Even America’s favorite pastime is not recession-proof.

With money tight for many, there have been fewer fans in the stands at State Mutual Stadium watching the minor league Rome Braves this season.

On an average night, tickets are sold for about 60 percent of capacity for the 5,000-seat stadium. Of course, there have been sold-out nights like when major leaguer Tom Glavine rehabbed and pitched here in June and last weekend’s fireworks celebration.

So far this year, the Braves have sold 114,577 tickets with an average of 2,937 sold for each of the 39 home games, according to the South Atlantic League. That’s about 300 fewer tickets per game than last year.

Season tickets sales are down and that means less money for Floyd County since it receives an annual revenue sharing check from the Braves.

This year’s share was $100,254, which was a nearly $47,000 less than last year’s. That’s a 32-percent drop.

Floyd County Manager Kevin Poe said until this year, revenue shared between the Rome Braves and the county has been on the rise. He said this fiscal year — which ended June 30 — is the first in which the county “has not received the maximum revenue sharing per the contract formula.”

That county’s share breaks down into three categories. Some comes from the county’s portion of the naming rights, which State Mutual Insurance owns. This year’s share of that was $12,384. The naming rights payment is on a sliding scale that started at $8,286 and is up about $4,000 this year.

The Braves also make a supplemental payment to the maintenance fund each year. This year’s total was $20,000. It was $15,000 for each of the first six years and remains at the current rate through season 13 then increases to $25,000 annually.

Much of the revenue the Braves pay to the county comes from a percentage of season ticket sales. During the 2008 fiscal year, the percentage hit a high of $119,857, but dropped to $67,871 for 2009.

This year’s $100,000-plus from the Braves gets added to the county’s stadium maintenance fund that now has a balance of $762,293.

The Braves started out contributing $128,286 during the inaugural 2003 fiscal year. By the 2008 fiscal year, the revenue share had increased to $147,143.“This year it dropped down because of the gross revenue generated off of season tickets had gone down,” Poe said.

Total contributions to the stadium’s maintenance fund since the Braves came to Rome total $918,827. Money from that fund is stockpiled and goes to pay for major stadium maintenance like replacing seats, exterior paint or much larger jobs like replacing a main air conditioning unit, Poe explained.

“(The Braves are) responsible for routine, day-to-day maintenance funds,” he said.

The county fund is for long-term maintenance, and Poe estimates the county has paid more than $150,000 on maintenance costs during the past six years.

The stadium was built between the summer 2002 and the spring 2003 with a special purpose, local option sales tax for $15 million.

The Braves moved from Macon to Rome for their first season in 2003 and in 2004 won the South Atlantic League championship. (Outfielder Jeff Francoeur, a fan favorite from that team who moved up to the Atlanta major league club, was traded to the Mets on Friday.)

The Braves organization signed an 18-year contract with the county to lease the stadium, with options to extend the agreement.

Poe said if the stadium ever needed additional seating or other major capital projects that might be required over the life of the stadium that would come out of the county’s stadium maintenance fund as well.

“The theory is that we’d never have to go back to the taxpayers to help support that facility,” Poe said of the fund.

However other projects that Poe said are still on the Braves’ wish list, like paving the overflow parking area, are not something the county would be considering any time soon.

“Being near the river like that, we like to keep it as natural as possible,” he said. “One day, if the commission approves it, we might pave it. But at this point in time we’re going to keep it like it is.”

Poe added he thinks the relationship between the Braves and the county has been productive for the community as a whole.

“It’s been a great relationship, and considering the economy, we’re taking a little tick down this year,” said Poe. “I think the community is going to continue to support it. It’s going to be good in the long term.”