Monday, June 29, 2009  Attendance Pipe Dreams  Hey, DK had a
piece in the Post-Gazette on Sunday with Frank Coonelly
discussing the payroll differences between the Pirates and Brew
Crew.  There's a huge revenue gap between the two clubs, and
according to the story: "Coonelly pointed out that Milwaukee has
built up its product to the point that it has a $50 million
advantage over the Pirates in local revenue, thanks almost
entirely to having drawn 3 million fans last year to the
Pirates' 1.6 million."  First, let's disabuse anyone from
thinking that the Pirates will draw three million folk.
Pittsburgh has drawn over 2,000,000 fans only three times in its
history, and two of those times were 1990-91 at Three Rivers,
the last time they had some players on the field.  The Pirates
biggest year was 2001, when PNC Park opened. They averaged
30,834 fans per game, with a total gate of 2,435,867. (Pirate
attendance through the years, from Baseball Almanac.)  The
seating alone precludes Pittsburgh from drawing 3,000,000