The Kansas City Royals have seen attendance rise slightly in 2025 following their first playoff appearance in a decade. | Charlie Warner/Missouri Business Alert
Just past the midway point of the Major League Baseball season, America’s pastime is drawing fans at varied rates across the state.
The Kansas City Royals have seen increases in attendance relative to the 2024 season, but they rank in the bottom 10 teams in terms of average home attendance. The St. Louis Cardinals have continued a trend of decreasing attendance while still being in the top half of the league for it.
Despite a losing record, the Royals have seen an increase in average home game attendance for the second consecutive year. On the east side of the state, the Cardinals have a winning record, but have continued a trend of decreasing attendance.
Attendance increase follows Royals resurgence
The Royals have struggled to recapture the scrappy excitement of the World Series-winning 2015 squad a decade later. In a season featuring signifiers of the end of that era, with Mike Moustakas retiring as a Royal and Alex Gordon being inducted to the team’s hall of fame, the team has struggled to win consistently.
However, fan attendance has been up relative to the 2024 season, which ended with the team’s first playoff appearance since 2015. An average of 22,000 fans have attended the Royals’ first 44 home games, according to Baseball Reference. That’s an increase of roughly 3,800 fans, or 21%, from the team’s average for the full 2024 season.
The Royals play at Kauffman Stadium, which opened in 1973 and holds about 38,000 fans. The team is currently considering locations for a new stadium, weighing incentives from Kansas and Missouri.
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Cardinals win games, lose fans
The Cardinals tend to be a reliable winning team, posting records above .500 in all but one of the last 10 seasons. This season, they are continuing their success and are contenders for the postseason.
Despite that, the team has seen decreasing fan attendance for a second consecutive year. Through 43 home games, the birds have drawn about 30,000 fans per home game, a decrease of 6,000, or about 17%, from 2024.
The Cardinals play at Busch Stadium, which opened in 2006 and seats about 44,400. It anchors St. Louis’ Ballpark Village, a mixed-use entertainment district. Amid attendance declines for the Cardinals, taxable sales in Busch Stadium’s area code fell 8.3% in 2024 from the previous season, according to the St. Louis Business Journal.
MLB crowds grow
Average attendance across MLB is up to 28,000 over the first half of the season. Compared to the 2024 season, that’s an increase of about 35 fans per game.
The Los Angeles Dodgers lead the league in average attendance, with the defending World Series champions drawing roughly 50,700 fans per home game.
The New York Mets have seen the largest increase in attendance. Their home games are averaging about 11,000 more fans than in the 2024 season.