Karen Forgus, the Reds’ senior vice president of business operations, said the Reds have sold 200,000 more tickets this year than they had at the same point last year. Season-ticket sales have increased by more than 2,000, or a jump of 15 percent.
“It’s been great,” Forgus said. “It goes to show it’s just fun again. People want to go when it’s fun.”
One thing that could hurt attendance, aside from a disappointing season, is a quirk in the schedule that has the Reds playing only 10 home games in July. The Reds played 12 home games in July last season and 13 in 2011.
“We have no control over our schedule,” Forgus said. “The month of July is a huge regional tourism month. It’s the smallest number of games we play in a month all year, and seven of them are Fourth of July weekend. We’re only in town three days the rest of the month. That’s a huge month for the region. That’s a bummer.”
The Reds play 16 home games in April, when weather can hurt attendance, and 16 in September, when attendance is somewhat limited by kids going back to school.
For the first time this season, the Reds will have dynamic ticket pricing, which means the price of single-game tickets will fluctuate based on a number of factors, including weather, the quality of the opponent and the day of the week. This is different than variable ticket pricing, which the Reds have had for a while, in which high-demand games cost more.
“Our intention is to use it real conservatively,” Forgus said. “It won’t be anything that noticeable to the fans.”
Among the promotions fans will want to know about are five bobblehead nights: Brandon Phillips (Apr. 20); Aroldis Chapman (May 11); Mat Latos (June 5); Todd Frazier (July 3); and Joey Votto (Aug. 6).
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