2006 Attendance

Wait, Osaka Dome is Kyocera Dome (or Kocera Dome Osaka).

Of course you're right about that. However, the naming rights weren't sold until after the season started. So games at that dome in Osaka that were played between April 2 and June 18 were at "Osaka Dome." Games played on and after July 4 were at "Kyocera Dome," despite it being the same location.

This is a problem with the selling of naming rights - and especially doing so during the season. I guess you just need to remember that they are the same. How would you suggest making that clear in tables like these?

Much had been made about which team draws the most to other teams' stadiums. Here is how things break down for the visiting teams at the various stadiums.

Four notes:

1. The data includes the Pacific League playoff games where Softbank was the visitor to Seibu Invoice Dome and Sapporo Dome. It also includes the two All-Star games.
2. Osaka Dome and Kyocera Dome are the same place. It underwent a name change in July.
3. Some ballparks are sometimes host to a different home team, such as the various domes calling the Giants or Tigers home for a weekend series. So one may not assume that the Hawks are always the home team at Fukuoka Yahoo! Dome.
4. The data is sorted in descending order by the total average attendance for a given ball park, then by the average of each visiting team. An average of 1 or 2 games is hard to reach a conclusion for, so please take such data with the required grains of salt. If details are necessary, please refer to the data source [TBS Radio - in Japanese].
   
   

Now, the data:

Koshien Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance FSH 3 48504 48496 48514 145514 SL 3 48494 48491 48497 145484 TYS 11 48197 46662 48519 530177 YG 11 48104 45031 48560 529148 CD 8 47429 43307 48515 379432 YBS 4 45234 40822 48499 180939 HC 9 43974 41424 48502 395770 OBs 3 43336 33002 48507 130010 HNHF 2 42106 36193 48020 84213 TRGE 3 41164 40412 41983 123493 CLM 3 40732 34713 43902 122196 Total: 60 46106 33002 48560 2766376 Tokyo Dome Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance HT 11 44505 43483 45550 489561 SL 3 43078 42069 44829 129234 TYS 9 42018 39144 45389 378170 CD 10 41915 40072 44274 419159 TRGE 3 41543 39867 44647 124629 HNHF 3 41488 41162 41922 124466 YBS 9 39899 34051 44352 359098 HC 8 39593 35223 40879 316749 CLM 5 35490 19438 45981 177450 FSH 7 29135 11693 43145 203945 OBs 5 25460 12560 42563 127300 Total: 73 39037 11693 45981 2849761 Nagoya Dome Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance YG 11 37223 29217 38349 409459 HNHF 3 36478 34365 37586 109434 HT 11 36119 26783 38362 397319 FSH 3 35041 29172 38117 105125 YBS 10 34788 27343 37741 347886 HC 10 34571 29611 37990 345716 TRGE 3 31870 26252 35266 95611 TYS 10 30845 26907 35205 308452 CLM 3 27481 26075 29172 82445 OBs 3 27120 25416 28303 81362 SL 3 25428 25232 25594 76285 Total: 70 33701 25232 38362 2359094 Yahoo! Dome Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance YG 3 33462 32735 33958 100387 HT 3 32679 29027 34541 98037 CLM 10 32588 30036 34271 325881 TYS 3 32372 29265 34361 97116 OBs 9 31684 28104 34414 285157 HNHF 10 31451 27743 34672 314512 SL 9 30056 24394 35159 270504 TRGE 9 28829 23143 32585 259461 CD 3 26720 23747 29335 80162 YBS 3 26074 24660 27174 78223 HC 5 24435 20087 29280 122177 Total: 67 30322 20087 35159 2031617 Miyazaki Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance CL 1 29777 29777 29777 29777 Total: 1 29777 29777 29777 29777 Sapporo Dome Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance YG 3 34630 31253 40571 103891 HT 3 33269 27831 43473 99809 FSH 7 33237 14125 43473 232659 CLM 8 30941 13612 43473 247533 SL 10 25101 13491 36668 251016 TYS 2 23479 21729 25230 46959 OBs 7 21925 13223 35394 153477 TRGE 10 20724 12606 42393 207241 YBS 5 20577 12242 27162 102887 HC 3 18216 13961 20519 54649 CD 3 11474 10864 11822 34423 Total: 61 25156 10864 43473 1534544 Osaka Dome Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance HT 2 35418 34932 35904 70836 YG 1 34468 34468 34468 34468 YBS 4 28568 14576 33583 114272 FSH 2 28305 27050 29560 56610 HNHF 1 25070 25070 25070 25070 TRGE 3 24238 16856 28803 72715 TYS 3 23186 14152 31779 69558 CLM 3 17526 16060 18302 52579 HC 1 16490 16490 16490 16490 CD 2 15787 14738 16837 31575 Total: 22 24735 14152 35904 544173 Kyocera Dome Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance CD 3 33492 32925 33922 100476 YBS 4 32020 27177 33739 128083 HNHF 3 26426 20295 30957 79279 CLM 5 21949 20016 23866 109747 SL 2 18536 18246 18826 37072 FSH 6 18139 14133 21840 108834 Total: 23 24499 14133 33922 563491 Asahikawa Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance TYS 1 22635 22635 22635 22635 Total: 1 22635 22635 22635 22635 Hakodate Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance FSH 1 20163 20163 20163 20163 Total: 1 20163 20163 20163 20163 Chiba Marine Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance HNHF 10 25255 17059 31024 252556 YG 3 25122 21436 28795 75366 HT 3 23302 19747 28597 69906 CD 3 21904 14285 28107 65714 FSH 10 21307 11725 27925 213078 OBs 10 20836 13674 29072 208366 SL 10 17764 12771 27343 177643 TYS 3 16247 13441 17836 48741 HC 3 15713 12914 20512 47139 TRGE 10 15415 8110 25114 154156 YBS 3 12330 9108 15132 36991 Total: 68 19847 8110 31024 1349656 Tomiyama Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance HT 1 19302 19302 19302 19302 Total: 1 19302 19302 19302 19302 Skymark Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance HT 1 33585 33585 33585 33585 YBS 2 24497 23549 25446 48995 CLM 2 23558 22794 24323 47117 TYS 1 21864 21864 21864 21864 HNHF 6 21359 15965 28815 128159 SL 8 17526 11943 23265 140208 YG 2 17491 14664 20318 34982 TRGE 7 16326 8942 25225 114282 CD 1 15672 15672 15672 15672 FSH 2 14480 11789 17171 28960 HC 2 14388 11209 17568 28777 Total: 34 18900 8942 33585 642601 Jingu Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance PL 1 30488 30488 30488 30488 HT 9 25953 19564 31659 233583 CLM 3 22547 19411 28204 67643 YG 11 20241 13336 30546 222660 CD 10 19343 13509 27480 193432 FSH 3 18421 15066 20178 55263 HC 9 16941 11488 28576 152472 OBs 3 15423 13217 17023 46269 HNHF 3 14342 12811 16043 43026 YBS 9 13147 9449 19525 118327 SL 3 12991 12122 14137 38973 TRGE 2 12196 10073 14320 24393 Total: 66 18583 9449 31659 1226529 Matsuyama Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance HC 2 19423 18003 20843 38846 CD 1 16581 16581 16581 16581 Total: 3 18475 16581 20843 55427 Fukui Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance HT 1 18257 18257 18257 18257 Total: 1 18257 18257 18257 18257

