222 replies to this topic

[Caramia]

Awesome, it is tough to find good bug based snacks in Victoria these days. I see a rosy future for this concession!

[Phil McAvity]

$9.

So you can go to a major league baseball game to watch the best team in the world play in one of the finest sports facilities on earth for almost half the price a rookie team is charging playing in a league very few people have even heard of. No wonder people think it's a bit spendy. Besides, at Skydome your ticket might be [I]assigned in the section that requires oxygen tanks but i'm sure many people find much better vacant seats.

[G-Man]

^ Since when is 9 dollars almost half of 12? And in this case a 12 dollar seat puts you within 15 metres of the baseline rather than over 200 metres in Skydome.

Up to the individual to assign value and determine what is worth the price. Also sure that parking would be cheaper in Victoria over Toronto.

VHF - I am also wondering where the scoreboard is. It certainly doesn't seem like it is going to make it here for tonight's game.

If the Seal's do well monetarily over the next couple of years what are the odds we would see some improvements to the seating at RAP?

[G-Man]

Just saw this:

DIAMOND DUST: It has arrived, but the Seals’ new $400,000 US video screen and scoreboard won’t be erected in time for the three-game set against Long Beach or the three games next week against Orange County. “It’s sitting there in big crates and it’s disappointing it can’t be up for the first games of the season but those are the first-year glitches to be expected,” sighed Seals president Darren Parker. “They have promised us it will be up and ready in three weeks. It is really going to add to the experience of coming to a game.”

http://www.timescolo...0579/story.html

[Phil McAvity]

^ Since when is 9 dollars almost half of 12? And in this case a 12 dollar seat puts you within 15 metres of the baseline rather than over 200 metres in Skydome.

9 dollars obviously isn't half of 12, but it's pretty close to half of 16 which is what some of the Seals tickets cost. As I said, i'll bet a lot of people buy tickets for the nosebleeds in skydome but then go and find much better empty seats with their 9 dollar tickets (I know i'd try and get better seats), however your point that RAP is a much more intimate setting than skydome is fair.

[VicHockeyFan]

My VIBrewery rep suggests they now expect 30,000 over the first 6 games, not too shabby.

[Phil McAvity]

^That's great! So it sounds like it's going to be like the Victoria Capitals all over again. Hopefully this time the league won't fold around them!

[G-Man]

That seems like a high number considering the RAP only holds 4000 in the baseball section...

[G-Man]

So how was the game?

[spanky123]

So how was the game?

Given that the TC ran a front page feature on the opener but didn't mention the score you can guess the result! Victoria lost 6-3.

[G-Man]

I figured they would lose, Long Beach has a good team with lots of depth. I was more wondering about the atmosphere etc...

Still I did now wander over to the TC and it gave a good overview. Still would love to hear about it from someone that was there. Just over a day till my turn.

[VicDuck]

G-Man: The game and atmosphere was great. The only problem was the score.

[G-Man]

What a great game! And they won on top of it. Seemed that the stands were about 60% full but the atmospere was great. Lots of energy and the quality of the ball was much better than I expected.

My only complaint is that what will kill attendance over the long term is the bleacher seating for most of the park. Apart from the grandstand you don't get a seat back. I hope that along the their growth in popularity so will we see the improvement of the RAP.

I will be back soon.

[Phil McAvity]

.....the quality of the ball was much better than I expected.

Wikipedia says, "officials in the baseball industry have stated the GBL level of play to be at the Double A level." I find that a bit remarkable since the league isn't affiliated with major league baseball in any way nor do they name these "officials". On top of that Vancouver's baseball team is only Single A, so they are trying to tell me that Victoria has better ball than Vancouver? I doubt it. That sounds like some phony promo made up by the league.

[G-Man]

I am sure they based it on the skill level of the players, most of whom have either played in the major league or were originally drafted by the major league.

The ball I saw yesterday was as good as anything I ever saw come out of Nat Bailey.

[spanky123]

Could just be me but I think that getting dates and time correct is kinda important if the team wants to be a success. From Seals website...

SEALS NEXT HOME GAME
TUESDAY, JUNE 5TH @ 7:05pm
_________________
SEALS SINK THE ARMADA

The quality of play seems to be ok but I am hearing lots of complaints about seating, the concessions and the pricing. Attendance has gone from 4,000 to 2,200 to 1,900 in the first 3 games.

[G-Man]

Yeah that is a big boo boo on the date

As for attendance, I would expect that the first home game ever for a new team is going to attract more fans than a regular home game. It will be interesting to see how it plays out over the longer term. If it stays in the 2000 range than that is good.

If you look at the GBL website Victoria has the second highest avg. attendance of course still skewed by the opener.

I agree with the seating complaints if you mean comfort wise. I really hope seating improvements are on the long term plans if they do well. Still this is not necessarily something the Seals should be doing on their own, remember they are only a tenant at RAP and that the reponsibility should be on the landlord if they want a long term tenant to make the improvements or at least partner on them. And the Seals did buy a new scoreboard for the stadium which will make the games even more fun.

Also like the fact that they are broadcasting the play-by-play in the park, 88.1 very cool.

So hopefully we can get another couple under our belt against the O.C. who currently 0-6 so far this year My bet is that we get a 2-1 split out of the series.

[VicHockeyFan]

I did not know they were broadcasting inside the park... that's great. That makes it great if you find yourself at the game without a date....

[iamfat]

The Seals, any bets on how long the team will survive? BC has been brutal ground for minor league baseball in the last 20 years.

The triple A Canadians left in 1999. There was some sort of single A independent minor league in the early to mid 1990s that had at least one team in the lower mainland - Surrey Glaciers I think they were called

Funny, I was just thinking about the Surrey Glaciers today. The only reason I knew that they ever existed was because I can remember that BCTV did a feature on them once on their news sportscast and then forgot about them for the rest of their season.

But a few places from that league (the Western league) are in the Golden league now (St. George, Chico, Long Beach).

[Holden West]

I know an older couple that gave up after having difficulty finding parking and then seeing the size of the lineup to get in. I suspect they'll try again.