Reds attendance has declined every season since the team last made the playoffs in '13GETTY IMAGES
The Reds' attendance this season at Great American Ball Park dropped 11.3% from '17 and resulted in the team's "lowest season attendance total" since '84, according to Bobby Nightengale of the CINCINNATI ENQUIRER. The team, which finished with a 67-95 record and a last-place finish in the NL Central, drew 1,629,356 fans "throughout their 81 home games, averaging 20,116 fans per game." This year marked the "first time the Reds failed to draw at least 1.8 million fans in a season" since '09. The Reds last made the playoffs in '13, and attendance has "declined at Great American Ball Park in each of the following five seasons." The Reds "ranked 24th in the Majors in total attendance." Despite the low attendance, Reds President of Baseball Operations Dick Williams said that the team was "planning to 'significantly' increase payroll" in the future (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 10/2). In Cincinnati, Steve Watkins noted in addition to the poor record, bad weather "also held down crowds." Reds VP/Ticketing & Business Development Aaron Eisel noted that 18 home games "were impacted by weather" -- 14 games had rain delays, while two start times were altered and two games were postponed. Eisel: "Attendance would have met our expectations if not for the amount of games we had negatively affected by weather" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 10/1).
