Declines Among Top Teams Hurting Overall MLB Attendance

MLB attendance figures heading into September "are grim," with 14 teams "experiencing declines from last year," according to Bill Madden of the N.Y. DAILY NEWS. MLB attendance is down for the fourth straight year, but what has to be "most alarming" are the total attendance "declines being experienced by four of the best teams in baseball -- the Yankees (171,000), Astros (94,000), Cubs (59,000) and Nationals (241,000)." The attendance decline is "symptomatic of the whole industry." There is "no getting around that every year now, fewer and fewer fans are going to baseball games." The problem is "much more deep-rooted" for several reasons. There are just "not enough really good teams in baseball and there are too many bad (tanking) teams." Once the "most exciting element of baseball, the home run has actually become boring, sucking all the action out of the game as it has." Finally, the "emasculation of starting pitchers has led to longer, more boring games" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 8/25).