from Danny Ecker at Crains Chicago Business:

The South Siders capped the 2014 home season today in front of a crowd of 32,266, bringing final home paid attendance to 1,650,821, an average of 20,896 per game over 79 days of baseball at U.S. Cellular Field.

That average ranked 28th out of Major League Baseball's 30 teams and marked the Sox's lowest full-season ticket sales since 1999, when paid attendance was 1,338,851.

Another season of sparse crowds came despite an average ticket price of $26 — less than the MLB average of $27.93, according to Chicago-based Team Marketing Report.

The Sox chose to keep the cost of admission flat this season after a drastic 10 percent price reduction in 2013 that included lower prices on 87 percent of seats at U.S. Cellular Field. Parking prices remained slightly lower, too, at $20 per game, down from $25 or $23 in previous years.

Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said last month that he's not bothered by another dropoff in ticket sales, which are down 26 percent since 2010.

"When the product merits it, people will come out," he said.

The Sox notched more wins in 2014 than last year but still finished with their worst record since 2007 and in fourth place in the American League Central Division.

MARKETING EFFORTS

It's not like the team didn't pull out all the marketing stops this year.

The team tried early on to draw crowds by touting its retooled lineup, led by the breakout season of Rookie of the Year favorite Jose Abreu.

Thanks in part to his finishing in the top five in the American League in batting average (.317), home runs (36) and runs batted in (107), the Sox jumped to 12th in the league in runs scored from 29th last season.

Ace pitcher Chris Sale was another marketing centerpiece, with the Sox creating the "K Zone for Sale" seats down the left field line, a section that doubled in size in May.

The Sox also based the entire September promotional calendar on the departure of Paul Konerko, the heart of the franchise for most of his 16-year career.

A series of Konerko-themed promotions highlighted the team's 11 September home games as well as the creation of "Club Konerko" seats in sections 158 and 159 in the left field bleachers. It peaked with "Paul Konerko Day" yesterday, when the Sox enjoyed only their third sellout of the season. The others were opening day and the May 25 game against the New York Yankees.

But they weren't enough to stop the bleeding in paid attendance. The Sox drew more than 30,000 fans — roughly the league average — only six times this season. Twice this season games were postponed and played the next day with another game. When that happens, only one attendance figure is counted.

Total MLB paid attendance will finish slightly below last year's total, with an average of about 100 fewer patrons per game.

NO TICKET FEES

The 2014 season also will mark another season that the White Sox avoid having to pay ticket fees to the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, which owns the taxpayer-funded U.S. Cellular Field.

In addition to the team's annual rent payment of $1.5 million, the Sox must pay a fee of between $3 and $7 for every ticket sold above the 1.9 million mark.

It hasn't done so in years. Even when the Sox topped 2 million in paid attendance in 2011, it fell short of the ticket fee bar because the total included about 130,000 "comp" tickets — those given away to sponsors or sold for less than $3.

We'll soon see whether the Sox drop the price of admission any more in an effort to turn around its ticket sales trend. The team will likely reach out to season-ticket holders next month with 2015 renewal prices.

Follow Danny on Twitter at @DannyEcker

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Sometimes its hard to keep track of which side of town's fans are more obsessed with the other side of town's team.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

This line makes no sense:

The Sox notched more wins in 2014 than last year but still finished with their worst record since 2007 and in fourth place in the American League Central Division.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Tickets are too expensive. People will come out to see a loser if they're cheaper. Applies to both sides of town.

Danny Ecker is a report NOT an obsessed fan.

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the kids interest isn't there.

I started literally laughing out loud before I read the rest of this thread because I figured Biggie had a snide remark.

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Damn you're slow. Let me help you out - I was referring to you. You're the obsessed fan.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Right, because when you see something, don't dare discuss it or post it, because that means you are obsessed.
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Ecker is a guy who would love to do a real story on the ISFA, but he won't as his career is ahead of him, but he got his snide remark in...

''........... another season that the White Sox avoid having to pay ticket fees to the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority......."

''.......It hasn't done so in years. ...."

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

He should do a real story on how the White Sox finished with more wins than last season but their fewest wins since 2007.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

He is a Sports Business Reporter.

