Despite having few winning seasons, the Rockies routinely place in the top half of the Major League Baseball attendance rankings. Why do millions of fans return each summer to Coors Field?As the 92-degree heat bakes Coors Field and most of the small weekday crowd huddles in the upper deck’s shade, Michael Klahr finds a sun-splashed seat 11 rows from home plate and settles in.
That means consuming the last of a basket of finger-licking ribs, sipping from his water bottle, getting out his pencil and notepad, and paying close attention to every pitch of the Colorado Rockies vs. Arizona Diamondbacks game this afternoon. The Rockies have not instilled much faith in the future, having lost six of their last seven games, and they could be on their way to having their worst season ever.Even so, Klahr is content where he is, sitting in one of the few season tickets he has shared with pals since the Rockies’ 1993 arrival of Major League Baseball in Denver.
“Maybe this is the most valuable thing I own,” he remarks, referring to his advantageous position.The team’s competitive performance has been lackluster over the past 30 years, but the consortium behind this athletic endeavor—a core group of three original members supplemented by a changing cast of friends and partners—stands as a case study in the development of a fan base whose support persists despite widespread dissatisfaction with the team’s on-field performance.What then draws these fans back to Coors Field to witness a team that has failed to be consistently competitive despite turning out a few great players and making a few postseason trips? Throughout three decades of primarily losing baseball, how have their expectations and attitudes changed?
What keeps these fans coming back?
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