St. Louis Cardinals could take years to recover from depressing attendance numbers

The St. Louis Cardinals still have plenty to play for this season, technically. Winners of three games in a row, the Cards are just 5.5 games back of the final NL Wild Card spot. It would be a major surprise if St. Louis were to make the postseason, but it's not out of reach for Oli Marmol's team. The Cardinals are operating with one eye on the future thanks to a regime change – Chaim Bloom is taking over for John Mozeliak this winter. The Cardinals front office wants to have their cake and eat it, too, hoping to make a postseason push all the while developing young talent. That can lead to complacency in a fanbase hungry for a winner and, frankly, commitment to the bit.

Busch Stadium attendance has become a popular topic for national pundits when discussing the Cardinals, and rightly so, as it could impact their offseason plans and spending. It also shows the overall malaise among much of the fanbase. In the past week, Busch Stadium has featured attendance numbers floating around 20,000 in the dog days of summer, including the smallest crowd in Busch Stadium III's history – 17,675 against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop during the MLB season.

Why aren't Cardinals fans flocking to Busch Stadium this season?

Cardinals ownership surely hopes this doesn't become a trend. A decrease in attendance numbers can be expected for a team hovering around .500 without much direction. It's also not shocking given the retirement of several Cards legends over the last couple of years in Adam Wainwright, Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina. There are less reasons to come to the ballpark in general.

The Cards fanbase remains one of the largest in the midwest. These loyal supporters aren't going anywhere, and ballpark attendance and concessions sales should flow once again when the Cardinals have a winner and new franchise icons to feature. But right now, St. Louis doesn't have much to offer fans who would have to travel from across the middle of the country, spending hundreds of dollars on gas, tickets and concessions (and hotels and airfare in some cases). There is no final game for Pujols, Molina or Wainwright this season. All the Cardinals have are some building blocks, a decent manager and a front office stuck in the middle.

Cardinals attendance numbers are historically bad for a proud franchise

While a franchise like the Cardinals can often suffer through a season or two of subpar attendance numbers and, thus, ballpark revenue for a year or two, what makes this season's stats all the more concerning is where they ranks in the organization's proud history. In the table below, readers can see that the Cards haven't had an average attendance this low since 2021. It's also their second-lowest mark since 1995-96, which was right after MLB's strike campaign.

As you can see, the Cardinals attendance numbers have (for the most part) remained solid since Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa engaged in the 1998 home run chase. That infamous battle aided attendance numbers across the sport, with McGwire eventually setting the single-season home run record (with some help) at 70.

Another strike could be on the horizon for a sport that thrives on a long season actually taking place. When MLB last went on strike, they struggled to reach fans in the aftermath. The Cardinals 1995 and 1996 attendance numbers reflect just that.

As cheap owners call for a salary cap and the MLBPA continues to refuse (for good reason), the Cardinals are already trending in the wrong direction if they hope to keep one of their greatest revenue streams in tact.