Invoice Dome Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance HT 3 31183 24176 36324 93549 YG 3 24519 20372 31078 73559 FSH 13 23852 9323 38480 310077 CLM 8 19811 11642 27269 158490 HNHF 10 18313 9115 28181 183135 YBS 3 17298 12456 20271 51895 OBs 9 16488 10131 30028 148396 TRGE 10 11758 7970 16777 117584 HC 3 11242 10099 12153 33726 CD 3 11208 9946 12164 33624 TYS 3 10855 9451 12303 32565 Total: 68 18185 7970 38480 1236600 Nagano Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance YG 1 26368 26368 26368 26368 CLM 2 17189 15375 19004 34379 TRGE 1 10269 10269 10269 10269 Total: 4 17754 10269 26368 71016 Akita Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance HT 2 25572 25283 25862 51145 CD 1 17448 17448 17448 17448 CLM 2 8046 7069 9024 16093 Total: 5 16937 7069 25862 84686 Kita-Kyushu Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance OBs 1 18362 18362 18362 18362 SL 1 15245 15245 15245 15245 Total: 2 16803 15245 18362 33607 Gifu Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance YBS 1 16477 16477 16477 16477 Total: 1 16477 16477 16477 16477 Kurashiki Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance HNHF 1 21435 21435 21435 21435 TYS 2 17681 10489 24873 35362 HT 1 16172 16172 16172 16172 TRGE 1 8022 8022 8022 8022 Total: 5 16198 8022 24873 80991 Yokohama Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance HNHF 3 21766 18812 26400 65298 HT 10 20729 11346 26672 207298 YG 10 19565 14898 24951 195659 HC 9 15801 9502 22727 142217 FSH 2 14882 14771 14993 29764 CD 10 14005 10661 21123 140050 SL 3 13693 9270 18864 41081 TYS 11 11074 6894 18687 121823 CLM 2 11026 9647 12405 22052 TRGE 3 10634 9498 11846 31902 OBs 3 9406 4967 15483 28220 Total: 66 15535 4967 26672 1025364 Kumamoto Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance HC 1 14786 14786 14786 14786 Total: 1 14786 14786 14786 14786 Fullcast Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance YG 3 20927 20294 21438 62783 HT 3 17618 15654 18841 52856 HNHF 9 16200 7275 21690 145806 SL 7 15247 12424 20023 106729 CD 3 15034 11408 17019 45102 FSH 10 14456 9384 18750 144568 OBs 10 14118 8909 18690 141188 CLM 8 13915 9614 21700 111326 TYS 3 11783 11193 12508 35349 HC 3 11086 10114 12667 33258 YBS 3 8951 8612 9563 26855 Total: 62 14610 7275 21700 905820 Fukushima Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance OBs 1 19442 19442 19442 19442 SL 1 9226 9226 9226 9226 Total: 2 14334 9226 19442 28668 Hiroshima Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance HNHF 3 20793 13808 27535 62379 CLM 2 20506 19808 21205 41013 YG 11 16597 10067 22775 182577 CD 9 15695 9415 30151 141262 HT 8 14683 7789 22940 117465 TRGE 2 13244 12824 13664 26488 FSH 3 12868 12158 14062 38604 OBs 3 11672 9788 13530 35017 TYS 10 11583 7972 15775 115839 YBS 11 11001 7199 17570 121018 SL 3 8823 6878 10716 26471 Total: 65 13971 6878 30151 908133 Maebashi Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance OBs 1 13464 13464 13464 13464 Total: 1 13464 13464 13464 13464 Toyohashi Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance HC 1 11935 11935 11935 11935 Total: 1 11935 11935 11935 11935 Nagasaki Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance TRGE 1 15210 15210 15210 15210 HC 1 8239 8239 8239 8239 Total: 2 11724 8239 15210 23449 Kanazawa Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance TYS 1 11192 11192 11192 11192 Total: 1 11192 11192 11192 11192 Obihiro Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance HC 1 10674 10674 10674 10674 Total: 1 10674 10674 10674 10674 Hitachinaka Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance YBS 1 10232 10232 10232 10232 Total: 1 10232 10232 10232 10232 Onomichi Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance CLM 1 10148 10148 10148 10148 Total: 1 10148 10148 10148 10148 Shizuoka Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance HT 1 11486 11486 11486 11486 FSH 1 7505 7505 7505 7505 Total: 2 9495 7505 11486 18991 Yonago Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance CD 2 9479 9387 9571 18958 Total: 2 9479 9387 9571 18958 Hiratsuka Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance CD 1 10341 10341 10341 10341 CLM 1 8031 8031 8031 8031 Total: 2 9186 8031 10341 18372 Shimonoseki Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance HC 1 9177 9177 9177 9177 Total: 1 9177 9177 9177 9177 Kushiro Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance HC 1 8305 8305 8305 8305 Total: 1 8305 8305 8305 8305 Iwaki Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance YBS 1 12142 12142 12142 12142 SL 1 4298 4298 4298 4298 Total: 2 8220 4298 12142 16440 Morioka Visitor Games Avg. Att. Min Max Attendance HNHF 1 10800 10800 10800 10800 SL 1 5486 5486 5486 5486 Total: 2 8143 5486 10800 16286

