The St. Louis Cardinals are Having One of their Worst Seasons Ever. Here’s why.
The St. Louis Cardinals are currently having one of the worst seasons in team history, but not in the way you might think. Now, if you were to just look at the box scores, it might seem like everything is back to normal for the 11time World Series champion since after posting their first losing season in 16 years in 2023. The team bounced back by finishing second in the NL Central last year and is currently sitting just a few games back from the top of the division this year. However, for one of MLB’s most historic franchises, things are anything but normal. In fact, according to the team president, the St. St. Louis Cardinals are in uncharted territory. See, the Cardinals are one of several MLB franchises who are earning less than expected this year from their local TV rights deal. In their specific case, the team’s 2025 payment was reduced by about 25% from $78 million after the company that owned Valley Sports filed for bankruptcy in 2023. This reduction in revenue is one reason that the Cardinals president says the team is focusing more on player development instead of signing marquee players who might help drive more attention to the team. For context, the Cardinals opening day roster payroll ranked 19th in the league. But still, a lack of money to sign star players isn’t even their biggest problem. Because after a disappointing off season, in the eyes of many fans, attendance this season is on pace to reach a historic low. With the team averaging just 28,464 fans per game as of May 20th. And even though that still puts them at 13th in the league, that only puts them on pace for about 2.3 million total fans this year, which would be the team’s lowest mark for a full non-COVID season in 41 years. To read more about how the Cardinals are trying to solve their attendance woes, check out Mike Mazo’s piece in the Sports Business Journal.
Though they seem to be doing fine based on the box scores, the St. Louis Cardinals are actually having one of their worst seasons in history.
The 11-time World Series champs are losing money on their broadcast deal and struggling to get fans in seats. 2025 attendance at Busch Stadium is on pace to reach an historic low.
@tylerwebbshorts explains.
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