MiLB Attendance Numbers Down Again So Far In 2025
Image credit: Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
Traditionally, Memorial Day weekend is when MiLB attendance finds another gear. With schools getting out and the weather warming up, the end of May and months of June and July are normally the time when more casual fans come back out to the ballpark.
But most MiLB teams will need a bigger-than-normal summer boost this season. Announced attendance across the 120 full-season clubs is down from 2024, continuing what has become a steady trend.
Across those 120 teams, announced attendance is down 174 fans per game, a 4.6% percent drop compared to this time last season. Currently, teams are averaging 3,472 fans per game in 2025 compared to 3,646 fans per game through this time last year.
That 2024 number was a drop itself, as this time in 2023 teams were averaging 3,776 fans per game. Compared to two seasons ago, attendance is down 304 fans per game.
The drops are being seen across the vast majority of MiLB orgs, with 82 teams (68%) showing an attendance decline, 61 teams down 200+ fans per game and 26 teams down 500+ fans per game. There are 29 teams showing an increase of 100 or more fans compared to last year.
A cooler and wetter spring has likely played a role in some cities, but the number of lost games so far (154) is right in line with the average of 155 games lost by this point of the season for the 21st century.
Here are the 10 teams with the biggest increases:
| Team | INCREASE | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hub City Spartanburgers | +2,144 | Moved from Down East |
| Columbus Clingstones | +1,842 | Moved from Mississippi |
| Memphis Redbirds | +742 | |
| West Michigan Whitecaps | +713 | |
| Knoxville Smokies | +551 | Opened new stadium |
| Chesapeake Baysox | +503 | Rebranded this year |
| Gwinnett Stripers | +502 | |
| Akron RubberDucks | +368 | |
| Lehigh Valley IronPigs | +361 | |
| Hillsboro Hops | +329 |
And here are the 10 teams with the biggest declines in announced attendance. The Tampa Tarpons have artificially seen their attendance drop significantly because they’ve been moved out of their home stadium to accommodate the Rays, but even with that, they don’t crack the top 10 attendance decliners:
| Team | DECREASE |
|---|---|
| Buffalo Bisons | -1,511 |
| Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders | -1,370 |
| Wichita Wind Surge | -979 |
| Arkansas Travelers | -832 |
| Indianapolis Indians | -778 |
| New Hampshire Fisher Cats | -681 |
| Lake County Captains | -652 |
| Salt Lake Bees | -647 |
| Hartford Yard Goats | -645 |
| Rochester Red Wings | -636 |
Attendance will increase over the remainder of the season, as fans come out more during the summer than in spring or fall. Over the past three seasons, the final attendance numbers show an average increase of 333 fans per game compared the attendance after the Sunday preceding Memorial Day.
But a similar boost this year would only increase final average attendance to 3,802 fans per game, which would bring overall MiLB attendance perilously close to dipping below the 30 million fans mark in a normal season for the first time in decades. MiLB collectively teams average 7,900 dates per year (accounting for rainouts and other cancelled games). At 3,800 fans per game, MiLB would draw 30,020,000 fans this season with 7,900 dates.
The coronavirus-shortened 2021 season led to fewer games and attendance restrictions, resulting in MiLB teams drawing just 22.1 million fans that season. Still dealing with coronavirus after effects in 2022, teams drew 30.9 million fans. That increased to 32.1 million fans in 2023 before dipping to 31.3 million fans last season.
Multiple operators have said that teams have figured out how to better generate revenue per fan across the minors. But MiLB is a mass-audience product, which means year-over-year decrease for three straight seasons is a concern. MLB is bucking this trend, drawing 327 more fans per game in 2025 than 2024 (even with two MLB teams playing in MiLB ballparks this year).
MLB declined a request for comment.
