Major League Baseball is trumpeting an uptick in attendance at baseball games so far this season, with average attendance reaching 26,927 per game through the end of April. It’s the best mark to that point in the season since 2017 and is a modest 0.9% uptick over 2023.
The Dodgers led baseball in April with an impressive early season average of 45,658 fans per game. Last year, the Dodgers’ average attendance was 47,371 across the entire season, which naturally includes the warmer months that are more likely to draw fans to the ballpark. Another fair-weather ballpark, the Padres’ Petco Park, drew 38,944 fans per game, which was the second-highest average attendance in baseball.
Red Sox home game attendance just missed baseball’s Top 10, but was, nonetheless, a respectable 31,339 fans per game during the chilly first month of the season.
TV Bumps
MLB says baseball viewership overall is up substantially so far this season. 1.9 million viewers tuned in for MLB on FOX compared to 1.5 million for the same period last year. FOX said that viewership among adults aged 18-34 was up 32% compared to last year.
ESPN Sunday Night Baseball viewership was up a strong 19% compared to 2023, climbing to 1.6 million viewers. They said their 18-34 year old demographic has jumped 38% over last year. The MLB Network reports that live game viewership is up 13% versus last season at this time, with a whopping 50% jump in viewers aged 18-34.