MLB 2023 Attendance Surpasses 70 Million, Largest Increase Since 1998

Major League Baseball’s 2023 regular season closed out on Sunday and with it the league can report that the attendance increase shattered their expectations.

Between a balanced schedule that saw all teams play each other at least once; new rule changes to quicken pace and action, and; a bevy of teams that were in contention for a playoff spot right up till the last day, tickets sold were 70,747,365 a +9.6% increase from 2022. When throwing out 2020, 2021, and the increase to 2022 due to the pandemic, it was the largest increase since the league expanded to 30 teams in 1998. It is the first time the league has exceeded 70 million in attendance since 2017 (72,670,423). If looking at league attendance by average attendance, the season came in at 29,295 per game, an increase of +9.1%. That ranks as the highest growth percentage in 30 years, not including COVID-impacted seasons, dating back to the 1993 expansion to 28 Clubs.

The increase is all the more remarkable because many of the years MLB saw record attendance came on the heels of new ballparks opening. For the 2023 season, no new ballparks opened with the last being Globe Life Field in 2020.

Seventeen Clubs registered attendance of over 2.5 million, matching the most in MLB history. Eight clubs topped 3 million led by the Los Angeles Dodgers (3,837,079), San Diego Padres (3,271,554), New York Yankees (3,269,016), and St. Louis Cardinals (3,241,091). Others were the Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, Houston Astros, and Toronto Blue Jays.

In terms of the biggest increases from 2022, the Philadelphia Phillies saw nearly 10,000 (+9.579) more per game (total attendance increase of +775,869 year-over-year). They were followed by the Cincinnati Reds (+642,532 total, per game +7,932 YOY), Baltimore Orioles (+568,431 total, +7,018 per game YOY) and Cleveland Guardians (+538,198 total, +6,644 per game YOY). Others with sizeable increases included the Texas Rangers (+521,684 total) and Seattle Mariners (+403,151 total).

All clubs, minus one surpassed the 1 million mark. The Oakland A’s, who have announced plans to move to Las Vegas, and fielded a league-worst 50-112, tying them with the 1952 Pirates for the eighth most losses in the modern era came in at just 832,352 in total attendance. What makes that all the more striking is they were up 44,450 from last season.

Just four clubs saw attendance declines from last year. The largest drop year-over-year by a considerable margin was the Chicago White Sox who saw a drop of -4,194 per game, or -339,731 in total attendance. They were followed by the Washington Nationals (-160,569 YOY), St. Louis Cardinals (-79,460 YOY) and Los Angeles Dodgers (-24,329 YOY).

Showing how long the history of the game is and what it means for sports, Major League Baseball is fast approaching 4 billion in total attendance. From 1901 to 2023 the league has now seen a staggering 3,836,958,360 in total attendance.