White Sox can only hope this idea will be worth risk

The White Sox will embark on a risky strategy beginning Tuesday night.

The latest attempt to attract fans to Comiskey Park consists of $5 tickets in select upper reserved sections during this week’s series against the Blue Jays.

My goodness, that’s like turning back the clock to penny candy and nickel chicken.

Sounds like a foolproof plan, except for how embarrassing it’ll be if few fans bite.

Maybe then the Sox would have to offer free tickets, or maybe pay $5 to every fan who will agree to attend a game, or maybe surrender to irrelevance in Chicago sports.

Last season when I wrote about the Sox’ attendance troubles, readers responded that the primary reason they stayed home was the expense of going to a game.

Empty seats finally impressed, or depressed, the Sox, and over the weekend they announced this new pricing initiative.

Cutting prices in midseason is nothing new but remains dangerous.

First, it smacks of desperation, and no business wants to appear desperate. Second, someone who previously paid full price might resent sitting in the park with someone who didn’t.

The real gamble, though, is the possibility it doesn’t work.

If the Sox can’t sell $5 tickets, the question will be whether their attendance problem has a solution.

The Sox are in first place. They have appealing players. The ballpark is comfortable. Inexpensive tickets are available. The pieces are in place to put fannies in the park, if that’s even possible anymore.

Empty seats this week will reinforce the notion that the Sox are a lost cause and nothing they can do will be enough to fill the place.

I don’t believe that. There has to be a key to solving this dilemma. I’m not smart enough to know what it is, but there has to be.

The theory always has been that Sox fans will come out if the team is winning, but that wasn’t true the past two weekends in some spectacular weather.

The ballpark used to be a problem but isn’t anymore. The neighborhood used to be a problem but isn’t as bad as perceived. An uninspiring team used to be a problem but certainly isn’t now.

Maybe by staying away, Sox fans are establishing themselves as more intelligent than the average sports fan locally and nationally.

Full disclosure here: If I didn’t attend sports events for a living, I’m not sure I ever would as a customer. The cost, the traffic, the parking, the time … is a game worth the trouble?

A better option might be a big-screen television in the family room with inexpensive beverages and a remote control if the score turns ugly. The NFL has acknowledged this challenge. Maybe the Sox are suffering it.

However, the Cubs, Bears, Bulls and Blackhawks don’t have as much trouble selling tickets in this town, so White Sox management has to keep trying to figure out why it does.

Maybe $5 tickets are the answer. If not, the next last resort might be players mingling in the stands between innings. Or a 10-game package being redefined as 10 games for the price of one. Or even a pregame raffle with a lucky customer becoming that day’s designated hitter.

For now, though, let’s wait to see whether the Sox can lure more fans to the ballpark with cheap seats.

It’s a risky move, but at this point this franchise doesn’t have much to lose.

mimrem@dailyherald.com