Major League Baseball has warned club businesspeople that attendance is expected to be down 17-20 percent in 2009, and that it could be worse, especially for franchises such as the San Diego Padres, Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians, Houston Astros, Colorado Rockies and others that could be seriously impacted by the recession.The Yankees will be immune to these massive drops in attendance, but it will be nearly impossible for the Yankees to not see a percentage decrease as compare to 2008.
The old Yankee Stadium held over 56,000 fans, and the new one only holds 51,000. Even if the Yankees sell out every single game, they will draw 4,131,000 fans, a decrease from the 4,298,655 they drew in 2008. With the Yankees struggling to sell the most expensive seats, all 81 games being sold out is far from certainty, and is likely a long-shot in this economy.
So, the drama mounts - will the Yankees draw 4 million fans? It would have to be considered a failure for them to draw anything less. Feel free to chime in with your best 2009 Yankee Stadium attendance guess in the comments section.
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