Rockies let down home crowd

By Lynn DeBruin, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Originally published 08:08 p.m., April 3, 2008
Updated 05:20 p.m., April 4, 2008

Photo by Chris Schneider

Matt Holliday walks away from the plate after striking out in the ninth inning of the Colorado Rockies home opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Coors Field in Denver on Friday. Holliday struck out 4 times.

Photo by GEORGE KOCHANIEC JR.

Jim Maser "the pin man" sells pins, temporary tatoos and World Series items outside Coors Field early today.

Gillian Rhodes, 17, of Evergreen, watches batting practice with her sign before the start of the Rockies home opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Photo by Matt McClain

Alyssa Alcorta, 19, center bottom, of Thornton looks up to friend, Andrew Baker, 21, right, of Broomfield as he stretches his arms out to balloons being released during the opening ceremonies before the Colorado Rockies home opener.

Photo by Barry Gutierrez

Jets fly over Coors Field after the National Anthem during pregame ceremonies before the home opener.

The signs of spring usually are marked by various colors - less white on the ground and green buds starting to pop.

In Colorado, add a little purple to the mix, what with the Rockies coming off a World Series run and the home opener today at Coors Field.

And with interest running high after an October to remember, fans hoping to buy prime seats or sneak down from the Rockpile might find that a little tougher to do this season - at least early on.

"It's not going to be as easy to get a ticket as it has in the past," said Greg Feasel, senior vice president of Rockies business operations. "There will be more people in the ballpark. That is going to be a definite."

Tickets for the home opener sold out in less than one hour and premium games such as those against the Chicago Cubs are close to selling out.

In addition, Guys Night Out, Ladies Fan Club and Seniors Silver Slugger B packages are sold out.

While Rockies officials refused to release official numbers, Feasel said he has seen an increase in season-ticket sales "well north of 20 percent" - even though prices were raised for the second straight year. The average season ticket increased about 15 percent.

According to Team Marketing Report, the Rockies' 2008 average ticket price of $19.50 ranks 22nd among the 30 major league teams. Last year, the Rockies ranked 27th with an average ticket price of $16.50.

Tom Brace, of Denver, at Coors Field on Tuesday picking up season tickets he shares with four other people, said the price increase didn't bother him.

"If you get in the playoffs, and last year was better than anybody thought, and as long as you put your money back into the team, people are satisfied," he said. "I don't think the price went up too high."

Team president Keli McGregor said he hasn't heard any backlash from fans about increased prices.

"This will be the highest (season ticket) renewal in the history of the organization," he said. "We're over 98 percent renewed."

Rockies pitcher Aaron Cook is glad to have the support.

"They've been waiting for us to win," Cook said. "They've had winning teams in everything else, football and hockey, and they're just waiting for us to go out there and prove it. I think we've done that, so, hopefully, we've won some fans back. It's definitely a lot more fun when they're out there."

Last year, the Rockies sold about 15,000 season tickets and had slightly more than 2.3 million in paid attendance. This year, the Rockies say the the goal is 3 million, a level last reached in 2001.

It's still a far cry from the inaugural season of 1993, when Colorado set the single-season attendance record by drawing 4,483,350 fans to Mile High Stadium - the first of seven consecutive seasons in which the club led the majors in attendance.

"We'll still have tickets available, but our recommendation is people buy in advance a little more," Feasel said.

McGregor can't say for sure how many tickets will be sold, but he has seen anecdotal evidence of increased interest, from snowboarders donning Rockies caps to the Frontier flight bound for Tucson last month filled with passengers decked out in Rockies paraphernalia to the gear worn at his children's schools.

"I'm sitting in a Starbucks in Breckenridge this winter and a group of young snowboarders come in," McGregor said. "There were probably six or seven of them and four or five had Rockies caps on. For me, that's when it really hit me that, boy, things are changed. Snowboarders, with what they wear and how they put their outfits together, hats are a pretty big deal."

He also noticed a large Rockies fan base at road games in spring training.

"It's a big ballpark, and there will still be tickets available, but the biggest change I think is a lot of our lower bowl seat are now being sold well in advance, so they will be harder to get," McGregor said.

Rockies home attendance

Year Attendance Dates Avg.

1993* 4,483,350 79 56,571

1994* 3,281,511 56 58,598

1995 3,390,037 72 47,084

1996 3,891,014 81 48,037

1997 3,888,453 81 48,006

1998 3,789,347 81 46,782

1999 3,481,065 81 42,976

2000 3,285,710 81 40,564

2001 3,159,385 81 39,005

2002 2,737,918 81 33,801

2003 2,334,085 81 28,816

2004 2,338,069 79 29,596

2005 1,914,389 80 23,930

2006 2,104,362 81 25,980

2007 2,376,250 82 28,979

* Played at Mile High Stadium

Where to buy

* Online

ColoradoRockies.com

StubHub.com (access to season tickets available for resale)

* In person

Coors Field ticket office

Rockies Dugout Stores

King Soopers, select City Markets

* Charge by phone

1-800-388-ROCK (7625)

Ways to save

* Rockpile: Those younger than 12 and older than 55 can buy same-day tickets in center field for $1. Everyone else pays $4. There are 2,200 Rockpile seats available for each game, though most are sold in advance. A small number are held back for purchase at Gate A starting 21/2 hours before the game.

* Special deals: King Soopers and Wells Fargo will continue their discounted ticket promotions for customers. At King Soopers, customers who buy $25 worth of groceries can get discounted tickets for $10. Not all games are available. The Wells Fargo promotion offers 2-for-1 club seats for debit card users.

* Coca-Cola value pack: $49 for four outfield seats, four Cokes, four hot dogs, parking and a program for designated games.

* Value games: The Rockies charge less for nine Value games (all on Mondays). For example, a seat in the pavilion in left-center field costs $18 for Value games compared with $24 to $35 otherwise.

Ticket tales

What ticket buyers were saying this week at the Coors Field ticket office.

* Perrin Wolfe was hoping to buy Rockpile seats for this weekend to celebrate his 30th birthday. Told those were sold out, he settled for four $4 Rockpile seats in May for a Friday night Mets game.

Still, the former New Yorker was happy.

"You can't beat it," he said of the inexpensive tickets. "The Rockies want people to afford to come out and see professional sports. You can't do that with the Broncos, you can't do that with the Nuggets too easily, but I love to see baseball and going to the park."

* Terry Alexander, 68, of Aurora, bought a 25-pack of games. Though others have complained they had to shell out big bucks not knowing exactly where their seats would be, Alexander didn't have that problem.

The price increase also didn't bother him.

"I think they're going to sell more tickets this year than they ever have because they're going to be a winner," Alexander said.

* Not everybody liked the prices. Mike Ortiz was at Coors Field buying the higher-priced Cubs tickets because his son was visiting from Omaha and wanted to see Chicago.

"They're too expensive. Everything is too expensive," Ortiz said of going to the ballpark.

• April 4, 2008

  11:37 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  LamboMan writes:

  Looks like the young Mr. Besman got ahold of a Sharpie. SUSPEND HIM!!

• April 4, 2008

  12:25 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  HollyGoLightly writes:

  Ha ha, Lamboman! That was funny!

  Seriously though, I hope the fans have a good time today. I wish I was going.