Major League Baseball’s Declining Attendance

Only six of Major League Baseball’s 30 teams are showing attendance increases over last year. The teams with increases in average attendance are the Houston Astros 5,064, from 29,674 to 35,358; the New York Yankees, 3,024, from 39,035 to 42,059; the Milwaukee Brewers, 2,744, from 31,589 to 34,333; the Atlanta Braves, 715, from 30,929 to 31,644, the Philadelphia Phillies, 556; 24,118 to 24,674 and the Arizona Diamondbacks, 266, from 26,350 to 26,616.

Many problems cited for attendance decline in Major League Baseball

MLB attendance has been a problem all season with some reports that overall attendance is down by six percent from last year. Some of it has been attributed to the unusually cold and wet April and May, which hit many areas of the country, particularly the northeast.

There have also been complaints about the slow pace of play and the high number of strikeouts and walks, which limit the number of balls put into play. As teams focus more on home runs, batting averages have also dipped across MLB, meaning many games resemble a home run derby contest rather than a Major League baseball game.

But the biggest issue has been the competitive balance in MLB with many teams already far behind the league leaders. That, in turn, has led to dwindling attendance in many MLB cities. Of the six teams with attendance increases, five are division leaders. The only exception is the Phillies, who are in third place in the National League’s East Division with a 39-33 record.

Even teams with winning records not drawing

However, there are teams with winning records who are still recording attendance losses from last year. The Cleveland Indians, who lead the AL’s Central Division with a 40-33 record, have seen their average attendance per game drop by 4,738. The Los Angeles Dodgers, who still lead MLB with an average attendance per game of 46,279, have seen their crowds drop by an average of 2,113 despite them being second in the NL’s West Division with a 38-35 record.

Other second-place teams, the Chicago Cubs, 42-30, the Boston Red Sox, 50-26, the Washington Nationals, 40-33, and the Seattle Mariners, 46-29, have seen their attendance drop by 1,618, 1,416, 548, and 354, respectively.

The third-place St. Louis Cardinals 38-35 and Los Angeles Angels have seen their attendance drop by 897 and 401 respectively. The fourth-place Oakland Athletics, 38-36, have seen their crowds drop by 2,998.

Toronto has the biggest decrease in Major League Baseball

The team with the biggest decrease is the fourth-place Toronto Blue Jays, 34-40, who have seen their attendance drop by 10,980 from last year. They’re followed by the Miami Marlins, 29-46, and Kansas City Royals, 22-52, who are both last in their divisions. They’re experiencing average attendance losses of 10,128 and 7,390 respectively.

The Detroit Tigers, 36-39, the Pittsburgh Pirates, 36-38, and the Baltimore Orioles, 21-52, are next with average attendance losses of 6,953, 6,560 and 4,4407, respectively. They were followed by the Cincinnati Reds, 29-45, 3,779, the Chicago White Sox, 14-49, 3,263; the Texas Rangers, 32-44, 3,254; the San Francisco Giants, 38-39, 2,113, the Tampa Bay Rays, 34-40, 2,065; the the Minnesota Twins, 33-38, 1,613, the Colorado Rockies, 37-38, 1,312, the San Diego Padres, 34-43, 902.

One final note

One final item of note is that some teams have many more remaining home games than others. For instance, the Rays have only played 31 home games, the fewest of any team in MLB. On the other hand, the Padres have played 41 home games, the most of any team in MLB.

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