One of the early stories for the Yankees is the visibly empty seats at the Stadium. I experienced this on Saturday when I took in the game against Detroit. Despite the fact it was a paid crowd of 41,462 it appeared to be more in the low thirties. There were also reports that tickets for last night’s game were going for less than a dollar on the secondary market

According to ESPN NY the attendance is down 5% compared to last year. If you go back to the inaugural season its down even more at 7.5%. The energy level for those that show up isn’t anything special either. Is the cold weather at fault, or is it something more? Could it be after 15 seasons of contention the Yankees have become boring? Has the passion left the building?

The obvious answer for the drop in attendance is weather and pricing. Its brutal going to a 4 pm Saturday game (thanks FOX) in early April. The tradeoff in starting the season on March 31st is playing conditions that might be some of the worst all season. You almost prefer an early November ending to sitting in the damp early spring weather.

Pricing is also an issue. Parking ranges from $25 to $48 dollars. You can’t buy anything for less than $10 at the concession stand. If you do it’s called pizza, but it’s really bread with red sauce from the jar sprinkled on top. When I bought a pretzel I was told they were out of salt. I didn’t want any, but how can the Taj Mahal of ballparks not have salt for their pretzels? Even worse the pretzel was hard and stale. I didn’t even get into the $9.50 price of beer. On the positive side there is free peanuts and popcorn in the Jim Beam Suite.

If a family of four wants to go to a game it’s going to cost about $500 dollars for the privilege. You could purchase a brand new LED high definition television for $2,000 at Best Buy, or roughly four of those Stadium experiences. What better way to root for the home team than from the comfort of your own home. Technology makes it possible to enjoy sports from your home without losing the feel of the live event. Ironically, it’s probably cheaper to wire your home than get any kind of package to go to the Stadium.

A bigger question is the culture of the Yankees fan base. Winning has become so easy thanks to a huge payroll the regular season doesn’t get it going anymore. I wonder if anything less than a playoff game illicit the passion that we use to see nightly back during the Torre era. A broker called WFAN and said Yankees-Red Sox isn’t even the hot ticket anymore. Has that rivalry become played out? There aren’t many narratives left in the Bronx until the playoffs, unless you count July when everyone debates which star they could steal from another team’s roster.

Will this passion return? Despite the prices at the Taj Mahal I think it can and will, but when? First it’s going to take a hard fall for the fans to realize what they have. I am not talking about a 2008 fall that resulted in 89 wins, but high seventies losing season or worse.

There also needs to be a serious infusion of homegrown talent at the expense of free agency. As Derek Jeter continues to show his age and Rafael Soriano reminds you not all free agents embrace the big Stadium moments this will become more apparent. I know the organization fears development because it might lead to actually having to sweat out a regular season like the other 29 teams. Nothing is worse for a brand than lack of passion about it. That’s the situation the Yankees face.

I do believe the continued infusion of kids, if they are allowed to wear pinstripes, might turn this around. There is only so many times stacking the deck financially can be a cool narrative for the public. They are going to need the next generations Jeter, Rivera, Pettitte, and Posada to get the juices back. Even a World Series this year might not do it since it falls under the burden of expectations created by a $200 million dollar payroll.

The passion has left the Stadium. You could thank the weather and abusive pricing, but it also has to do with the fact the Yankees run of success through free agency has become a bore.

Mike Silva is a freelance writer and radio host since March of 2007. This website is his own personal "digest" of New York Baseball He's also hosts NYBD Radio on Blog Talk Radio and 1240 AM WGBB. Check out his sports media commentary at www.sportsmediawatchdog.com. Check out his official website, www.mikesilvamedia.com

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Tags: New York Yankees, Yankee Stadium, Yankee Stadium Attendance