Baseball Fanatics Strive to See Every Game

Memorizing schedules and sneaking an inning or two in church are just some lengths to which fans go to catch their favorite nine and America’s summer pastime, according to a survey from breakfast food giant Kellogg.

Individual survey respondents reported every “never miss a game” tactic, from ordering playoff tickets online while at church to attending a game while on a honeymoon. Nearly half of fans (47%) have their team’s schedule on hand at all times or know it well. Nearly three in 10 know their team’s schedule better than they know their own commitments over the next eight weeks.

If money were no object, fans would want to attend 33 games in person a season. As it is, they average six. Time is usually no object: More than half of fans have traveled more than four hours to see their team play.

What obligations? Almost half (47%) canceled, missed or arrived late to a family event to watch their favorite team. A third canceled, missed or were late to work for the same reason.

Among other findings:

• Nearly one third of fans would rearrange or cancel a date if it interfered with a big game;
• More than half (53%) have gone out of their way to watch a favorite team’s game on vacation and 43% have watched at work;
• If you’ve ever listened to your game through poor reception on the radio just to catch the action, you’re not alone: 38% of fans engage in this kind of “static cling”;
• More than a third of fans under age 34 have petitioned a bartender or restaurant owner to see if they’ll play their teams’ games regularly; and
• More than one in 10 fans went out of their way to watch a game while at a wedding.

The Battle Creek, Mich.-based company surveyed 1,000 fans nationwide in connection with Major League Baseball promotions and the “Never Miss a Game” contest to measure devotion to pro ball and to favorite teams.