How will the Baltimore Orioles keep the fans during this rebuild?

Now that the Baltimore Orioles are going through a rebuild, how will the organization keep the fans from losing interest in the team?

The Baltimore Orioles went through 14 consecutive years of losing before 2012, and many of the fans had a hard time coming back. A lot of that had to do with the ownership, specifically Peter Angelos, though some of it had to do with the Washington Nationals coming to town.

Attendance dropped severely in 2018, from 2.028 million fans in 2017 to 1.564 million last year.  That’s understandable due to how poor the team played, as very few fans want to watch a 47-115 team. Fans came to see Manny Machado before he was traded, and they came to see Adam Jones, but other than that the attendance lacked.

It wouldn’t surprise me if attendance at Camden Yards was roughly the same as what the Tampa Bay Rays had at Tropicana Field. The Orioles haven’t announced the 2019 promotional events schedule as of yet, so we’re not sure if those giveaways will attract many fans.

The one type of promotional event that normally sells out are the jersey giveaways. Every fan wants a free jersey, but teams can’t do those giveaways every month. They need to find other creative ways to get fans through the gates.

In 2018, the Oakland Athletics had a great promotion offering free admission to a game in April, and even offering free parking at the stadium. Sure, that was to commemorate their 50th Anniversary in Oakland, but it still is a great way to get fans to the ballpark.

The Orioles could run promotions similar to those the A’s did, though the Orioles aren’t commemorating any anniversaries in 2019.

The O’s could offer free admission and parking to one game a month during the season, but it would probably have to be on a weeknight.

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Bringing back Orioles legends could possibly bring fans to the yard as well, because the old-school fans would love to see the players out and about.

Who knows how long this rebuild will last. You can kiss a lot more fans goodbye if it lasts another 14 years, but I have confidence that it won’t last that long with Mike Elias as General Manager.

You can’t predict anything in sports, so it would be very sad if the Orioles lost more fans. Baltimore is a great baseball town and it deserves a winner and a championship.

What will bring you to the ballpark and keep you rooting for the Orioles in 2019 and beyond? If the rebuild lasts longer then three years, would you consider moving your allegiance to the Washington Nationals?