`Nobody Night?'
At the River Dogs' games in Charleston, South Carolina, there is a concierge booth, where fans can make their postgame dinner reservations. The River Dogs have also held a women's night at the ball park, when men were turned away at the gate. The game sold out. Earlier this month, the River Dogs announced they would play host to something called Nobody Night.
Before their July 7 game with the Columbus, Georgia, Red Stixx at Joseph P. Riley Jr Park -- a stadium nicknamed "the Joe" -- the River Dogs padlocked the gates so that the official attendance would be zero. That broke the previous record for the smallest crowd at a professional baseball game, which had been 12 people for an 1881 game between Chicago and Troy.
Thousands of River Dogs fans congregated outside the ball park July 7, some watching from beyond the center-field wall. After the fifth inning, when the game became official, the gates were opened and fans streamed in to find candy and T-shirts (not to mention unclaimed foul balls) awaiting them.
Then there was "Lawyer Appreciation Night," when each attending lawyer was charged twice the ticket price and billed again every half inning. Proceeds went to Legal Aid.
Bill Dowling, president and principal owner of the New Britain Rock Cats, was once executive vice president of the Yankees.
"Everything about the major leagues costs so much now and the players are perceived as greedy or unconcerned," he said. "We appreciate that we have to entertain you for the US$7 you paid to get in. So we entertain. We sell joy."
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