Williams: Will Cincinnati Reds attendance at Great American Ball Park nosedive amid skid?

Ask columnist Jason Williams anything − sports or non-sports – and he’ll pick some of your questions and respond on Cincinnati.com. Email: jwilliams@enquirer.com

Message: Considering how little I have paid attention to the Reds, I was catching up on news about the slump. I looked at the photos of recent games, and the stands are empty. To me, that’s the bigger story than losing 14 of last 17 (entering Sunday). It’s the follow-up story to Phil Castellini’s “where you gonna go?” question he posed, and clearly former fans have gone somewhere else.

Reply: Losing equates to poor attendance – at least in Cincinnati. That’s the story.

When you look at one of our photojournalist’s galleries on Cincinnati.com or watch the Reds on television, Great American Ball Park often looks half/mostly empty – especially during weekday games in April and May. No doubt, it looks bad for the Reds.

But attendance is up 25% compared to this point last year. Through 22 home games, the Reds are averaging 21,545 (21st in the majors). Through 22 home games last season, they averaged 17,304.

The Reds topped 2 million fans last season for the first time since 2015.

This tells me fans have generally moved on from the “where you gonna?” comment Castellini made on Opening Day 2022. They haven’t forgotten it. They haven’t forgiven him. But the Cincinnati Reds are bigger than one man’s asinine comment – and the club being a surprise contender in 2023 and having higher expectations entering 2024 have brought people back to the ballpark.

Face it, the Reds are never going to draw well in April and May. It doesn’t matter how good or bad they are. This alone makes it difficult to call Cincinnati a true baseball town. This is what separates St. Louis from us.

The Cardinals haven’t been good all season. Their record hasn’t been above .500 since April 6. St. Louis entered Sunday with one more win than the Reds had this season. Yet the Cardinals ranked sixth in the majors in home attendance, averaging 37,109.

St. Louis is a true baseball town. It supports the Cardinals, win or lose. It pains the Reds' front office and diehard fans to hear that.

The timing of your email is good, though. Let’s see where Reds’ home attendance goes from here as the losses mount and summer looms. Typically, attendance picks up after school’s out. More families from a 125-mile radius of Great American Ball Park travel to Cincinnati for a Reds game.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: St. Louis Cardinals remind Cincinnati Reds what baseball town truly is