Please note: to see the most recent MLB paid-attendance map-and-post, click on the following: category: Baseball >paid-attendance.
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MLB attendance in 2013 was 30,514 per game as a league total, which was down from 30,895 in 2012 – in other words, crowds last season in the Major Leagues were down -1.2 percent from 2012. Here is an article at USA Today from October 1 2013, ‘MLB attendance drops 1.2 percent this year‘ (usatoday.com/story/sports). Nevertheless, 2013 was the sixth-highest drawing season for MLB (for full seasons/ the MLB league attendance record was set in 1993, the year before the last players’ strike, at 31,337 per game) [you can see year-by-year league-attendance averages, from 1980 to 2013, in the link above].
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Biggest attendance increases and worst attendance drop-offs for 2013 in Major League Baseball
{MLB attendance figures here (espn.go.com)}.
In 2013, the Toronto Blue Jays, owing to pre-season excitement in Ontario, Canada about the Jays’ big signings (that flopped), had the highest increase at the turnstiles, going from 25,921 per game (in 2012) to 31,315 (in 2013) – which was an increase of 5,394 per game or +20.8 percent. The Blue Jays ended up only winning one more game (than in 2012) last season, finishing in last in the AL East at 74-88. But that spike in attendance could see some positives, as this article from the Toronto Star from Sept. 20 2013 by Brendan Kennedy points out, {‘Blue Jays: Boost in attendance could mean payroll increase‘ (thestar.com/sports/bluejays)}.
The only other team with a crowd-size-increase above 10 percent last season was the Los Angeles Dodgers, who won the NL West and drew best in MLB in 2013 at 45,216 per game at Dodger Stadium (an increase of of 4,176 per game or +12.6% from 2012, when the Dodgers drew 41,040 [for 5th-best in MLB in 2012]). So the LA Dodgers, now under new and non-dysfunctional ownership, reclaimed their status as the highest-drawing baseball club on Earth – they last led the Major Leagues in attendance in 2009. Look for the Dodgers to repeat as the top drawing ball club in 2014.
Other success stories in MLB in 2013 with respect to crowd-size increases could be seen at the following ball clubs.
Baltimore Orioles: attendance increase of +9.3% [18th-best attendance in MLB in 2013 at 29,105 per game], which was an increase of +2,495 per game. This on the heels of a playoff-season in 2012 for the O’s; in 2013 they went 85-77.
Washington Nationals: attendance increase of +9.1% [11th-best attendance in MLB in 2013 at 32,745 per game], which was an increase of +2,735 per game. This, like nearby Baltimore, was also on the heels of a playoff-season in 2012 for the Nats; in 2013 they went 86-76.
Cincinnati Reds: attendance increase of +7.9% [15th-best attendance in MLB in 2013 at 31,288 per game], which was an increase of +2,310 per game. Attendance in Cincy continues its gradual rise, as the Reds made the playoffs again in 2013 (and for the 3rd time in 4 years)…in 2013, the Reds drew their best since their move to their then-new ballpark in 2003.
Pittsburgh Pirates: attendance increase of +7.8% [19th-best attendance in MLB in 2013 at 28,210 per game], which was an increase of +2,062 per game. Attendance was of course boosted by the Pirates’ successful playoff run, as Bucs made the playoffs for the first time in 21 seasons (previously in 1992).
Oakland Athletics: attendance increase of + 7.7% [23rd-best attendance in MLB in 2013 at 22,337 per game], which was an increase of +1,609 per game. The A’s, under GM Billy Beane, have written the book (well Michael Lewis did, with Moneyball), on how to exploit market inefficiencies for the last decade-and-a-half. But Oakland has had traditionally poor attendance, and in 2009, 2010, and 2011 had the lowest in the league (in the 17-18K range). But a party-like atmosphere there at the Coliseum and a second straight AL West title saw the A’s inch up to 22.3 K per game in 2013.
Colorado Rockies: attendance increase of +6.2% [10th-best attendance in MLB in 2013 at 34,491 per game], which was an increase of + 2,017 per game. The Rockies were bad once again, finishing in last in the NL West, but they continued to draw well. The Rockies were aided by 5 high-drawing inter-league home games in 2013: three home games versus the Yankees in May, and two home games versus the Red Sox in August…those 5 games averaged over 40,000. {See this article by David Martin at Rockies Review blog from Sept. 12 2012 that accurately predicted this attendance upswing for the Rockies, ‘Colorado Rockies will get great attendance in 2013 regardless of disappointment‘ (rockiesreview.com)}.
Meanwhile the Miami Marlins (at their new instant-White-Elephant of a stadium) had the worst drop-off at the turnstiles, going from 27,400 per game [and 18th-best in 2012] 2 seasons ago, to an abysmal 19,584 per game last season [second-worst in MLB in 2013, better only than their fellow Floridians, the perennially lowest-drawing MLB team, the Tampa Bay Rays]. That was a drop-off of over 7,500 per game for the Marlins compared to 2012. This in a brand-new stadium.
Below is a chart I put together that shows the 8 MLB teams which had the highest average attendance increases in 2013 (Blue Jays, Dodgers, Orioles, Nationals, Reds, Pirates, A’s, and Rockies); and the 8 MLB teams which had the most drastic average attendance decreases in 2013 (Yankees, Cubs, White Sox, Rangers, Brewers, Twins, Phillies, and Marlins).
Data for chart above from – http://espn.go.com/mlb/attendance/_/year/2012.
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Thanks to ESPN for all MLB teams’ 2012 and 2013 attendance figures (and for Boston Red Sox’ 2013 home percent-capacity figure), at espn.go.com/mlb/attendance.
Thanks to mlb.com/shop for 29 of the MLB teams’ home cap photos.
Thanks to sportsstation1.com for the photo of the Baltimore Orioles’ home cap.
