Early season rainouts dampen ballpark business for Portland Sea Dogs
Photo / Jim Neuger
Six games have been rained out at the home of the Portland Sea Dogs baseball team this season. This was the view from the press box on May 6 before the game was cancelled.
After starting the season with a snowy home opener in early April, the Portland Sea Dogs baseball team has faced several rainouts that also eat into ballpark revenues.
“We only have 69 chances to make money every year, so when we lose [the chance to play] a game it really can hurt us,” Jesse Scaglion, the team’s general manager, told Mainebiz in a phone interview.
Pre-ticket sales help, and “if the doors are open we sell a couple hot dogs and sweatshirts,” he noted. “It definitely helps cushion it but by no means replaces” the revenue that’s lost when a game is cancelled and has to be made up.
The Portland Sea Dogs, owned by Diamond Baseball Holdings since 2022, are the Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. The team is currently on the road, spitting Thursday night's doubleheader with the Somerset (Mass.) Patriots with three more games scheduled over the next three days. The Sea Dogs lead the Eastern League Northeast by half a game.
So far this season, six home games have been cancelled due to rain — only three shy of the record for a whole season, according to Scaglion.
The six cancelled games at Delta Dental Park at Hadlock Field include two versus the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, which were made up on the road; two versus the Reading (Pa.) Fightin Phils, scheduled to be made up in doubleheaders next week; and two versus the Chesapeake Baysox in the only series against the Maryland team this season. One of those has been made up and the other was cancelled, according to Scaglion.
Three road games have also been rained out.
But it's the missed playing opportunities at home that put a damper on revenue, although Scaglion didn't give a dollar figure.
“Every time that a game gets rained out, we have to do our best to make up that potential loss in other ways,” he said.
That includes increasing attendance and selling more concessions, although there's still a cost involved when the team opens the gates even for a limited period and still has to pay employees.
Watching the weather
The Portland Sea Dogs employs close to 28 people as well as 150 to 200 staffers on game days. It’s also hosting 27 interns this summer — mainly college students and recent graduates.
To keep tabs on the weather, the team tunes in to “every hourly newscast around the area” and subscribes to several apps, according to Scaglion. He tips his hat to President Geoff Iacuessa and Head Groundskeeper Jason Cook on their forecasting know-how.
“They look at things and will be talking about speed and velocity," he said. "I’m like, ‘It looks like it’s going to rain.'"
That's not to say that weather watching isn't stressful, with Iacuessa telling Mainebiz "On the Record" last year that rainy days are what he likes least about running a baseball team.
"We do so much planning and preparing for everything that we do, and then to have a rainy day happen certainly throws a wrench into what we’re trying to do," he said. "You have to react accordingly."
'Players want to play'
When a game is cancelled, ticket holders are entitled to exchange their tickets for another game based on availability. And for fans that can only come to one game a year, the team will work with them to find a way to credit their account, Scaglion said.
"We try to do our best with fans," he said, "but weather is not something we can control. Building a dome is not a realistic solution."
The team is, however, building a new $10 million locker room and club house for Sea Dogs players that Scaglion said is nearing the finishing line with carpeting, flooring and cabinets: "We're getting closer and closer."
And what do the athletes do when Mother Nature gets in the way of a game? They get a rare night off though that's not necessarily a plus.
“Players want to play, so there is always a letdown in the clubhouse when we get rained out,” Scaglion said.
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