Major League Baseball (MLB) has seen attendance figures plummet in 2019, with 18 of the 30 teams down since last season.
The average attendance has dropped to an average of 26,596 so far, which is a decrease of around 8 per cent from the full 2018 season, according to stats from ESPN. The Toronto Blue Jays have seen the largest drop of 33 per cent, falling from an average of around 29,000 to less than 20,000.
The Miami Marlins has a league-low average 9,545 per game, which is slightly down on their 2018 figure.
The LA Dodgers at the top of the attendance league in 2018 and for the first two months of 2019 have seen their average attendance up slightly from 47,042 to 47,118.
The costs of going to baseball games is often cited as the top reason for fans not showing up.
In 2018, the average attendance fell to 28,830, a decrease of four per cent from the previous year.
Prior to 2018, the MLB enjoyed 14 straight seasons averaging more than 30,000 fans per game.
Teams across the league have been implementing different initiatives to get people through the gates, such as the Minnesota Twins, which earlier this month, launched a $5 flash sale for the rest of its May games.
The Twins shifted more than 20,000, after seeing one of the largest attendance drops in baseball. This led to the franchise releasing a further 1,000 tickets for each of the 11 games this month.
In March, the New York Mets launched a new subscription ticketing package targeting the millennial demographic offering standing-room-only access to Citi Field.
Image: Keith Allison
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