Every summer, an invading army descends upon Miller Park, as bus after bus spits forth a throng in Cubbie blue, the Sandberg and Sosa jerseys knocking the Younts and -Molitors out of the park.
“Miller Park is the new Minocqua,” one Brewers fan recently complained, referring to the northern Wisconsin getaway town overrun by Illinois natives every summer. “When the Brewers hit a home run and you stand to cheer, your entire section tells you to sit down. It’s getting ridiculous.”
Emboldened by increased expectations for the team and a 30 percent swell in season ticket sales, the Brewers announced a plan earlier this year to “Take Back Miller Park.” But how serious is this quest, and what is its likelihood of succeeding?
The Brewers, after all, have a long history of reaching out to Flatlanders. After the 2003 season, which drew a measly 1.7 million fans, the Brewers announced an initiative to draw residents from Lake County, Illinois. “We feel that for this team to be successful, we must have a very broad fan base,” former Brewers President Ulice Payne told the Milwaukee Business Journal at the time.
As far back as when the Milwaukee Braves played, Illinois imports helped reduce County Stadium’s home field advantage. “The Cubs would finish in last place, and they were still the number-one draw at the time,” recalls Bud Selig, baseball commissioner and longtime fan.
When Selig oversaw the 1998 realignment that switched Milwaukee from the American League to the National League, sports analysts speculated that he coveted the money-making rivalry with the Cubs. “The Cubs and Cardinals have great fan bases,” Selig concedes. And since the Brewers joined the National League, the influx of Cubs and Cardinals fans has helped drive up Miller Park attendance.
The Milwaukee Bucks dealt with a similar invasion during the Michael Jordan years. Chicago Bulls games were pretty hostile for Bucks players, but they were very lucrative for the franchise. John Steinmiller, Bucks vice president of business operations, says the team still has several hundred Illinois holdover subscribers from the Jordan era.
“Chicago fans are rabid,” says Steinmiller. “I think they like coming to Wisconsin. That’s obvious; traffic on Friday tells you that. It is a more convenient and less stressful way to see their favorite teams and get on the Wisconsinites’ skin at the same time.”
But there will be fewer Chicagoans under our skin this season, Brewers officials declare. Sort of. “Is this something where it’s going to be nothing but Brewers fans in Miller Park this year?” asks Tyler Barnes, Brewers vice president of communication. “Absolutely not,” he says. “The goal is to make incremental progress.”
The Brewers took a first step at shutting down Midwestern day-trippers by offering four-game ticket bundles before the start of the season. The team sold 5,500 packages, which included a ticket to a Cubs or Cardinals game of the fan’s choice. But given the out-state demand for those games, Brewers’ four-pack and season ticket holders could just sell their seats to opposing fans at inflated prices. With that in mind, a new marketing effort will encourage fans to actually occupy the seats they purchase. Also in the works is a print campaign to poke fun at those pushy Chicago interlopers.
But a regional insult looks different as it travels across the Wisconsin border. Just ask WGN broadcaster (and Marquette University alum) Len Kaspar. “I guess in a way,” he says, “Cubs fans can be proud they’ve forced another team to make a change in its ticket policy.”