[Fixed table layout on Oct 20, 2006 8:38 AM JST]

Eek, I think your table broke the page.

Anyway, the most interesting breakdown there to me is that the Dragons drew the lowest crowd to the Sapporo Dome! That'll definitely make this an even more interesting Japan Series for the locals.

Inter-league attendance is deceiving though because it's only a 3 game series per team, and some series happened during the week and others on weekends.

Where do you find the time? Very impressive.

So HT leads at major stadiums in five instances and the YG four times. By far the leaders over other teams. But the numeric differences are not so great between the top position and lower positions at the major stadiums. For example, at Koshein the top four teams all drew over 48k. And in five other cases at major stadiums teams other than HT or YG lead the draw.

But as I have said before, it's TV money that drives professional sport today. Looking at the TV revenue for the games would really indicate which teams are the money makers and which are not.

Merchandising and revenue from concessions may well be more important in this particular environment. Whilst the Giants do make most of their money from TV rights, this has not historically been a major factor for other teams (except maybe Tigers, and then only recently) who don't have the pull or national exposure to attract TV companies or major advertisers. They have had to rely on Giants visits - if the Giants didn't come, they didn't get the revenue.

There is a lot of talk of the Internet and how this will improve things, but this is all hot air. To attract the level of fans that the Giants and Tigers do teams need to develop sound marketing strategies based on a regional focus. Bringing the fans into the grounds is what will bring in TV companies - but in today's Japan, these will be regional not national.