On Tuesday, White Sox senior VP of marketing Brooks Boyer discussed the importance of a fast start for ticket sales.
"Our reality is that how we play in March typically determines how we draw in April. How we play in April determines how we draw in May and so on," explained Boyer. "Weather obviously has been a factor the past couple of years. The slow starts have been frustrating for our fans and us, because getting off to a good start means a lot to our fanbase and they want to be shown that this team is going to compete and give them a reason to come out and support the team and the style of baseball that Robin wants to play and I think that's going to play out in our ad campaign as well."
And now for the good news: the White Sox have one of the easier early-season schedules in the American League.
Of the first 35 games for the White Sox, 17 will be played at U.S. Cellular Field and only 13 come against teams with a 2011 record above .500. The Sox get four games at home against Boston and three against Detroit while playing three-game away sets at Detroit and Texas.
But the Sox also play 10 games against Baltimore, Seattle and Oakland in the season's first month, as well as the Indians nine times through mid-May. If the Sox are looking to build some early-season momentum, those 19 games could be their best shot.