Opening Day Arrives, As Brewers Hope For Fewer Empty Seats

It’s opening day Monday for the Milwaukee Brewers, and team executives hope this season will see fewer empty seats at Miller Park.

Home attendance for the Brewers has slipped the last two years. The MLB team drew about 2.3 million fans last year, the second straight drop of more than 200,000, and the lowest team attendance in a decade.

Brewers COO Rick Schlesinger said the attendance decline coincided with a rebuilding period for the team’s roster. But early indications are that more fans may come to the park this season, he said, thanks to a mix of renewed optimism and promotional events.

“What we’re seeing is a nice growth in group sales. And individual ticket sales between this time this year and last year are significantly ahead. We’re doing a lot of things such as the bobbleheads, theme nights, other promotions,” Schlesinger said.

But getting off to a good start on the field is a key factor to attendance for the rest of the year, Schlesinger said.

“Last two years, we have not started out well in April. Obviously makes my job tougher,” he said. “So absolutely, one thing I always tell David Stearns, our general manager, is it’d be nice to start out hot in April and continue that.”

During the last two years, the Brew Crew has been well below .500 by May 1. Many baseball analysts have picked this year’s team to finish fourth in their five-team division.

The Brewers host the Colorado Rockies at 1:10 p.m. Monday, April 3.