The Miami Marlins' Attendance Problem Is Even Worse Than They Are Willing To Admit

In just the second season in their new publicly-funded state-of-the-art stadium, the Marlins are struggling to sell tickets. And based on images during the game, their actual attendance problem might be much worse.

Last night was just the third game of the season, and the Marlins announced the attendance at 13,810. Of course, that number reflects the number of tickets distributed and not necessarily the number of people that show up. And while the season-ticket sales dropped from 12,000 in the ballpark's first season to approximately 5,000 this year, it looks like even many of those people are not showing up.

This view down the left field line in the second inning suggests a crowd much smaller than 13,000...

And here is a view that shows that the outfield seats are nearly empty mid-game (you can see more images at Deadspin.com)...

For comparison, here is the ballpark on Tuesday when the announced crowd was 14,222. Again, that number seems overly optimistic...