Baseball chief says attendance not as bad as feared

By Ben Klayman

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Major League Baseball's commissioner is "encouraged" that attendance has not declined as much as league officials feared, but acknowledged the season is young and fans have made cutbacks amid the recession.

"It's May 21, it's early. We've had horrendous weather ... but I'm encouraged at least by the attendance so far," Bud Selig said at a press conference following a meeting of the sport's owners in New York. "The clubs have been very aggressive in promotion ... very aggressive in ticketing."

Through Sunday, MLB's regular-season attendance was down almost 4.5 percent, but that included both New York clubs, which moved into new, smaller ballparks this year.

Baseball officials, who froze 2009 league budgets, said before the season that attendance might fall as much as 10 percent from last year's 78.6 million, while league revenue could finish flat compared with a record $6.5 billion in 2008. Selig declined to project 2009 revenue, but added he was also encouraged on that score.

The recession has hurt all U.S. sports leagues as consumers and companies cut spending on tickets, concessions and sponsorships.

Selig reiterated that the U.S. economy is in its worst shape since the Great Depression. "It's stunning," he said. "Every day, you read and hear things that we haven't heard before."

Two-thirds of the baseball teams responded to the slowdown by maintaining or cutting ticket prices before or during the season, and last month the New York Yankees were forced to slash the prices on many of its premium tickets at its new $1.5 billion ballpark to fill empty seats.

When asked to compare combined ticket and concession prices versus last year, Selig acknowledged it is "quite a bit reduced." He had earlier referenced deals where teams offer low-priced ticket and food packages.

Selig also said the sport's TV channel, MLB Network, was doing well in an overall advertising market that is suffering its worst downturn since the early 1980s. The channel debuted in January with the largest ever cable TV launch, with more than 50 million homes having access.

In addition to fan cutbacks, companies have trimmed spending on sports sponsorships. Baseball has been hit as well, although last month the league extended deals with four major partners, including Procter & Gamble's Gillette brand, PepsiCo Inc and Intercontinental Hotels Group Plc, and signed three new pacts in Japan.

The recession also has hurt MLB owners in another way as a third of the league's 30 teams saw franchise values decline, according to an annual survey published last month by Forbes.

(Reporting by Ben Klayman)