Opening Day Shows Baseball is in Great Shape

The reviews and results of Opening Day shows baseball is in great shape.  Attendance was solid and the young stars of the league continued to emerge.  There are still the aging veterans earning large salaries, but the tidal wave of young talent behind them is huge.

League attendance in 2012 was 74.8m, up 2% from 2011 and the 5th best single-season in league history.  2013 has started off on a good note.  Opening weekend attendance ranged from just over 36k in Oakland, for the Athletics vs Mariners, to over 53k in Los Angeles for the Dodgers vs Giants.  The 2013 average opening day crowd -1 game Sunday night and 12 on Monday - was almost 44k.  Here's a link to ESPN's attendance data: http://espn.go.com/mlb/attendance

Like any business, the league needs young superstars to build upon.  Like, 20 year old, 2012 NL Rookie of the Year, Bryce Harper in Washington.  He started yesterday where he left off in 2012, by hitting 2 home-runs in his first 2 at-bats.  Pitching is once again dominate early in the season.  Harper's teammate, 24 yr old Stephen Strasburg pitched 7 shutout innings and gave up only 3 hits.  The White Sox 24 yr old Chris Sale and 25 yr old LA Dodger Clayton Kershaw also threw impressive shut-outs in their 2013 debuts.  2012 AL Rookie of the Year, 21 yr old Mike Trout of LA Angels, went 1-6 in a game where even someone like his teammate Albert Pujols went 0-4, yet the Angels still won the game.  There are very high expectations for this duo in LA.

MLB had revenues of close to $7.5B in 2012 and, with the new TV contracts and growing international audience, this expected to grow to $9B by 2014. If "Opening Day" is any indication, baseball will have no trouble getting there.

Remember, if you need great tickets to any baseball game, concert or theater, just Fricket it! http://fricket.com/