Major League Baseball strikes out with attendance, again

Major League Baseball attendance dropped four per cent this year, continuing a steady decline for “America’s Pastime.” It’s the lowest leaguewide attendance since 2003 and the largest single-season drop in a decade.

What does that mean for a team’s bottom line? Bloomberg News crunched some numbers to get a better understanding.

While some clubs saw a jump in attendance, 17 of the 30 franchises sold fewer tickets than they did last year. Using average ticket prices from Team Marketing Report, that comes to about US$93.7 million in lost ticket revenue in 2018.

Teams with the largest drops include the Miami Marlins (down $24.5 million) and the Toronto Blue Jays (down $22.9 million). The defending-champion Houston Astros — with a projected $23.2 million boost in sales — were a big winner.

With a few exceptions, gate receipts make up one-fifth to one-third of teamwide revenue, according to Forbes’ annual valuations. Some teams rely on such sales more than others, depending on their local media rights and status in leaguewide revenue sharing. The Blue Jays, for example, had $274 million in overall revenue off $83 million in ticket sales, so a $22.9 million drop is a significant loss.

Poor attendance can also have a ripple effect on team revenue. Assuming each of those missing fans would have purchased two beers and a hotdog during the game, MLB teams lost another $47.2 million in food and beverage sales. Other potential profits, such as parking and merchandise sales, were also omitted from these calculations.