The Cleveland Indians’ paid attendance increased by 446,000 last year, the largest increase in the majors. Of course, the teams at the top had little room for growth, and the Indians didn’t crack two million in attendance, but the team certainly staved off contraction or relocation — for now.
The Los Angeles Dodgers experienced the largest drop in paid attendance with 627,000. That doesn’t include no-shows, which were extremely high. Good job, McCourt, you asshole.
Here is a table for all teams: http://bizofbaseball.com/FinalMLBAttendance2011.htm
Meanwhile, Tampa couldn’t even sell out their playoff game today, and the team was sent into the cold winter, which might be the last for many of the blue hairs who reside there. The Rays also had a huge decrease in attendance, dropping over 300,000 in paid attendance. The Rays would look good in the Inland Empire — just change the name to the I.E. Foreclosures, put them in Ontario or Rancho, and let the Indian casinos sponsor the team.
Something tells me teams 3,4,5,7 & 8 in the attendance rankings stand to decline in 2012.
The Dodgers decline in attendance is equal to about 1/3 of the Indians total attendance. A Tale of Two Cities. Or One City and One Town.