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Leagues and Governing Bodies

MLB Attendance Down 4.1% From '17, Fails To Hit 70 Million

MLB ended the ’18 regular season with a total attendance of 69.67 million after yesterday's two division tiebreakers, down 4.1% from last year and the fifth decline at the gate in the last six seasons. The figure is also the lowest since ’03, when the Nationals had not yet relocated from Montreal, and the first since that ’03 season to fall below 70 million. The Dodgers again led individual clubs in attendance, pacing the league for the sixth straight year with a franchise record total of 3.86 million including yesterday’s NL West tiebreaker against the Rockies. The Marlins ranked last with a total of 811,104, making them the first club since the ’04 Expos to finish a season below 1 million in home attendance. The defending champion Astros had the largest increase in the league with a 24% spike to 2.98 million, while the Marlins and Blue Jays each shed more than 750,000 in attendance from ’17. Twelve clubs topped 2.5 million in attendance, one fewer than last year. Seven clubs reached 3 million, same as in ’17, with the Rockies replacing the Blue Jays in that group this year to join the Dodgers, Yankees, Cardinals, Cubs, Giants and Angels. MLB’s attendance decrease roughly mirrors a 3.3% drop this year for Minor League Baseball, with both falls influenced in part by historically high numbers of rainouts and cold weather.

MLB TURNSTILE TRACKER
HOME TEAM
DATES
TOTAL
AVG.
% CAP
PREVIOUS
CHANGE
DATES ('17)
Dodgers (a)
82
3,857,500
47,043
84.0%
46,492
1.2%
81
Yankees
81
3,482,865
42,998
89.8%
39,835
7.9%
79
Cardinals
81
3,403,587
42,020
94.4%
42,567
-1.3%
81
Cubs (a)
82
3,181,089
38,794
93.1%
39,501
-1.8%
81
Giants
81
3,156,185
38,965
93.0%
40,786
-4.5%
81
Angels
81
3,020,216
37,287
81.1%
37,279
0.0%
81
Rockies
81
3,015,880
37,233
74.3%
36,465
2.1%
81
Astros
81
2,980,549
36,797
89.4%
29,675
24.0%
81
Red Sox
81
2,895,575
35,748
96.3%
36,021
-0.8%
81
Brewers
81
2,850,875
35,196
84.0%
31,589
11.4%
81
Braves
81
2,555,781
31,553
76.8%
30,929
2.0%
81
Nationals
80
2,529,604
31,620
76.5%
31,173
1.4%
81
Blue Jays
80
2,325,281
29,066
59.0%
39,554
-26.5%
81
Mariners
81
2,299,489
28,389
59.5%
26,364
7.7%
81
D-backs
81
2,242,695
27,688
56.9%
26,350
5.1%
81
Mets
79
2,224,995
28,164
67.2%
30,758
-8.4%
80
Padres (b)
81
2,168,536
26,772
67.7%
26,401
1.4%
81
Phillies (c)
79
2,158,124
27,318
63.5%
24,118
13.3%
79
Rangers
81
2,107,107
26,014
54.1%
30,960
-16.0%
81
Twins (d)
80
1,959,197
24,490
63.8%
25,641
-4.5%
80
Indians
80
1,926,701
24,084
68.7%
25,286
-4.8%
81
Tigers
80
1,856,970
23,212
56.5%
28,662
-19.0%
81
Royals
81
1,665,107
20,557
54.2%
27,755
-25.9%
80
Reds
81
1,629,356
20,116
47.5%
22,678
-11.3%
81
White Sox
80
1,608,817
20,110
49.5%
20,626
-2.5%
79
A's (e)
81
1,573,616
19,427
40.0%
18,447
5.3%
80
Orioles
78
1,564,192
20,054
43.6%
25,042
-19.9%
81
Pirates
78
1,465,316
18,786
48.5%
23,697
-20.7%
81
Rays
81
1,154,973
14,259
45.9%
15,670
-9.0%
80
Marlins
81
811,104
10,014
26.7%
20,395
-50.9%
81
Totals
2,416
69,671,282
28,837
67.3%
30,042
-4.0%
2,419
Notes: (a) The Cubs and Dodgers hosted tiebreaker games to determine division champions. (b) Includes a designated Padres home series vs. the Dodgers played at Estadio de Beisbol in Monterrey, Mexico. (c) The Phillies hosted the Mets in the second iteration of the MLB Little League Classic at renovated Historic Bowman Field in Williamsport, Pa. The Pirates hosted the Cardinals in last season's inagural game. (d) Includes an A's home game vs. the White Sox celebrating the 50th anniversary of the team's inaugural game at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum that was completely free for all fans (46,028). (e) Includes a designated Twins home series vs. the Indians played at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
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