Major League Baseball Attendance, Ratings Up Again After Rule Changes

Major League Baseball has imposed a number of significant changes to the sport over the past few years. The most notable being the pitch clock to reduce game times, but other rule tweaks included limiting mound visits and defensive shifts, as well as increasing the size of the bases to encourage more stealing.

2023 was the first test of the new pace-of-play changes, and early returns were promising. Game times dropped dramatically, but without lessening the amount of action plays in each game. Whether that would lead, as MLB hoped, to increased attendance and television ratings though, was a more open question.

For the most part, the league did see an increase in both metrics, though a mediocre World Series matchup led to a brutal television performance to close the season. Heading into 2024, the league made a few smaller adjustments, namely shortening the clock with runners on base, hoping that the momentum from 2023 would carry over.

And so far, with April now behind us, it seems like it has. 

The league's official PR account posted on X that the average attendance through April was the highest since 2017 and nearly a 1 percent increase year-over-year. Ratings were also up, MLB games on FOX jumped 25 percent, ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball is up 19 percent and MLB Network has seen a 13 percent increase. Importantly, even bigger increases have also been seen when looking exclusively at younger demographics. 

Seems like the league's strategy to attract more, younger viewers is working.

MLB Has Positive Momentum To Build On

For a sport that's long seen its audience and influence erode thanks to the NFL, these numbers are an encouraging start. 

Made even more encouraging by the fact that average attendance is weighed down heavily by a few poor stadium situations. And of course, the lame duck Oakland A's. The A's are averaging just 5,905 fans per game this year, as fans justifiably have given up on an organization on its way out of town.

The Marlins and Royals bring up the non-Oakland rear, but with Kansas City surging to start the season, they're likely to cross the 15,000 per game mark in the near future. 

Attracting younger viewers is also a big win; the MLB audience has historically been one of the oldest of the major sports, but with game times becoming much more tolerable, younger audiences are tuning in. 

For the league though to really build on this momentum, they'll need strong playoff matchups this October. Thanks to the randomness and small samples of the postseason, there's no way to predict whether or not big market teams can advance. But after a brutal Rangers-Diamondbacks series in 2023, the league office has to be salivating over the thought of Shohei Ohtani in his first career postseason against a Yankees team led by Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. 

MLB needs a showcase for its new rules on a national stage, and marquee teams in the World Series is the best way to start. For now though, they have to be thrilled that their changes seem to be paying off.