I Don't Know What I'm Talking About...

That's important to remember when reading this.

Having said that, for the next few minutes I'm going to pretend to understand the business of baseball. The ins and outs of upper management, ownership, and what exactly it takes to put fans in the stands and a winning product on the field.

By now as an avid reader of my blog you know that the Mariners haven't been successful (in the classical sense of the word) in quite some time. You know that this off-season we missed out on the big free-agent prize that was Prince Fielder and you know that I was personally in the stands when the Mariners set the wrong end of their attendance record. It would seem easy to see that something needs to change.

A few years ago when the Tampa Bay Devil Rays changed their name from that to the now Tampa Bay Rays it was because of a change in leadership (whether they got a new owner, new gm, or new shift managers at the concessions I don't recall) but with the change in their name, from "feared sea creature" to "optimistic beam of light" came other changes.

Tampa Bay is in a much smaller market than Seattle, or more importantly than their division rivals, (and enemies of the state) the Red Sox and Yankees. So to compete attendance wise they made a small change that appeared to work out quite well for them.

They made parking free.

Like the nice parking, the kind right next to the stadium, the kind that'll cost you a fresh, crisp Mr. Jackson in our Emerald City.

Now, is that the reason they made it to the World Series that year? Probably. Yes.

Connecting the dots I think we can all see where I'm going with this. Now, I am by no means suggesting that we plagiarize the Rays idea and make parking free. Clearly the overpriced food and seats aren't paying the overwhelming electric bill.

But I think a similar idea would speak volumes and wouldn't necessarily cost the team all that much money.

Let's assume for a second that the team gave away tickets to a game. Just gave them away. No charge. Rather than receiving payment from 18,000 fans on a Tuesday night (which is when this is taking place in my head)  you would let 45,000 fans in for free. Let's assume at least half of them pay for parking and nearly all of them buy at least one item at the stadium (probably not that far off considering nobody paid to get in) You couldn't be that far off what you made hosting only 18,000 fans, with the added bonus of having a sold-out (gave-away-out?) stadium and the moral boost that gives to the team.

I'm certain there are holes. But I'm not certain what they are.

If you're listening Mariners. It's an idea.

Final Thought -
I would expect no compensation from the Mariners for this idea, simply a thank you along with my free ticket like everyone else.
Oh, and you're welcome Seattle.