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
