The “best fans in baseball" are not the best at showing up to support their team this season.
The St. Louis Cardinals sold barely more than 17,000 tickets to their home game Tuesday night against the A’s. The eye test suggested no-shows meant there were even fewer people than that in attendance.
It’s the lowest announced attendance for a Cardinals home game since the current iteration of Busch Stadium opened in 2006. The Cardinals averaged more than 38,000 fans a game every season from that Opening Day until the pandemic hit.
Even after COVID-19, the Redbirds averaged more than 40,000 fans per game in 2022 and 2023. The team had long streaks of home sellouts and from 2013 to 2022 was second in Major League Baseball in ticket sales, beating teams in bigger markets including Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.
The low attendance comes as the Cardinals are on their way to their third straight season of not making postseason play. The team’s payroll is also at its lowest level since 2017.
The team has acknowledged the play on the field falls below fans' expectations and has tried to implement new features to improve the game day experience and discounted season tickets for next year.
