight.

Part of the reason for low attendance blacks may be due to the fact that fewer and fewer American blacks are playing baseball. The number of African American MLB players has plummeted in recent years. There was an fairly recent episode of Outside the Lines regarding this issue.

I've noticed this too, even at Yankee Stadium. Even the bleacher creatures are mostly white, more so when throngs of Japanese Matsui fans aren't there.

Something else I noticed this year: Not counting pitching, Jason Giambi is the only white starter for the Yankees this year (okay, Jeter makes it 1½), and Travis Lee is I think the only white guy on the bench.

Hey, Queens is the most diverse area on the planet!

Edit: Just remembered Bubba Crosby and John Flaherty. So there's three white guys on the bench.

[ May 05, 2004, 02:20 PM: Message edited by: FeverDog ]

When I go to Atlanta games, I see a pretty good diversity of attendees in the crowd. I would go as far as to say it reflects the diversity of the city, but it's good to see everyone getting along just fine.
However, I went to a Detroit Lion's football game last fall and was shocked to see no black or latino people in the audience. while watching the Tahnksgiving game, I pointed that out to someone and we spent much of the game looking for any black people in the stands, eventually, one black girl showed up with some of her white girlfriends. Detroit is mostly black after much of the white population fled to the burbs following the riots. There are major racial issues going on in that town and in that state.

I think there are a couple of factors regarding the prevalance of different minority groups in attendance of sporting events.

One is, how much representation of a specific minority does the team have. The higher the number the more likely the fan base will reflect this. The other factor is economics. Gone are the days of cheap tickets. Some groups are being priced out of the market, especially with families.

[ May 05, 2004, 08:24 PM: Message edited by: phillyrunner ]

Economics play a part, but there's a lot of other factors of why blacks aren't in to baseball as much as they used to be. There was a long article in SI about this recently and they cited things like the breakdown of the black family causing the usual father-to-son thing to not happen etc. They also cited the fact that it's easy to nail up a hoop somewhere, but the large grassy space that baseball needs are available in a lot of urban areas and so on. They cited one factor above all: baseball players usually don't make the majors until their mid-20's, especially if they go to college and then spend a couple of years in the minors. Basketball and football players can be making big money by 21 or 22 (younger now in the NBA), they don't want to wait. It's a complicated issue.

Ha! You want to see all-white crowds? You should have been at Anaheim Stadium before the Angels started playing the Dodgers in inter-league play (the exhibition Freeway Series doesn't count). Whitebread doesn't even begin to describe it.

At the end of the Mouse's Reign of Error, they realized "Hey! there's a large Latino population in Orange County, Latino's love baseball, let's market to them". There was an incident where a Latino reporter for the Times called the Angels ticket office saying "No habla English" and the Angels couldn't find one person to take the call. With Artie Moreno in place, all that's changed, of course, helped along by the acquisitions of Vlad, Guillen, Colon and Escobar. It's still rare to see blacks though.

I don't worry too much about why certain groups don't show up for certain events. I rarely ever see blacks or Latinos or Asians at a lot of the concerts featuring the loud guitar bands I love, just as there aren't a whole bunch of whites at Anita Baker "Quiet Storm" shows or the norteno singers from Mexico. Not every single thing has to be a multi-culti melting pot.

[ May 06, 2004, 09:32 AM: Message edited by: Jim Allen ]

I have noticed the same thing at University of Texas football games and Round Rock Express (AA Houston Astros) baseball games. I totally understand the RRX baseball games seeing as how they are in a racist county north of Austin. Plus, the entire front office and most of the stadium employees for the RRX baseball team is lilly white, too.

[ May 06, 2004, 09:40 AM: Message edited by: bobby78751 ]

Well, I can say that the crowd at The Cell in Chicago has its share of minorities. I've seen a lot of black and Hispanic people--a very diverse crowd when I've gone there.

MIB maybe they can have a Jail and court in the "cell"... is that where you sit on the bench?

Oh the hypoc..hip...hyprocricy...hypocracy... damnit... nevermind.

[ May 06, 2004, 01:58 PM: Message edited by: PhillyFan ]

Be careful, PF, or that Gator Jamie broad will come here and start beating me again. eek!

I know somebody mentioned that the Dodger's get a lot of whites and hispanics, but I think they also get a lot of asians. Very few blacks though. I think having Ishi and Nomo helps the Dodgers, plus Lo Duca is one of the favorite players for many people.

I went to the Angels v. Devil Rays game on Saturday and I took note of the crowd. Still overwhelmingly white--and in the section I was in, white people with small kids who blocked my view of the plate, the little f**kers--with a good percentage of Latinos and some blacks and Asians.

I would bet that economics has a lot to do with it. At the last few Cubs and White Sox games I've gone to, there was a wide range of people--of ALL colors. The tickets aren't cheap though, certainly not as cheap as they once were.

I'd also say that Shea Stadium, which gives me a bad vibe, tends to be pretty diverse. That's probably the stadium where I've seen the most Asian-Americans, Latinos, Arabs, and African-Americans. Yankee Stadium, in el Bronx, is less so sometimes--at least in my experience.

But ballpark tickets aren't cheap--and lets not even get into tickets for football games. I thought about going to see the sorry Bears last fall, and though they were so awful they should have been giving away tickets, they were still charging exorbitant prices.

As for the Irish, Marc, believe me, if you have an Irish night at something, it's quite likely you'll be able to tell who wants to be so recognized! The usual signs are the emerald green clothing and the shamrocks. (And since Irish ancestry is now the second largest in the US after German--or so I read somewhere--a lot of people could and would be breaking out the emerald and the 'rocks!)

Go to any baseball, college football, NFL football and even NBA games.....and there is very very little diversity.

This is all an interesting discussion. Without trying to sound stereotypical or something, I wonder if it's really true that certain races tend to frequent certain venues. At Comiskey, I DO see a wide variety of people.

At the casinos in Illinois, I see a lot of African Americans, most of whom play the slots (especially black females). At Las Vegas casinos, a lot more Asians are present than at Illinois' casinos. At the race track, I saw a lot of blue-collar white guys and some lunch hour businessmen.

I admit, though, that I haven't been to an Illinois casino in several years. However, my father retired from working on one last summer, and he confirmed my observations.

At Wrigley Field, I see a lot of unemployed, unknowledgeable homosexuals.

(OK, this White Sox fan HAD to get that last dig in. )

I'm not familiar with the Illinois casinos at all -- location, type of venues, etc. -- but I imagine many of the Asians in Vegas casinos are tourists, especially from overseas.

Actually, you do see a lot of Asians (east Asians, that is, not south Asians--ie. Chinese, Vietnamese and Japanese) at casinos, at least the ones I've been to in Louisiana and Ontario.

At the Blue Jays game last night I did see a few Asians (both east and south), but almost no black people (I was sitting in the cheap upper deck seats).

Well, last night there were 3 black kids in my row, and in my section and the one next to me I noticed a number of black people and a couple of Asians mixed among the crowd.