Why the Arizona Diamondbacks aren't concerned about a decline in attendance

That said, team officials believe the numbers aren’t as bad as they look, making a convincing case that a comparison against the start of last year is not an apples-to-apples assessment.

Through 25 games this year, the D-backshave drawn 667,422. They were at 817,703 at this point last year. The difference of 150,281, an average of 6,011 per game, is the largest drop-off in the majors this season, according to data compiled by Baseball-Reference.com.

But team officials offer what seem like reasonable explanations for the decline.

They note that at this point last year, the Diamondbacks had played parts of five series at home on weekends, which drew far better than weekday series. So far this year, they have played only four.

One of those four was a two-game set in Mexico City in April, games that count as “home” contests since the club agreed to give up the home dates to facilitate the series. Those games, against the San Diego Padres, were played in front of crowds of around 19,600. Weekend Padres games at Chase Field have drawn an average of 37,890 fans the previous two years.

“Had we played those games here at Chase Field, we would have totaled at least 50,000 more and been in line with the last few years,” D-backs CEO Derrick Hall said.

Moreover, the Diamondbacks last year hosted the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers, two teams that traditionally draw big crowds. Neither of those clubs has come to town yet this season.

While the Thursday crowd was small, team officials say the crowds for the final three games of the Rockies series were expected to be in excess of 30,000 each.

“We are right on pace with our projections,” Hall said, adding that they are expecting roughly the same full-season attendance figure as last year.

Arizona's per-game attendance of 26,967 ranks 17th among baseball’s 30 teams. Last year’s 32,708 average ranked 10th.