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

He should at least hire an editor then.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

You can email or Tweet him

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

REALLY ??????

"Don't shoot the messenger"

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This is the least important news of the White Sox offseason. I dont care how much Jerry makes off the team, that is the lowest possible White Sox concern I could imaginably have.

If Cubs fans care about how filthy rich Ricketts can get off them that's their problem, but dont expect everyone else to worship at the altar of rich sociopaths the way you do.

That is Elmhurst Steve math.

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

There's an attendance requirement per win, and they vacate wins that are over the limit.

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"All crowds boycotting football games shouldn't care who sings or takes a knee because they aren't watching." - Nas

Root, root, root for revenue streams!

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I mean that's one way to phrase it. It'd be the wrong way but it's one way.

Do you really care how rich an owner gets? If so, why?

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

No. But he's going to want his. Baseball is unique where there's no cap. So might at well root for a bigger pie so there'll be leftover that will be spent on baseball operations.

I don't want to be in a situation where the team has to choose between upcoming FAs like the Danks/Buehrle Thome/Manny or Braun/Fielder dealios. I want both.

Also I don't want to hear next year about Bryant facetiously being delayed because of development.

But I think it's been proven time and time again that it doesn't work that way. Every team is owned by rich guys. And most of the teams have appreciated like no other investment. They have TV money pouring in. They can all spend whatever they want. They just don't. And I can't see rooting for money to go into Ricketts' bank account.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I know, right now he's crying about having a poor TV deal but he's actually not bad at $50 million a year. He's been crying about signs and ads and a video board as an excuse.

Well, now he has no excuse as he's gotten everything he wants. I just want a World Series dammit.

So let's spin this story on to the Ricketts and Cubs fans??? Never mind about the deal Reinsdorf has with Illinois and how that impacts the state and the tax payers. So what is Illinois building for Jerry this year....where the state gets to pay for it...and he gets to keep the profits? Another restaurant? No...no...no...let's worry about the Rickett's and them trying to upgrade a crappy old ballpark and put up god-forbidden advertising signs and a jumbo tron! for shame!!!

I noticed during one of the "Pauly" clips I saw recently and I glanced at the outfield backdrop......Pepsi, Ford, Miller Lite, and about three other prominate advertising signs...big ass signs....but please dont let Ricketts & the cubs have any. They are greedy.

This story is about shitty sox attendance. What's new?

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Proud to be UNVERIFIED.

That isn't what this topic was about. It was another boring attendance championship thread.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I am a Cubs fan who would like both Chicago teams to have good attendance, or at least neither team ranking 28th out of 30 with a highly dubious 1.6 million. Strong attendance on both sides of town helps give the lie to "all Chi-CAHHH-go cares about is DA BEARSE!"

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I'm not "in tune" to other posters and their angles. I read the original post....it was about Sox attendance, ticket prices, and the mention of no ticket fees being paid to ISFA. Subsequent posts turned into the same Cubs-Sox BS and, as you say, attendance championship crap. I think you agree that attendance championship arguments are worthless. What stirs me up is the deal(s) that Jerry gets from the state. Compare that to what I perceive is the push back on Rickett's when they are trying to maximize revenue streams. So it's ok for jerry but not ok for ricketts? The owners are all trying to increase their bottom lines through whatever means they can. Rickett's is trying to get it from his fan base & USE his "precious" Wrigley field....Jerry is just getting his too from his fan base and the state of Illinois.

I'm not trying to stick up for Rickett's, or any other owner. They are all playing the game.

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Proud to be UNVERIFIED.

So what? Because one guy scammed the taxpayers you should support another guy doing so because you pull for the team he owns? That's ridiculous. And this notion that Ricketts just wants to be left alone to do business is absurd. He's looking for all kinds of tax breaks and to annex city streets.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

"The owners are all trying to increase their bottom lines through whatever means they can" is not something to shrug your shoulders at. We as a society don't seem to have the same sense of resignation about poor people trying to feed their families through whatever means they can. Tom Ricketts doesn't get to run adjacent businesses out of business and turn a block of Waveland Avenue into the Ricketts County Fair just because I like the Cubs. He wants to do a lot more than "use" Wrigley Field.

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technically he can do that because an army of IMUs, not you, like the cubs.

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