SF Giants' sellout streak a numbers game GIANTS Team explains empty seats and wiggly statistics during 2-year streak

Recommended Video:

Among the San Francisco Giants' most impressive statistics is this: Since Oct. 1, 2010, the team has sold out every game at its beloved AT&T Park, a buzz-generating streak that reached 159 during Thursday's win over the Colorado Rockies.

But the streak - baseball's second-longest - can be a head-scratcher at times for fans. Take Wednesday night's game, also against the Rockies.

Inside the stadium, big patches of seats were empty, especially in the upper deck. Outside, along King Street, the cashiers never ran out of tickets, even as they called the game a sellout.

"We always have something to sell," one said after closing in the sixth inning.

And when fans were asked to guess the paid attendance in the seventh inning, the big screen in center field displayed the answer as 41,292 - below the Giants' stated AT&T capacity of 41,915 seats.

What in the name of McCovey Cove is going on?

Turns out, the Giants and many other sports franchises do not define a sellout as the experience of running out of tickets to sell.

Jon and Louise Barcellos of Oakland watch Wednesday night's Giants-Rockies game alongside empty seats. Jon and Louise Barcellos of Oakland watch Wednesday night's Giants-Rockies game alongside empty seats. Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez - San Fran, The Chronicle Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez - San Fran, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close SF Giants' sellout streak a numbers game 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

Distribution streak

Rather, a sellout is when the number of tickets distributed - including complimentary passes for players, employees and sponsors; tickets for seats with obstructed views; and standing-room-only passes - exceeds the team's definition of seating capacity.

For the Giants, that number is 41,500 - not 41,915 - said Russ Stanley, the team's head of ticket sales.

Standing-room tickets and obstructed seats - where fans have to look around a rail, past a sign or through a plastic-glass shield - don't count against this definition of seating capacity, but they do count toward paid attendance.

So, in theory, 500 people could buy standing-room tickets or sit in seats with blocked views, and those would make up for 500 unsold seats in the far reaches of the upper deck.

"What we look at is, did we distribute 41,500 tonight?" Stanley said. "There may be some singles that don't sell, or on a particular night a luxury suite might not sell. What we all use - and this is an industry standard - is the distributed number versus the capacity. We may run at 105 percent capacity because of the standing room."

By not including obstructed seats in the sellout threshold, the Giants appear to be using a looser definition than the Boston Red Sox, whose claim of 788 straight sellouts at intimate Fenway Park is the longest in the major leagues.

"It is a little bit of a confusing issue," Sam Kennedy, Boston's chief operating officer, said Thursday. "We've never claimed a sellout means you absolutely can't get a ticket."

Local definitions

Michael Teevan, a spokesman for Major League Baseball, said individual teams, not the league, define sellouts.

As for the patches of empty seats at AT&T Park - which were in bloom again during Thursday's 12:45 p.m. game (announced paid attendance, 41,157) - those are a reflection of no-shows and fans en route to the restroom or the hot dog stand, Giants officials said.

The team has a bounty of more than 29,000 season-ticket holders, who may be loyal but don't turn out for all 81 games per year. Paid attendance is not the same as actual attendance - the number of fans through the gates.

Paid attendance this season, which doesn't include the freebies handed out each game, has ranged from 41,035 (Sept. 5 against the Arizona Diamondbacks) to 42,664 (June 26 versus the Los Angeles Dodgers).

The Giants, like other teams, don't publish no-show totals. But the Internet provides a look at the predicament, which costs the team thousands of chances to sell parking, hot dogs, beer and souvenirs.

'It's shameful'

At 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, more than 3,500 tickets for that night's game were being offered by season-ticket holders and brokers on five online sites for as little as $2, according to FanSnap, a search engine for ticket buyers.

"I think it's shameful," Phil Quinlan, a 55-year-old fan from Concord, said while surveying the upper deck from the club level during the game. "Do you know how many people there are who would love to see this game?"

Nearby, 31-year-old city resident Brian Hollinger was more forgiving of the no-shows, saying, "It's San Francisco. One minute you're doing one thing, the next minute you're doing another."

Hollinger said he had no problem with the Giants' declaration of a sellout. But in the upper deck, 64-year-old Dallas Jackson of Vacaville was suspicious.

Prestige, sales

"All you have to do is look around - you can't miss it," he said during the bottom of the sixth inning, as the Giants scored an insurance run in the distance. "A magician can fool me, but when 25 percent of the seats are empty ... I'm a bit incredulous."

Whether a Major League Baseball game is a sellout or a near-sellout has no direct impact. In this way, the sport differs from football, where teams must sell out - or come close - to avoid a local television blackout.

Still, there is prestige in selling out. It helps drive advance sales, as fans can't assume they'll be able to walk up to the window on game day and get a ticket. That's one reason teams are building smaller stadiums these days.

"It gives a real or perceived sense of buzz, it may add to the urgency of some ticket-seekers, and it reinforces how strong the brand of the team is," said David Carter, who directs the Sports Business Institute at the University of Southern California.

Carter said he couldn't quibble with the Giants' definition.

"They're essentially following a guideline that makes sense," he said. "Where they would get into trouble would be if they were tweaking the numbers."

Dan Rascher, a professor of sport management at the University of San Francisco, also went along with the team's boast. He said the Giants should - technically - lay claim to a streak of games in which they surpassed a 41,500-ticket threshold.

But, he said, "it doesn't sound as sexy as a sellout streak."