MLB has summed up some of the results of the first half of this season.
In terms of game attendance, the results are disappointing. By halftime, the average number of spectators at Major League Soccer games was 26,409, down 5.4 percent from the result recorded for the 2019 All-Star Game.
League officials, however, see nothing special in this, attributing the drop in spectator interest in games to the aftermath of the pandemic. They note that attendance in the first half of the playing year is up 70 percent from the average at the end of last season. Recall that in 2021, only Texas began the regular season without restrictions, and only by July 2 did all 30 MLB teams get rid of restrictions.
It’s worth noting that average attendance at Major League games has steadily declined since 2015, although the decline has never been more than 2% per year. Economists also point out that the real decline in popularity of baseball among fans began in 2007, when attendance at MLB games reached its peak. As the reasons for the occurrence of experts call the high cost of tickets (especially season tickets) and additional services (parking, food, etc.), and inflation, which is particularly hard on the pockets of ordinary Americans this year. Also as a reason for the decline in attendance specifically in the season-2022 called the dissatisfaction of fans with the lockout that occurred in the past offseason.
Among the MLB clubs, the Oakland Athletics suffered a decline in attendance, losing nearly 55% of their viewers in the stands compared to the first half of the 2019 season. The Athletics, by the way, have cut their own core team expenses significantly this year due to the unstable financial situation and the uncertain future of the team in their current location. Oakland, by the way, has not yet definitively resolved the issue of building a new stadium.
Other teams that have lost at least 15% of their attendance this year compared to 2019 include Arizona (26.7%), Pittsburgh (20.8%), Washington (19.7%), Philadelphia (17.9%), Cincinnati (17.8%), Cleveland (16.3%), L.A. Angels (15.1%) and Kansas City (15.1%).
Those teams whose game attendance, conversely, increased include Toronto (48.5% increase), San Diego (29.4%), Miami (23.3%), Atlanta (19.1%), Seattle (12.1%), the CHiSox (9.2%), Detroit (6.9%) and the N.Y. Mets (4.8%).
