MLB Attendance Dipped Significantly From Pre-Pandemic Numbers
For much of the 21st century, Major League Baseball could count on two numbers when it came to attendance.
Total attendance would be somewhere north of 70 million fans, and average attendance would top 30,000 fans per game.
Nowadays, those numbers seem far, far away.
Major League Baseball drew 64,556,678 fans in announced attendance in 2022. The average MLB game drew 26,843 fans this year. Both numbers are significant increases on 2021, but last season saw teams face capacity restrictions and slow sales because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. This is the first year since 2019 where teams were free to sell a 162-game schedule to stadium capacity. The season was delayed by a lockout that also wiped away much of spring training.
When compared to 2019, the numbers are significantly down. In 2019, MLB drew 68,494,895 fans with an average per game of 28,339. That 2019 number was the worst number of the 21st century at the time and was a decrease of more than four million fans from just two years before in 2017.
Total attendance plays less of a role in MLB team revenue than it used to, as teams have leaned into dynamic pricing as a way to maximize revenue. But the decreases are significant. In 2007, MLB set an attendance record with 79,503,105 fans.
Looking on a team by team basis, more than two-thirds of MLB teams have seen a decrease in average attendance when compared to 2019. The biggest attendance gainer was the Toronto Blue Jays, while the Oakland A’s have seen the largest decrease.
| Rk | Team | Difference | Pct Change From 2019 |
| 1 | Toronto Blue Jays | 11,156 | 51.63% |
| 2 | Seattle Mariners | 6,469 | 29.24% |
| 3 | San Diego Padres | 7,297 | 24.66% |
| 4 | Atlanta Braves | 5,862 | 17.88% |
| 5 | Chicago White Sox | 3,381 | 15.78% |
| 6 | Miami Marlins | 1,188 | 11.86% |
| 7 | New York Mets | 2,776 | 9.09% |
| 8 | Baltimore Orioles | 1,195 | 7.31% |
| 9 | Detroit Tigers | 926 | 4.93% |
| 10 | Los Angeles Dodgers | -1,394 | -2.84% |
| 11 | New York Yankees | -1,620 | -3.87% |
| 12 | St. Louis Cardinals | -1,974 | -4.59% |
| 13 | Tampa Bay Rays | -807 | -5.48% |
| 14 | Texas Rangers | -1,501 | -5.70% |
| 15 | Houston Astros | -2,078 | -5.89% |
| 16 | San Francisco Giants | -2,779 | -8.31% |
| 17 | Boston Red Sox | -3,698 | -10.24% |
| 18 | Washington Nationals | -2,882 | -10.33% |
| 19 | Colorado Rockies | -4,486 | -12.14% |
| 20 | Kansas City Royals | -2,525 | -13.65% |
| 21 | Chicago Cubs | -5,902 | -15.45% |
| 22 | Philadelphia Phillies | -5,213 | -15.48% |
| 23 | Pittsburgh Pirates | -2,889 | -15.69% |
| 24 | Milwaukee Brewers | -5,811 | -16.10% |
| 25 | Los Angeles Angels | -6,933 | -18.60% |
| 26 | Minnesota Twins | -5,809 | -20.51% |
| 27 | Cincinnati Reds | -4,882 | -21.86% |
| 28 | Cleveland Guardians | -4,957 | -22.52% |
| 29 | Arizona Diamondbacks | -6,547 | -24.83% |
| 30 | Oakland Athletics | -10,548 | -51.40% |
The Los Angeles Dodgers were the overall attendance champ in 2022 in both average and total attendance. The Oakland Athletics became the first team to draw fewer than 10,000 fans per game in a season other than the pandemic-affected 2020 and 2021 seasons since the Montreal Expos did so in 2004. The A’s total attendance of 787,902 fans was also the lowest for a non-2020/2021 season since the Expos drew 748,550 in 2004.
| Team | Average | Total |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 47,672 | 3,861,408 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 40,994 | 3,320,551 |
| New York Yankees | 40,208 | 3,136,207 |
| Atlanta Braves | 38,641 | 3,129,931 |
| San Diego Padres | 36,882 | 2,987,470 |
| New York Mets | 33,308 | 2,564,737 |
| Houston Astros | 33,198 | 2,688,998 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 32,763 | 2,653,830 |
| Colorado Rockies | 32,468 | 2,597,428 |
| Boston Red Sox | 32,409 | 2,625,089 |
| Chicago Cubs | 32,306 | 2,616,780 |
| San Francisco Giants | 30,650 | 2,482,686 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 30,339 | 2,457,461 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 30,280 | 2,422,420 |
| Seattle Mariners | 28,591 | 2,287,267 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 28,459 | 2,276,736 |
| Washington Nationals | 25,017 | 2,026,401 |
| Texas Rangers | 24,832 | 2,011,381 |
| Chicago White Sox | 24,807 | 2,009,359 |
| Minnesota Twins | 22,514 | 1,801,128 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 19,817 | 1,605,199 |
| Detroit Tigers | 19,694 | 1,575,544 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 17,543 | 1,368,367 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 17,447 | 1,395,770 |
| Cleveland Guardians | 17,051 | 1,295,870 |
| Kansas City Royals | 15,971 | 1,277,686 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 15,524 | 1,257,458 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 13,927 | 1,128,127 |
| Miami Marlins | 11,204 | 907,487 |
| Oakland Athletics | 9,973 | 787,902 |
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