Pittsburgh Pirates fans are beginning to boycott the team and they have every reason to do so. Currently through 73 home games they have seen their average attendance per game drop the second most (4,103 less fans per game) out of all 30 MLB teams. That is in comparison to their first 73 games of 2016.
Frustrated Pittsburgh Pirates Fans Need to See Results
After announcing a four-year extension for General Manager Neal Huntington, fans were treated to the most ridiculous statement they’ve heard in a long time.
“The more revenue that’s generated, the more we put into the major league club,” said Huntington according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
It’s just another instance of passing the buck for the Pirates. With this front office it’s lies, lies, and more lies.
Owner Bob Nutting and Pirates front office have zero intentions of going all-in to better their odds at winning a World Series and fans know it.
So when Huntington told the media that fans need to show up to the ballpark so they can spend more money on the product, it was the most Nutting statement ever.
First off, it’s not the fans obligation to show up. It’s Nutting’s obligation to give them a reason to show up. Just because he owns a team doesn’t entitle him to fans. You have to earn fans. You have to prove to them without a shadow of a doubt that you have their best interests in mind.
Nutting has failed fans time and time again and they have grown weary of his excuses. They’re seeing through the smoke and mirrors.
When the team won 98 games in 2015, more fans showed up (2,498,596) than ever before. Do you know what ownership did in reaction to that? They pocketed the fans hard-earned money and did nothing to improve the product on the field and they’ll continue to do the same thing as long as fans allow them to do it.
The other excuse the front office loves to use is that Pittsburgh is a small market and these are the struggles of a small market. This is also a bogus excuse used by ownership. You need to look no further than the Kansas City Royals.
The Royals are in one of the smallest markets in Major League Baseball. By the way, they’ve won a World Series recently by going all-in and not by making excuses that fans needed to come to games. The Royals continued to keep their window open by being aggressive and making moves.
The Cleveland Indians acquired Andrew Miller last season to get over the hump. It was a move that took them to the World Series. They almost won it all too.
You know what they did after losing the World Series? They acquired Edwin Encarnacion and he’s hit 33 home runs for the Tribe thus far this season. Then at the trade deadline this season they acquired another power bat in Jay Bruce. They stayed aggressive to stay competitive.
It’s time for Pirates ownership to stop passing the buck and start modeling after small market teams who’ve been successful. Fans are savvy. They know better than to allow these shenanigans to continue. Team attendance isn’t going to go up until ownership is willing to prove they are all in.
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