I caught a part of the game yesterday and I just came across today's game and man the crowd looks weak. Stadium is probably barely 3/4 full. I guess we have gotten spoiled by championship games with a packed house. The outfield seats are looking sad today.
I noticed that too. A lot of that has to do with LSU not being there. There are a lot of locals that go to the games because they want to see LSU (and probably get some food from the tailgaters). The 2 times I went to Omaha several locals told me that it isn't the same when LSU isn't there. The crowds were definately full before LSU was eliminated. According to the announcers one of the games was supposedly a record crowd. I think its obvious that LSU generates more interest at the CWS than any other school. Not to mention that LSU probably brings more fans than anyone else (other than Nebraska). No one seemed to care about a Rice-Stanford matchup as much.
Let's not pump ourselves up too much. the 2 biggest crowds were Texas v Miami (both match-ups). +25,000 each time.
I'm not saying LSU games always have more people than anyone else at their games. I know thats not always true. My point was, when LSU is there the attendance is usually higher as a whole because of the large number of LSU fans that make the trip (which is usually a larger number than other schools). I don't have numbers to back that up, I'm just basing that on my personal experiences of being at Omaha. I know there are many LSU fans that go to other non LSU games which would tend to make the overall attendance higher.
I think the fact that both teams were smaller private schools it hurt attendance. Had LSU, Texas or Miami been in the championship round I would have expected more people to show up.
I don't know about Miami because they are a small private school too but if it had been LSU and Texas the scalpers would have made a fortune.
true true, I forgot about that. I know Miami does not travel well for football. With that I would think baseball travel wouldn't be good either since baseball is more of a minor sport in $$ terms. And the surprising thing I learned this CWS is that Cal State Fullerton has an enrollment of 30,000 which is comparable to LSU. It is mainly a commuter school though.
The most obvious reason for the less than full house was that the game was played on MONDAY!!! This series thing is ridiculous, but they should at least have the smarts to start it on Friday, that way it is wrapped up on Sat or Sun, talk about full houses!! How many people make the trip to Omaha can stay an extra Monday? Gotta get back to work at some point and people usually schedule their vacations to end on Sunday.
Good point. Move the whole damn thing up 1 day. 1st Round games - Thrus & Friday 2nd Round - Sat & Sunday etc...... CWSCS Friday Saturday Sunday, if ncessary. Makes a hell of a lot more sens to have the championship games in "prime-time" as opposed to 2 of the 1st round games the previous saturday.
