Baseball Saw a Million More Empty Seats. Does It Matter?

One million fewer fans attended Major League Baseball games versus last year, but revenues continue to rise due to increased media rights.

2019 baseball attendance by level:
1) Major leagues – 69M
2) Minor leagues – 41M
3) Total – 110M

Major League Baseball attendance per game (YoY growth) according to Sports Business Journal:
1) 2007 – 32,766 (↑ 4%)
2) 2008 – 32,520 (↓ 1%)
3) 2009 – 30,330 (↓ 7%)
4) 2010 – 30,138 (↓ 1%)
5) 2011 – 30,236 (↓ 0%)
6) 2012 – 30,895 (↑ 2%)
7) 2013 – 30,514 (↓ 1%)
8) 2014 – 30,458 (↓ 0%)
9) 2015 – 30,517 (↑ 0%)
10) 2016 – 30,169 (↓ 1%)
11) 2017 – 30,042 (↓ 0%)
12) 2018 – 28,837 (↓ 4%)
13) 2019 – 28,326 (↓ 2%)

Total revenue for Major League Baseball:
1) 1992 – $1.2B
2) 2007 – $6.1B
3) 2018 – $10.3B

Change since 2007:
1) Attendence – ↓ 14%
2) Revenue – ↑ 69%

Fox TV deal for Major League Baseball (% growth):
1) Current (2014-21) – $4.2B
2) Next (2022-28) – $5.1B (↑ 22%)

Flashback: The Sports TV Bubble Shows Signs of Weakness

World Series viewership by year (YoY growth):
1) 2009 – 19.3M
2) 2010 – 14.2M (↓ 26%)
3) 2011 – 16.5M (↑ 16%)
4) 2012 – 12.6M (↓ 24%)
5) 2013 – 15.0M (↑ 19%)
6) 2014 – 13.9M (↓ 7%)
7) 2015 – 14.5M (↑ 4%)
8) 2016 – 22.8M (↑ 57%)
9) 2017 – 18.9M (↓ 17%)
10) 2018 – 14.1M (↓ 25%)

Top 5 teams ranked by local TV ratings according to Sports Business Journal:
1) St. Louis Cardinals – 6.59
2) Cleveland Indians – 6.55
3) Milwaukee Brewers – 6.37
4) Minnesota Twins – 6.33
5) Boston Red Sox – 5.25

Bottom 5 teams ranked by local TV ratings:
1) Oakland A’s – 0.76
2) Seattle Mariners – 0.83
3) Chicago White Sox – 0.95
4) Texas Rangers – 1.17
5) Anaheim Angels – 1.24

More #1: Put the Playoffs Back in Waking Hours

More #2: MLB Sleeve Patches Could Be More Valuable Than NBA Jersey Ads, According to Nielsen Analysis

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