The “Tarps Off” trend helped the Cardinals gain momentum in attendance. Getty Images
The St. Louis Cardinals avoided a third consecutive year of “significant decline” in attendance, marking “progress” given the direction the season could have gone, according to Derrick Goold of the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. The Cardinals are slated to finish around 19th in the majors in attendance, as they did a year ago. Cardinals President of Business Operations Anuk Karunaratne said the team is “pleased where it landed” overall. He added while the team would like to be “stronger,” other indicators like tickets and the “positive sentiment of the fanbase” show they are at a “similar place as we are on the baseball side.” Kids’ Sundays proved to be one of the summer’s “biggest successes.” The Cardinals reintroduced free entry into the kids’ fan club. Karunaratne said that the team is “looking to increase the number of those days.” The Cardinals also “expanded” their social media presence and “saw benefits from the launch of Cardinals.TV.” The biggest example of the team’s “nimbleness” was “the ‘tarps off’ phenomenon.” Smaller examples were the rapid response to RF Jordan Walker winning the Home Run Derby and rookie LF Joshua Baez’s three-homer debut. Renewals and season-ticket sales for 2027 “have begun.” The Cardinals saw an 80% renewal rate coming into the 2026 season (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 9/20).