Success of 2011 MLB Ticket Sales

Major League Baseball has seen some pretty empty stadiums lately and in cities where ticket sales are normally assumed.  Places like New York and Chicago are seeing an uncharacteristically high number of empty seats.  Attendances across the league usually start pretty slow due to the cold, rainy weather and the fact that kids are still in school.  There should be no alarm this early because early estimates show an increase in ticket sales for the 2011 season.


2007 was a record attendance year for Major League Baseball with about 79.5 million fans walking through the turnstiles.  After the season, Commissioner Bud Selig set an attendance goal going forward of 80 million fans.  Since then attendance has dipped.  Major League Baseball was just one of the many victims of the recession.  2010 only brought in a little over 73 million fans, which was a slight decrease from the 2009 season. 

Finally after a three year slide, MLB ticket sales look to be bouncing back.  The estimates show between 75 million to 78 million fans attending games this season; an increase of two million to five million fans. 

The increased ticket sales could be attributed to a number of sources.  Maybe it’s the improving economy.  Maybe it’s the soaring season ticket sales from the San Francisco Giants and the Texas Rangers who are benefitting from their World Series appearances of last season.  Whichever reason it is, Major League Baseball is showing that after a little rough patch, they are still our national pastime and they are still a revenue powerhouse.

-Written by Kevin Rossi