Major League Baseball’s average attendance was 30,298 for its first 183 games over the opening two weeks of the season, a 6.9 percent drop from last year’s final figure of 32,539.While the general reports seem to indicate that this is a league wide problem, I think it can be attributed to just two teams. The New York Yankees and New York Mets both moved into brand new stadiums, but their seating capacity is far less than the old stadiums.
The average declined from 31,111 in the opening week. The average usually drops during the second week of the season, as the significance of opening-day sellouts in the average lessens.
Old Yankee Stadium seated nearly 57,000 people. The New Stadium seats nearly 52,325. Shea Stadium seated 57,333 while the new CitiField seats just 45,000.
More to the point, the 2008 season average for the Yankees last year was 53,069 per game in home attendance. The Mets had 51,165.
The current averages for the Yankees in 2009: 45,401 (through four dates). That means that the team is already 30,677 fans short based on the season long figures. The Mets attendance is 36,907 (through six dates). The Mets are currently 85,548 fans short based on the attendance comparison with last season.
You can't attribute the drop off to Bernie Madoff. You can attribute it to smaller venues replacing to stadium that were filled to the gills last season in historic sendoffs. Higher ticket prices at the new stadiums are also playing a role.
In fact, I think you could attribute nearly half the dropoff in attendance to both new stadiums: the 10 games there represent a loss of 116,220 fans who didn't go to the games. Instead of averaging 30,298 fans through 183 games, had the Yankees and Mets both drawn as they did during the 2008 season in their old ball parks, the attendance would likely be closer to 30,933. It's still a dropoff, but nowhere near as steep as seen so far.
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